Newmarket runner to tackle Marathon des Sables in Morocco for Arthur Rank Hospice which cared for her late father Taffy Thomas

A Newmarket runner will soon leave for Morocco to take part in what has been called the toughest foot race on earth.

Di Farrell-Thomas, 39, will tackle the gruelling Marathon des Sables in which runners face six marathons in five days across the Sahara desert in temperatures which can reach 50 degrees in the daytime and sink below freezing at night when competitors sleep with minimal cover in the open desert.

She has already raised £7,200 for the Arthur Rank Hospice, where her late father, the top-class lightweight jockey Taffy Thomas, was cared for before his death in January last year, and hopes the total moves nearer to £10,000 by the time she crosses the finishing line.

After flying from Gatwick to Errachidia, in Morocco, which is only an hour from the starting point, Di will have a day and half to deal with technical matters, health checks and acclimatisation before setting off on Sunday with the rest of the 1,200 runners on what she knows will be a huge challenge.

“I haven’t even seen the course yet,” said Di. “We get given what they call a road map when we get off the bus and can see from that what the terrain will be each day.

“Some days it will be in the dunes, where there will be a lot of loose sand and some rocky bits and other days it will be on the salt flats, which are better for running but you have to look out for snakes, and there are some really steep inclines to climb up.”

As well as putting in the miles for several months, Di has been getting used to running with her backpack in which she must carry with her everything she needs, including food, for the five days and nights of the event.

She has also been using a heat chamber at the University of Bedfordshire where she has run on a treadmill in a temperature of 40 degrees which has helped reduce her resting core temperature.

Keeping track of Di on-line back at home will be her wife Kate, mother Sallie and twin sister Amy, while the National Horseracing Museum plans to set up a big screen, linked to Di’s live-tracking each day so anyone can pop in free of charge to check her progress.

To track Di's progress across her race visit the Marathon Des Sables website here and type in Di's race number (1065) into the search bar. You can also send e-mails of encouragement by clicking write to a runner using Di's race number and tent number (99). Make sure both numbers are in the e-mail form and the text message.

To view her fund-raising page see here.

By Tina Murray