13th April 2015
Famous explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes has become the oldest Briton to complete the Marathon des Sables, raising almost £1 million for Marie Curie!
Sir Ranulph crossed the finish line of the six day ultra-marathon shortly after 7.30pm on Friday evening, having walked 156 miles over the duration of the challenge.
The explorer, 71, who had a double heart bypass 12 years ago, admitted feeling a series of warning signs from his heart during the trek. He also lost 10lb, despite eating regularly and drinking around three gallons of water a day.
Sir Ranulph was accompanied by Rory Coleman, his trainer, who at times had to force him to rest. The explorer said: “I was getting dizzy, I had a stabbing pain in my back and it was extremely hot. There was a period when I thought, 'I’m not going to make it’.”
The explorer carried everything he needed on his back throughout the duration of the challenge. He ate nuts for breakfast, fruit gels for lunch, and beef jerky and custard with strawberries for dinner. The only thing he longed for was a cup of tea.
Sir Ranulph managed to complete the challenge, overtaking many younger competitors. By Thursday at least 75 competitors, some a quarter of the explorers’ age, had dropped out due to injury or exhaustion.
Satcom Global is so proud to have played a part in sharing this monumental achievement and support the efforts of Marie Curie.
We provided Fieldcraft, the production team following Sir Ranulph’s challenge in the Sahara, with an EXPLORER 710 BGAN HDR satellite terminal which was used to broadcast live to BBC breakfast and keep the world updated with his progress.
You can congratulate Sir Ranulph on completing this challenge, by either:
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