Next year's Team Link Sahara Desert Trek for Prospect Hospice will be a radical change of terrain for member Kieran McCarthy.
In March 2023 Kieran, an IT specialist, will join fellow team members Amy O'Reilly, Laura Johnson and Swindon Link editor and owner Jamie Hill for a walk of 60km over the sands of Morocco.
The goal of the quartet is to raise as much money as possible for Prospect Hospice, the Wroughton-based charity which provides end-of life care and has brought comfort to countless patients and their loved ones.
Kieran said: "I'm normally quite stubborn, to be fair. I do quite a lot of mud runs as well, with my brothers, and the last one we did was called Spartan - down near Gatwick.
"That was, I think, just over 15 miles, and I twisted my ankle probably four miles in. I sat down for a couple of minutes but then I thought, 'Nah, just run!' I have the mindset of just keep putting that one foot in front of the other."
Towards the end of May this year Kieran will also run the Edinburgh Marathon to help raise money for the cause.
He said: "We're looking to fundraise as much as possible for Prospect Hospice, and during the next year there will be events we're looking to do, including me running the Edinburgh Marathon.
"It's nice and hilly, and a lot of it is cobbled. I don't actually know the exact route because I've never run a marathon before. I've done the Swindon Half-Marathon, but Marathon-wise it's a new field for me.
"I used to play football five times a week as well as other sports. Running wasn't really the kind of sport where I thought, 'I'm going to go for a run.' But fitness-wise we used to play at a fairly high standard, so the cardio was always there and it's quite easy to transfer across."
He heard about the Sahara Desert Trek from Jamie, and although he confesses that he wonders whether his drunker side agreed at the time, he is determined to succeed or.
People can donate by visiting www.justgiving.com/team/linksahara or www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Kieranmccarthy1
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