A few years ago I weighed 150kg - that's 24 stone. I'm a bus driver and driver trainer on the south coast of England, and like a lot of people in transport, my health wasn't something I prioritised. Long shifts, unsociable hours, convenience food everywhere and a lifestyle that quietly crept up on me.

I turned that around. Through sustainable weight loss, running and fitness, I've since completed multiple marathons, an ultra marathon, and (not one to do things by halves) won my category at the Fortis gym "King and Queen of the South" strongman competition this year. In April 2027 I'm taking on the biggest challenge of my life: the Marathon des Sables.

It's a self-sufficient 250km stage race across the Sahara over six days, carrying everything I need on my back, in temperatures that regularly pass 40°C. It's widely regarded as the toughest footrace on earth.

I'm doing this to prove a point: people who work in transport - an industry of long shifts, night work and hours behind the wheel - can still achieve ambitious things with their health. If I can go from 24 stone to running the Sahara, the first step is possible for anyone.

What this page funds: the race entry fee of £3,500.

The full cost of getting to the start line is around £5,000, and I'm covering the rest - flights, mandatory kit, specialist nutrition and desert equipment - myself. Anything raised beyond the goal goes straight towards those costs - and if we somehow clear the full £5,000 of getting to the start line, every penny above that goes to Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, Go South Coast's charity of the year.

I'm hugely grateful to my employer, Go South Coast, who have committed £1,000 to get this started. Corporate sponsors receive logo placement on my race and training kit, use of my story for internal or external publicity, and updates throughout the build-up and the race itself. If your company would like to be part of the story, get in touch.

I'll be posting regular updates here from now until the finish line. Thank you for reading and for anything you're able to give.

Geoff