A GRUELLING desert trek awaits a Hillmorton woman who will walk over 50 miles across the Sahara to raise money for the charity which helped her deal with depression.
Zoe Slade will head to Morocco next week to walk two marathons in two days in the blazing Saharan heat in aid of mental health charity Coventry and Warwickshire Mind.
In her year as chair of Rugby Webb Ellis Ladies Circle, the 32-year-old decided to take on the Saharan Challenge to raise money for a local charity – and give something back to the people who helped her to live with her mental health issues.
Having completed a walking marathon in London last October, Zoe decided she wanted to do something more challenging.
“I’m excited,” she said. “It’ll be a great experience and I’ll see some wonderful scenes.
“I’m also really anxious. I’ve pushed myself this far, but it’s still a massive step to take and I don’t know how I or my feet will be able to cope with the heat!”
But her training should stand her in good stead, having taken on over 550 miles so far – including 28 miles in 9.5 hours at the Wye Valley Challenge.
“I’ve been building up my distance since February. I’ve done one walking marathon before, but that was in London in October – so under very different conditions!
“I do most of my training locally, making use of the canal paths and routes between neighbouring villages, but I head to the peaks or the Cotswolds when I need a change of scenery or fancy a few more hills.
“I try to do one long walk a week, but sometimes it’s hard to fit the hours in around daily life. I’ve had to do lots of preparation to understand how I can avoid blisters and take on the right amount of water and food – lots of trial and error.
“I did some walking last week and the laces came off my shoes. I was really worried that I wouldn’t be able to get them fixed and I’d have to try and bed in a new pair. Thankfully the cobbler at Timpsons got them sorted for me!”
Zoe says raising funds for Coventry and Warwickshire Mind is worth all the effort.
She said: “I suffer with depression and anxiety, but have it under relative control thanks to regular therapy.
“I’m on the tail end of a particularly bad period of mental health, but after a year of therapy I feel better equipped than ever to tackle the challenges life throws at me.
“Mind are a great resource to access this, and to turn to in a crisis. I particularly like the drop in sessions they run and how they support other activities such as gardening to support mental health.
“I walk past the drop-in centre in Cromwell Road on a regular basis and the plants and flowers look amazing. Just those alone make me smile.”
Zoe flies out on Thursday October 11 and will walk marathons on the following two days before flying home on the Monday.
Coventry and Warwickshire Mind delivers services to help people live with and recover from mental health problems. Visit www.cwmind.org.uk for more information.
Visit www.thesaharanchallenge.com for more on the Saharan Challenge.
Visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/zoesaharan to donate to Zoe’s cause.
