Shoreham woman completes Sahara Desert ultramarathon for charity

Caroline Jefferson, 54, trekked over 100km in two days and walked in 40 degree heat as she completed her journey across North Africa.

Now, Caroline says that she relished the experience and is already planning her next long-distance effort.

Caroline, from Shoreham, said: “The temperature was between 30-40 degrees each day. We started off with torchlight so we could make the most of the cooler weather before the sun rose.

“You picture the Sahara as rolling sand dunes, but in fact it looks more like the surface of the moon.

“Seeing the finish line come into sight was another great feeling. When I saw it, I just felt my whole body relax.

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“Beyond it there was music and a chill-out area and a lovely swing seat with plush padded cushions. I sat on the swing seat with a fellow walker, drinking a Fanta to replenish my blood sugars - it was bliss!”

Caroline, who is deaf, finished her trek in October and finished tenth of ninety competitors.

She described a standout moment of seeing a herd of camels bathed in early-morning sunlight and called her experience “really magical”.

Caroline with her old support dog, Sable (Image: Caroline Jefferson)

She added that the most difficult part of the journey was walking through sand dunes in the last two miles of the trek which was “like the dry sand you get in an egg timer”.

Caroline raised over £2,000 for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, a charity which helps to provide support animals to people with hearing difficulties.

Caroline had previously benefited from two separate hearing dogs earlier in her life, adding that she had “first-hand knowledge” of the difference they can make.

She was born deaf after her mother contracted German measles when she was pregnant and was first paired with Jack Russell Lizzie.

When Lizzie died Caroline was paired with Sable, her second hearing dog, in 2001.

She added that she now has an eye on another challenge which will “definitely take me out of my comfort zone” having already climbed Ben Nevis previously.