A CHESTER dad is taking on the challenge of a lifetime as he trains for a trek known as ‘the toughest footrace on earth’.

Martin Wilcock, from Boughton will run 150 miles across the Sahara desert next April, in a bid to complete the Marathon Des Sables race, which is equivalent to five-and-a-half regular marathons.

Dad-of-three Martin, is attempting the feat to raise money for the Facing Africa, a charity that provides funds for teams of voluntary surgeons from the UK, Germany and Holland to Nigeria and Ethiopia to perform facial reconstruction surgery on the victims of Noma disease.

The illness ravages the face with a gangrenous infection, and is mainly prevalent in children under the age of six who live in extreme poverty and suffer from chronic malnutrition.

Martin is funding the £3,500 cost of the expedition himself, but would like to raise funds of about £2,000 for Facing Africa.

The 37-year-old said: “The Marathon Des Sables has something of a legendary status in my mind, it’s always been a bit of a pipe dream and I feel fantastically privileged to even reach the start line of such an event as it is something so few people have the opportunity to do.

“It’s an honour to be fundraising for Facing Africa because of this privilege and am aiming to raise as much as possible for their cause.”

Although keen sportsman, Martin, a software engineer at Intetech in Rowton, has taken part in other gruelling events, such as the Three Peaks Challenge, he is currently training hard for what will be the biggest challenge of all.

And even his gym, the fitness suite at Rowton Hall, has shown its support, by generously giving him free membership.

“They have been very kind to me and I’m very grateful to them,” said Martin.

“Hopefully I can raise as much as I can for this charity because I really want to give something back.”