THE SIMPSON DESERT MULTIMARATHON

THE SIMPSON DESERT MULTIMARATHON.

MEDIA RELEASE.

Fifteen marathons in 15 days. For real. No foot race on Earth can match this.

The inaugural Simpson Desert MultiMarathon starts on September 15. It's the ultimate test of human (and superhuman) endurance. Think that's an exaggeration? Consider this: the 240km Marathon des Sables in the Sahara Desert is the current benchmark for multi-marathons. At 650km, Australia's version eats the Sahara alive. Two-forty kilometres? Please. Do another couple of laps and get back to us. Real-life drama will unfold on a daily basis. The harsh/mystical/mesmerising/unforgiving Australian outback will provide a compelling backdrop. Runners will push themselves beyond every limit to become the first champion of has the potential to become an iconic race. He'll have claims to being the fittest and toughest athlete in Australia. Fifteen charities will benefit. The starting gun will go off at Lamberts Centre, smack-bang in the middle of this big brown sprawling land, with the finish line for anyone left standing (no guarantees) just a stone's throw from the Birdsville Hotel. Ten runners will tackle the danger-laden course this year, just an appetiser for what's on the horizon. An international
field capped at 100 is expected for 2012 given the soaring levels of interest from overseas runners and agents. They need another 12 months to prepare for a race that will spit out the underdone.

It's a race for the lion-hearted, the adventurous, the bold, the breathtakingly fit. If you're in less than peak condition, you won't make it. The terrain adds a whole new dimension. The Simpson has more than a thousand sand dunes, river crossings, 50-plus degree heat, dust storms, torrential rain. It has dingoes, bull camels, taipans - if you're easily spooked, stay at home. The physical demands are obvious. The mental strain is overwhelming. The Simpson can send the uninitiated stir-crazy. The
repetitiveness of certain sections of scenery, the brutality of the weather, the isolation, the disconnect from the modern world - when four runners tried the course for charity last year, three of them fell in a screaming heap. Only man finished. His name was Barry Golding.

"The race in the Sahara has the reputation for being the toughest foot race in the world," Golding says.

"But I think of our race like this. Go to the Sahara and when those runners have just crossed the finish line, when they've collapsed with exhaustion and they're all rolling round saying how much it hurts, tap them on the shoulder and tell them they've got to do nearly two more. That's what our race is. Double the Sahara. I've done this run, once, and it's just brutal. No words can do justice to how bloody hard this is going to be."

Fifteen charities will benefit: Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors, National Breast Cancer Foundation, ALCCRF, Starlight Childrens Foundation, Canteen, Make-A-Wish Australia, Angel Flight, Youth Insearch, SIDS and KIDS, Ronald McDonald House Westmead, Barnados Australia, Bear Cottage, MS Research Australia, Muscular Dystrophy Foundation, Telstra Child Flight. Each charity will have a designated day when all proceeds raised will go straight into their coffers. All of which makes this a one-of-a-kind event. The Simpson Desert Multimarathon will reward runners who are tough enough to roll up their sleeves and fight the elements, their own exhaustion, the mental demons, when lesser athletes would quit and get the first flight back to civilisation. It will take them through the spiritual heart of the country. It will raise money for those in need. In short, this is as Australian as it gets.

"I wanted to do something in the memory of three women I trained about 20 years ago," Golding says. "They all died within one year of each from breast cancer. It shattered me because here they were, looking healthy one minute but they're gone the next. You hear about these sorts of things but you're not personally involved so you're a bit detached. One day, though, you are involved and it's a shock to the system. Within the space of that one year, they all died - and they were all under the age of 30. I had to go to each one of their funerals. I stood at those funerals and made a commitment to help research, because research is the only way to beat the damn thing. I knew these women pretty well, trained them for years, they all did their first marathons with me, all that stuff. I made a promise to make a difference somehow but I didn't know how to do it until now."

Why do it?

For the best reasons - to help. Give charities the funds they need. Give the world's best ultra -distance runners the chance to push themselves in a race and environment like no other.

"It's the race of truth," Golding says.