In April 2006, Peter Murakami will be spending 10 days (April 7th –April 17th) in Morocco participating in the Marathon des Sables, or the Marathon of the Sands.  It is known as the toughest footrace on the planet. Peter learned about the race during 4 months studying abroad in Morocco at Al-Akhawayn University in the Middle Atlas mountains in a town called Ifrane, which is a major training site for elite Moroccan runners. 

Peter hopes the race will test and extend the limits of his endurance, but more importantly he is running for his friend Garret who has the disease Friedreich’s Ataxia (FRDA).  This is a multi-system disorder that results from the degeneration of nerve tissue in the spinal cord and of nerves that control muscle movement in the arms and legs. The spinal cord becomes thinner and nerve cells lose some of their myelin sheath - the nerve cell covering that helps conduct nerve impulses. 

Peter has set a fundraising goal of $5,000 to benefit the Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA) and has created an online fundraising page through Firstgiving to help meet his $5,000 goal.  Supporters can read about his efforts and make a secure online donation through the page at www.firstgiving.com/petermurakami.  

The Marathon of the Sands is a 6 or 7 day (depending on performance) 151 mile endurance race across the Sahara Desert in Morocco.  Peter has been running for 10 years and to train for this event he runs 90 miles a week in Hawaii to get acclimated to the heat.  Temperatures in the Sahara can fluctuate from daytime highs of 125 degrees Faranheit to night-time lows of close to freezing. Runners hope to avoid the sandstorms in which they can barely move, especially as cut-off times threaten those who have fallen behind.

The race arose from one man’s long walk.   The Marathon of the Sands started in 1985 after Frenchman Patrick Bauer found inspiration in walking 200 miles alone across the Algerian Sahara.  Around 700 brave adventurers now participate in this annual event.  Competitors receive only a 9L ration of water and a very basic Berber tent.  Runners must carry all other necessities themselves including all food, clothing, any other sleeping gear they might need, and a list of “survival items”.  To put the seriousness of this race into perspective, one of the “survival items” that is needed is a snake venom pump in case of an attack by a snake. 

Peter met Garret while working as his personal assistant when both were undergraduates at the University of Illinois.  Garrett's coordination and balance problems started when he was 5 years old and worsened over time, causing him to rely on a wheelchair at 15. His condition was not actually diagnosed until he was 20, when the doctors discovered the gene for his disease. Having FRDA has not slowed Garrett down; he has since gone on to earn a degree in finance from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana with the class of 2003.

Peter has run two other marathons in the past, but this is his first in support of FARA. He hopes to get support for this race because of the cause he's running for along with all the challenges and tribulations that this race will undoubtedly entail.