Cork man completes gruelling 'bucket-list' Marathon Des Sables

CORK man, Jason Nichol, who placed 29th out of 850 competitors in the world-renowned Marathon Des Sables, says the race was a “bucket list” achievement.

The 253km challenge, which was spaced over six days, took place last month in the Sahara desert in Morocco, near the border of Algeria.

Mr Nichol, a Ballincollig local, said the race was something he wanted to do for some time. He used the opportunity to raise awareness and money for the Irish Lung Fibrosis Association (ILFA), a cause that he described as close to home.

Mr Nichol was the first Irish person to complete the 38th edition of the race, with his score landing him the second-ever highest ranking achieved by an Irish person in the history of the event.

Speaking to The Echo about his experience, Mr Nichol said that by running over 250 kilometers in six days “you’re averaging nearly a marathon a day”.

“You’re running over sand dunes and rocky terrain, in temperatures that are reaching the low 50s, and it’s self-sufficient, so you’re carrying everything on your back for the entire week. Your food, your race nutrition, and your sleeping mat,” he said.

“Obviously, being a Cork man, I’m more acclimatised to cold wet temperatures, so it was a bit of a shock,” he added.

“It’s known as one of the hardest races in the world,” he said, admitting, “it was tough.”

Describing his decision to fundraise for ILFA, Mr Nichol explained that his mother suffers from pulmonary fibrosis, a condition that impacts both quality of life and lung function.

“I think this is an illness that a lot of people are unaware of, and unfortunately there is no cure for it,” he said.

“For me, this was very much a personal goal and more importantly, gave me the opportunity to showcase and raise awareness for ILFA and pulmonary fibrosis sufferers.

“Unlike a lot of big charity organisations, they don’t get a lot of government funding and are very much reliant on donations,” he said.

“It’s amazing, in the last two weeks, the donations have been flooding in, and it’s really helping.

“The support and the encouragement I’ve gotten, everyone has been so generous. I’m blown away,” he added.

Mr Nichol set an initial fundraising goal of €1,000, which was very quickly succeeded and raised to €2,000. That figure was later passed, with his donations page closing at €6,825.

Asked about future plans he said: “I think I have to let the dust and sand settle on this one a little bit, but I’ve got some races in the pipeline, there’s no doubt about it.”