Dear everybody,
Firstly, please accept my apologies for the spam. My indiscriminate emailing will no doubt mean this reaches a lot of people to whom it is of no interest. Sorry!
In a little over a week, Will Day, Charlie Coupland, Charlie Carter and I* will be heading off into the Sahara desert to take on the "World's toughest footrace", the Marathon des Sables. Over the course of 6 days we will run 150 miles/240km (6 marathons) through alternating rocky barrenness and soul sapping sand dunes. The temperature will reach peaks of 50 degrees C and barring water and a tent, we will be carrying everything we need for the week on our backs.
Its going to be a toughy! So we'd like to ask two favours: 1) to sponsor us by donating some money to charity, and 2) to add a tune to our playlist to help us through the tough times in the desert.
1) Sponsor us:
Unless we really lose our marbles this will probably be the most physically challenging thing any of us ever do, so if you would ever sponsor us for anything, now's your moment! We're running on behalf of two great charities and we'd love it if you could spare a few pennies for whichever appeals to you most (or both!).
ACUMEN is a charitable fund which invests in companies, leaders, and ideas that are changing the way the world tackles poverty.
If a picture says a thousand words, a video says even more. This is the founder of Acumen describing their philosophy in a TED talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/jacqueline_novogratz_on_patient_capitalism?language=en
To donate to ACUMEN please click here
BLESMA (The British Limbless Ex-Serviceman's Association) helps all serving and ex-Servicemen and women who have lost limbs, or lost the use of limbs or eyes, to rebuild their lives by providing rehabilitation activities and welfare support. These programmes allow members and their families to face the challenges ahead with renewed confidence and self-belief.
To donate to BLESMA please click here
2) Give us a tune!
The first half hour of spectacular scenery, tropical temperatures and light exercise will no doubt be very pleasant. But beyond that we're expecting a lot of hurt and some serious low points to get through - where a bit of music will go a long way.
We've made a shared spotify playlist and we'd love it if you can add a tune to it for us to take with us. Maybe something that means something between you and one of us or will bring back memories. Something to make us smile when the going gets tough or to inspire us out of the depths of self pity. Think of it as a way to come to the desert with us without leaving the comfort of your chair!
To add a song, click here, follow the playlist then add music. For the oldies, its an internet thing - we're available for tutorials if help is needed ;)
Finally if you'd like to follow our progress, sign up to this facebook event. Rumour has it we can send messages out from the camps so we'll try and put updates on there. We'll also add some photos afterwards.
Thank you so much, your donations and music will help other people who need it most and help us get through this silly ordeal we peer pressured each other into!
See you on the other side!
Tom and "the Honeybadgers"
* a special mention goes to the 5th musketeer, Jimmy Carroll, who having done months of training has sadly had to pull out at the last minute due to an injury. He'll be the one laughing come day 2!
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In case the links in the email didn't work.....
To donate to ACUMEN: https://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/tom-putnamMDS/1
To donate to BLESMA: https://www.justgiving.com/MDS1/
The spotify playlist (sandman): https://play.spotify.com/user/tomputnam/playlist/6hzyEq8vKBKdu7XcSMH55G
The facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/events/406557646191834/412859665561632/
