"Train hard enough to cope with the onslaught of the Namib Desert on your body," write the race directors for the Namibia 24 hour Ultra Marathon. But training yourself physically to put up with the demands that the Namibian Skeleton Coast will place on your body is only a portion of the journey. 

Across the Divide has molded their adventure minded company around the charitable efforts of competitors. There method is a unique blend that builds on the surge of the do-it-yourself attitudes and the growing appetite for competitive exotic adventures.

The Namibian 24 hour Ultra Marathon covers 126 kilometres through what has been nicknamed as the oldest desert in the world, the largest and most remote National Park in Africa, the Namib Desert. It is a 50,000 square kilometre canvas of orange sand. The imagery that has emerged from the park is an intense assault to your senses and makes the deep blue skies and endless gravel plains look something of a utopian dream. The tapping reminder on the shoulder of what you are really doing there is the fact that this race is self supported (whatever you need is up to you to carry – with the exception of extra water at 21 kilometre intervals) and that this section of the Namib Desert has temperature fluctuations from 5C to 36C. 

Steve Tidball writes in his recount of the ’09 event, “It was only once we reached the 2nd check-point that marked the end of the first marathon that the scale of the damage was apparent. The leading athletes arrived with their clothes covered in thick waves of salt. Some of them looked visibly haunted. Others rolled in barely able to walk upright.” 

But isn’t that what makes giving to a charity so much more meaningful. For many of us writing a cheque in favour of a charity is just as soon done as forgotten, brought up into conversation again only at tax time. But giving of yourself and your time to raise funds for a charitable cause is something completely the opposite. The memories and bonds formed can span a lifetime. 

“Of course once I’d started to recover the magnitude of what we’d been through began to kick in. We met people out there who’ll undoubtedly be friends for life. I learnt that the desert is not to be underestimated; it is an awesomely intimidating place capable of destroying you,” adds Tidball.

During the first ten years of existence Across the Divide has facilitated the raising of over £43 million for charitable and socially worthwhile causes and they continue to strive for a target of £4 million per annum.