IF YOU'RE just polishing off the last of the Easter chocolate, spare a thought for Forester, Andy Richards who'll be half way through 'the toughest footrace on Earth'.

Described as a race for either 'lunatics or masochists' the Marathon des Sables covers 151 miles across the Sahara over six days – the equivalent of more than five regular marathons.

Andy, 39, a former Whitecross student from Lydney and Yorkley, has to carry everything on his back, from food to clothes and medical kit.

With midday temperatures of up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, the gruelling race covers everything from rocky and stony ground to sand dunes. The last 50 mile stage across barren wilderness won't be completed until dark and many competitors don't come in until the next day!

Andy, who spent 17 years as an engineer at Glaxo Smithkline Beecham in Coleford, has already been warned the marathon can "trash his feet and cause severe trauma". Training has taken two years during which time he's run from London to Brighton, completed a two day marathon with fellow Forester, Pat Delaney, and trained on Mount Teide in Tenerife.

The father-of-two, who now works at Glaxo's plant in Worthing on the south coast, is running in memory of his friend, Tim Watson, and raising money for Facing Africa, a charity helping the victims of Noma, a gangrenous infection of the face which mostly strikes young children.

To find out more about Noma go to http://www.facingafrica.org">www.facingafrica.org and Andy will be updating his blog with progress on andy-mds2010.blogspot.com