Man of steel completes desert marathon
Greeting industry 'madman' Paul Roberts at Emma Ball Publishing, has finished the epic Marathon De Sables in the Sahara desert with an ironing board strapped to his back, crossing the line at a respectable 364th place out of the 849 who entered.
Commercial Director Paul Roberts, says his motivation for taking part in the desert challenge was partly down to his experience meeting a child with a terminal illness in a children's hospice. He wanted to raise money for the charity while setting himself a personal challenge of a lifetime, both physically and mentally.
He also set himself an 'extreme ironing challenge' to add an extra dimension to the race, strapping a full size ironing board to his back and carrying a travel iron with him over the sandy terrain, before finishing the six day, 151 mile event in 43 hours and 30 minutes.
His manager and lead designer, Emma Ball sent regular updates to industry friends and followers remarking on Paul’s progress. Unbeknown to Paul - a number of greeting industry players have been backing him throughout the race.
Emma Ball said: ““Tracking his progress has been addictive and we are all incredibly proud of him.
"Last Friday we had really good fun in the office watching the live action with fellow greeting card publishers, Holy Mackerel and Little Dog Laughed, on speakerphone together. We all watched Paul cross the finish line on the internet.”
Emma added. “A big thank-you to everyone that’s supported him, emailed him and generally cheered him along the way- it’s meant an awful lot to him and his family I’m sure he’ll have lots of stories to tell when he gets back.”
So far Paul has raised £4,475 for St Richard’s Hospice and a further £355 for national charity, The Children’s Society, with Emma Ball donating 10 percent of the proceeds from their recent internet sales to his cause.
To sponsor Paul for finishing the race, go to his Children’s Society donations page;
www.justgiving.com/Paul-Roberts5/
or St Richard’s hospice donations page;
www.justgiving.com/Paul-Roberts3/
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