A MAN gave himself a mission to “beat diabetes” by running the equivalent of about five marathons across the Sahara Desert.

Rob Brown, 41, was diagnosed with type one diabetes when he was 13.

Throughout his 20s he felt the condition prevented him from doing the outdoor activities he wanted to try.

The now father-of-three, who lives in Kingsway, Hove, with his children Bluebelle, seven, Maximilian, four, and Marigold, two, and wife Nathalie, has recently completed the Marathon de Sables, a 226.4 km across the Sahara Desert in temperatures reaching 45 degrees.

He said: “Having type one diabetes affects every decision you make, every day, from when you wake up to when you go to bed.

"It’s a constant balancing act ... injecting too much or having too little insulin can be incredibly dangerous, to the point where you can die if it’s not monitored enough.

"From a teenager into my 20s I was overwhelmed by the condition.”

During the multi-marathon Rob ran about 15 hours straight in just one of the days. Fortunately he uses the Dexcom G6, a continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) device, that tracks his glucose levels 24 hours a day, providing real time alerts if his levels exceed or drop below his defined levels.

The heat can make him more sensitive to insulin and at one point during the run he overdosed on the hormone.

He said: “The temperature reached 45 degrees. Some of the conditions were punishing. But there was one route along unbroken sand dunes which was beautiful.

I really felt like I beat diabetes. So many doors were slammed shut when I was diagnosed but this run, the run of my life, made can’t become can.”

The blogger said the inspiration behind the extreme challenge came from when he interviewed a couple who completed the Marathon de Sables.

He said: “I have always loved the outdoors. But at the time I thought I could never do anything like what they had done because of diabetes.”

But soon after he met Rody Riddle, a former Commonwealth cyclist living with type one diabetes who, according to Rob, was the first person to complete the Marathon de Sables with the diagnosis.

Rob said: “I just thought right, I have to get fit.

"I did Crossfit training and running, including a 66-mile run on the Isle of Wight and went on to complete the run of my life.”

He ran for Diabetes UK, JDRF, a non-profit organisation that funds type 1 diabetes research and T1 International, a charity making insulin accessible to those in poorer countries.