'I'm doing Sahara race for men's mental health'

A Yorkshire man who is set to attempt what has been dubbed "the toughest foot race on earth" said he was doing it to raise awareness of men's mental health.

Charlie Parish, 36, from Harrogate, began the 252km (155 mile) Marathon des Sables through the Sahara Desert in Morocco this week.

The seven-day race has seen Mr Parish carry all of his gear and food and sleep in a tent with eight others - raising money for suicide prevention charity Campaign Against Living Miserably (Calm) in the process.

"I've had fairly severe mental health issues in the past," he said. "Thankfully I'm in a great place at the moment which is why I feel comfortable to highlight it."

He added: "I have never used the services offered [by Calm] but I think it's extremely important that people are aware of how they can get help."

Mr Parish said men's mental health was a cause close to his heart.

"Sometimes it just needs to be on a much lower level of guys saying 'I've had a crap day' or texting a mate and saying 'do you want to have a beer?'," he said.

"If we make it more casual, it can be talked about a bit more."

In order to prepare for the race, which could see him running on soft sand in temperatures of up to 50C, Mr Parish said he had been running on a treadmill in a heated laboratory at Leeds Beckett University.

He said his vitals had been monitored to help him understand when he needed to slow down.

"I wasn't completely overwhelmed and shocked [by the heat]... so that was a tick of the box, if you like," he said.

Mr Parish said he had also spent months planning how to bring the lightest possible pack, getting it down to about 7.5kg.

"Asking people how much things weigh on [online shopping app] Vinted has been an interesting experience," he said.

He said his motivation for doing the marathon, alongside the charitable cause, was a "fascination" with extreme endurance.

He has previously taken part in Endure24, during which runners do as many 8km laps as possible in 24 hours.

"It all comes from just trying to find a limit of what my mind can do, what I can overcome," Mr Parish said.

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