Peter Sage: A Renowned Public Speaker & Best Selling Author

The Marathon de Sables (MdS) is widely recognised as the world’s toughest footrace.   Its translation literally means ‘Marathon of the Sands’ and it’s both a name and reputation that is well deserved.   For seven days competitors from all over the world will attempt to run over 151 miles (nearly 250kms) across some of the hardest, difficult and inhospitable terrain on the planet.   – The Sahara Desert.   Running the equivalent of a marathon a day, the rules state that all competitors must complete the race ‘self-sufficient’ meaning that all food and equipment needed for the entire duration of the race must be carried while running.   Add to that temperatures in excess of 120 degrees, violent sand-storms, freezing nights and large scorpions and you may ask who in their right mind would even think of competing in such an event?   It was a question I had asked myself many times.   This is what happened…. It started just eight months before when...

So as some of you know my dear friend and pseudo-sister, Doris, was lying in a Vienna hospital with a life-threatening, flesh-eating disease and had been flown there from Spain where she was taken ill. The challenge was that she had left her suitcase with all her belongings and laptop etc. in a locker somewhere in a train station in central Madrid.  Having flown to Vienna to see her (and with the intention doing an intervention on Dr ‘not so positive’ ;-) I’m due and already booked to fly out of Vienna next day to visit my dad and two dogs in Spain and, by the wonders of synchronicity, my only connection happens to be through Madrid.   Good start.  However, I land at 4 pm, the FedEx cutoff is 5 pm and I re-board at 5.15pm.  Hmm, an hour and 15 to land, travel to a train station in the middle of Madrid, pick up the case, find the FedEx cargo depot, ship it off to Doris, back to catch my flight and land in Alicante in time for Tapas and Wine with the family....