If you thought Sunday's London Marathon on a warm day was daunting, how about Jeremy Maddocks' six-day run across the Sahara in 50-degree heat?
The Fulham cyber security consultant successfully completed the Marathon des Sables – the toughest footrace on the planet – a 156-mile (250km) ultra-marathon over six gruelling days, where all you see, having scrabbled to the top of a sand dune, is... another sand dune.
Nine months of jogging through Bishops Park and along the Thames from his home in Doneraile Street, near Craven Cottage, prepared the 59-year-old for the ordeal, which has already smashed his fundraising target to make more than £6,000 for Hell's Kitchen, a Ukrainian charity feeding bombed-out victims of war around Kharkiv.
Jeremy's son Hamish worked as a volunteer in the conflict-torn country, inspiring dad to train for the desert challenge.
Limited to 1,000 contestants from all over the world, the 39th edition of the tortuous race saw some runners drop out through heatstroke and foot issues.
"Every year the race is slightly different – this time it was extra sandy, with 60 per cent of the route across sand, and the rest up and down rocks, hills and mountains," said Jeremy, who had to carry all his supplies on his back.
Some dunes were 80m high. "You end up crawling on your hands and knees, like something out of an old British movie," he said. "You're crawling, but sliding backwards all the time. If you stop, you just go down!"
Exhausting
The 30km that Jeremy ran on the first day was absolutely exhausting, but another day involved 84km of running. "We all thought it would be fun, meeting Bedouin people, but it proved to be a real revelation, despite all the training, when the heat, sweat and reality all kicked in."
What did he think about as he was running through the sand? Jeremy laughed. "I had some earpods, and sometimes I listened to Boris Johnson's autobiography! It's very long, but I needed something that would last, something I didn't have to concentrate on too much, and something that wouldn't matter if I got heatstroke!"
He also pictured himself running alongside the Thames in Fulham, imagining the distance until the next checkpoint where medical teams ("like something out of M*A*S*H") would be waiting. "I'd say to myself 'It's only a little bit further until Hammersmith Bridge'."
Jeremy's heroic effort meant he finished top of his seniors' age group, coming in 84th out of 1,000 and winning an extra award for his achievement.
"It's deeply humbling," he added. "You quickly realise that everyone doing it is pushing themselves to their limit. I managed that long 84km day in 11 hours and 10 minutes, through a sandstorm, but next day, when we woke up, there were still people finishing. One girl took 32 hours. We all lined up and clapped her home."
What's next?
It's way too early for Jeremy to answer the 'What's next' question, so until he's got his head straight he'll carry on doing park runs in Bishops Park. "Now I'm just running for pleasure, and I'm just happy with that."
By a curious coincidence, Jeremy's house in Fulham is called Sandholme; the name the developer chose when constructing Doneraile Street 150 years ago.
You can still top up Jeremy's charity fundraising here.
