Carlton Running on Solar

On Sunday 27th March our colleague Simon Watson took on the hardest foot race in the world – The Legendary Marathon Des Sables, a six day self-sufficient race over 250Km across the Sahara Desert.

The extreme conditions, which included sandstorms for two days and temperatures ranging from 35C during the day falling to 5C overnight, posed the ultimate test of stamina, fitness and mental strength. Day four proved the most challenging, as Simon went into the night and darkness of the Sahara, covering 85Km. Simon finished the day after 13hr21m without stopping, moving up to second place in his age category.

Simon completed the race in an overall time of 34hr 3mins in 139th place out of over 900 finishers and 5th in his age category.

Simon had this to say, “Thanks to Carlton group for all the support before and during the race. The unbroken sun and environment gave me lots of inspiration. Thinking about how we could harness and export the potential of solar power from the desert to meet the world’s energy demands kept me going.”