Ryan Sandes is about to embark on his first race of the year. The endurance trail runner will take part in the Namibia Desert race which begins on Sunday.
The event is part of the Racing the Planet series which takes place in various locations around the world. Competitors run around 250 kilometers in the race's seven day duration.
Sandes began his endurance trail running career in 2006 and was the winner of two major desert marathons in 2008. He won both the Gobi desert race in China as well as the notorious Sahara.
He has never run in Namibia before and Sandes says he will tread wearily.
"Every race is different so you cannot be too confident. It's in a new place I have never run their before so I am not 100 percent sure of what to expect with regards to the temperature and foot conditions. The start is going to be at the Fish River Canyon which won't be easy."
Despite his good performances last year, Sandes says a win at this race is the last thing on his mind right now.
"Going into a race like this your first aim is to just finish. I will see how the first few days go and then take if from there. I am quite new to the sport but I think that I have gotten a lot stronger in the last year."
