Spencer Matthews Shares Update From The Desert Amid 30 Marathons Challenge
12 August 2024, 09:32 | Updated: 12 August 2024, 10:12
Spencer Matthews is half asleep running his 30 marathons in 30 days!
Spencer Matthews is running 30 marathons in 30 days for Global’s Make Some Noise and he joined Capital Breakfast to give as an update on how the gruelling task is going.
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Spencer Matthews is in the Jordanian Desert running 30 marathons in 30 days, all on sand, to raise money for our charity Global’s Make Some Noise, and as of Monday 12th August he’s run over 630km so far.
The incredible feat has seen Spencer overcome injury, barely putting pressure on his foot while his physiotherapist helped him work through it, but he said one of the other hardest parts has been all the flies surrounding them in the desert.
He told us: “The flies are no good. Of all the things, I think if the team were given a choice to run into a hyena or the files I think they’d choose the hyena because there’s five of us. The flies are horrendous it’s when you stop in the sun they’re all over you, they bite you.”
Spencer said he’s also struggling to get enough rest, which is imperative for his recovery, only managing between four and five hours per night.
He said: “Honestly I feel like my body been put int a tumble dryer. It’s hard to get going again each morning because when you do get to sleep - sleep's the commodity out here - so when you do get sleep, you wake up very stiff, very achey, but the body is holding out better than I expected at this time.”
Spencer continued: “You’re very very lucky to get four and a half or five hours sleep, repeat that 15 times while running in the desert, it’s easy to fall into negative headspace. I’m asleep the first 10km, we call them ‘free kilometres’.”
The podcast host added that raising money for GMSN has been their driving force.
He said: “It is rough and it is hard but it’s an incredible journey, I feel very privileged to be able to run in this part of the world and raising money for GMSN, it’s driving us forwards and it is a real pleasure. But it is pretty tough. I’ve ran over 630km so far.”
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