Essex Police Chief Inspector takes on the toughest footrace on Earth
He's running 156 miles across the desert
An Essex Police Chief Inspector is preparing to take on the world's toughest footrace across the Sahara Desert.
Next week, Leigh Norris, 46, will compete in the Marathon des Sables , a 156-mile race which takes place in Morocco.
He'll battle with temperatures of over 40 Celsius and traverse distances of up to 50 miles a day, whilst carrying food, water and supplies, all to raise money for disability charity, Scope.
Leigh describes the stages of the race: "It's six continuous days, with different length stages every day - anything between 15 and 50 miles per day.
"Day four is always the longest stage, which is normally around about 50 miles but you have about 34 hours to complete that, so it bleeds into day 5 and then on day 6, you always end with a marathon distance."
He was inspired to take part in the tough competition after breaking his foot four years ago: "The surgeon said he'd be surprised if I could walk again properly and that he'd never seen such a bad foot break, so when I recovered I didn't want to take it for granted.
"I'm 47 this year and, I just decided to do it now because as you get older, your confidence goes a little bit, so now's the time and I'm going to give it a really good go."
Whilst the distances seem huge to many people, Leigh says the distances are the least of his worries: "I think the distances everyday are manageable, but then you throw in all the other factors - the dehydration, carrying all your own kit, sleeping out in a big, open-sided tent.
"You need the ability to be able to get up every day and keep going."
Leigh has lots of experience in endurance sport, to date, having completed ten ironman triathlons, which have gained him 'All World Athlete' status, meaning he's in the top 10% of ironmen in his age group worldwide, and more than 20 marathons.
He believes these experiences, and his 25 year career with Essex police, have helped him get ready for the race: "Some of the things that we have to deal with, like working long hours, quick changes between duties, things you have to deal with spontaneously... alongside my triathlons, where you're on the go for 12, 13, 14 hours non stop, I'm hoping that will help."
He's also done some specialist training: "I did a heat chamber session on a treadmill in a really small room, barely bigger than the treadmill, with the temperature up to 40 degrees...
"I knew I was a heavy sweater when I run, but my word, I lost a kilo of fluid in an hour, so I've got to watch my pace when I'm out there and get that balance of taking it steady."
Whilst competing in the race, he's raising money for Scope, the disabled charity: "I wanted a UK based charity, and, having researched what Scope do, and what they offer and seeing some of the people that are involved with them, I just felt it was a really worth worthwhile cause."
He's so far raised over £2000 via his Just Giving page.
After competing in what's known as the world's toughest race, most people would want a rest, but Leigh's already planning his next steps: "I've managed to get Team GB place with British Triathlon in the sport of Aquabike, so I'm representing them at two different events this year, which I'm really proud of.
"Also, in June I'm running the length of Hadrian's Wall - about 69 miles in 24 hours, and then in September I've got a place in the All World Athlete Ironman Triathlon...
"I just think I've got to smash it while I can, because I'll get to a point where I don't fancy it, so I try and do as much as I can now."