Red Hot Chile Runners head for driest desert (From This is Hampshire)

Red Hot Chile Runners head for driest desert

5:00pm Tuesday 9th March 2010 in

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FOUR plucky pals are running 150 miles across the world’s driest desert in a bid to raise £5,000 for charity.

Under team name The Red Hot Chile Runners, Richard Cheetham, 44, a fitness coach for Basingstoke Rugby Football Club, and former Basingstoke RFC players Ross Stirling, 27, David O’Dwyer, 27, and David Lambert, 28, are competing in the Atacama Crossing challenge.

They set off yesterday and are aiming to cross the desert, which is in Chile, in six days.

The four decided to take up the current challenge after climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and raising £10,000 for various charities a couple of years ago.

“This one fitted us so we signed up,” said Mr Cheetham, who lives in Winchester and is a sports coaching lecturer at the city’s university.

He first joined Basingstoke RFC as a player in 1991 when he taught at Basingstoke College of Technology, and has been involved with the club ever since.

He said: “I’m 17 years older than the others so I’m the veteran of the lot. I started coaching them when they joined the seniors.”

His team-mates all went to Cranbourne Business and Enterprise College, in Basingstoke, but now Mr Stirling is a graphic designer and Mr O’Dwyer is a lawyer, both based in London.

Mr Lambert is a Captain in the Army Air Corps and an Apache helicopter pilot. He returned from serving in Afghanistan a month ago.

Mr Cheetham said: “He did a marathon out there with the US Marines and he’s taken leave to come and do this!”

In South America, as part of an organised event, the team will be carrying a 12kg backpack in temperatures of around 40 degrees Celsius.

They will run a marathon per day for four days, 45 miles on day five, including night-time running, and a 10-mile stint on the final day.

Before setting off Mr Cheetham said: “I’m terrified. But we’re excited. We’ve been planning for this for six months.”

So far the team have raised over £4,800 for MENCAP, which supports people with learning disabilities, and should easily break their £5,000 target.

Anyone wishing to make a donation can go to justgiving.com/redhotchilerunners.