Breakfast in Manchester - Supertramp

Sir Ranulph - Photo Liz Scarff

Lyric:- I'm hoping it's going to come true - Davies & Hodgson

Song Choice:-Ok I know it's America, but it's the best I could do and it's a great track anyway and rather than hoping I know it's going to come true as anythiing can if you put your mind to it.

I've been putting my mind to training the Ultimate Boy's Own Hero and 2015’s got off to the best start ever as I’m really proud to say that I’m now coaching Sir Ranulph Fiennes for this year’s Marathon des Sables (MdS) in April. Yesterday's trip to BBC Breakfast was just totally awesome!

It’s a real accolade and honour for me as a coach to take on training ‘The World’s Greatest Living Explorer’ according to the Guinness Book Records.

It’s going to be a real challenge for Sir Ranulph too as he’s taking on the extremes of the +50c degrees heat, desert storms and endless sand dunes that the Sahara will have in store for him, instead of the -50c high altitudes, snow and ice that he’s far more used to conquering.

The extra twist is that Sir Ranulph, now 71 years old, will be the oldest British competitor to take on the MdS and it’s my job to get him to the finish line safely in one piece. So far the training has been going really well, at 71 he’s still a real machine and although he has admitted to not liking the heat very much, he really has no off button when it comes to giving it everything he’s got, he’s a coaching dream.

On BBC Breakfast with Charlie and Naga

It’s what I expected though and in the next three months I will be teaching him the ‘Desert Craft’, I’ve gained from my eleven MdS finishes he’ll need to survive the 250km (156 miles) six day, six stage race. It’s going to be fascinating to see how he gets on in the race against people less than half his age.

For me as a Performance Coach, it’s my most exciting challenge to date and I’m going to do everything I can to make sure Sir Ranulph gets the exclusive MdS Medal and raises the huge sum of money he’s pledged to raise for Marie Curie Cancer Care.

If you want to donate £5 please Text RUN to 70007.

More tomorrow...