REDDITCH adventure runner Doug Richards has successfully completed a half marathon in the Australian outback, in the shadow of Ayers Rock/Uluru.
It is all part of the Winyates resident’s quest to run at least that distance on every continent of the planet.
Doug, aged 69, is a regular at Arrow Valley parkrun and a run leader with several local groups, and has now completed his challenge on six of the world’s seven continents. It leaves only Antarctica which he plans to visit in March of next year.
The published author finished in 58th place out of 171 competitors in this latest 13-mile race in Northern Territories.
He said: “Although it was the Australian winter, the temperature still reached over 30 degrees C in the latter stages of the run, and conditions underfoot were quite tricky with about 80 per cent of the route being on soft, red sand.”
Doug has raised well over £1,000 for the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity from this run alone and, in future races, will continue to support this life-saving charity that helps both young and old and receives no government funding.
An online fundraising page for the race in the Australian Outback has been set up – simply search for DougRichards4 on the justgiving website.
