Leadbitter are pleased to have sponsored and supported a local vicar from Kennington in Oxfordshire as the first clergyman to take part in a gruelling 150 mile charity race across the Sahara Desert.

At 68, Rev. Terry Smith, of Ross Court, Kennington, was the oldest British entrant to the race, which took place in Morocco over seven days. Rev. Smith ran the Marathon des Sables to raise money for Kennington Cancer Charity, which provides 'pump priming' money to support the work of oncologist Prof Adrian Harris at the Churchill and John Radcliffe Hospitals, Oxford. The charity has so far raised between £6,000 and £7,000.

Rev. Smith said: "I ran the London Marathon three times in aid of a young lad who had a brain tumour and I have buried lots of people who have died of cancer; it's a horrible disease, so I decided to support this charity, which does very good work."

Last year, out of about 200 British competitors who took part, just 100 completed the challenge. Prior to the race Rev. Smith commented: "I'm not at all used to the conditions and I think that's one of the biggest challenges. I have run in snow and floods and ice and wind and all that kind of stuff, but not this kind of heat. I have never done anything like it before and therein lies the challenge. Unless you try to do the impossible, you never know if you can do it or not. I'm the first clergyman ever to do it and I have the dubious pleasure of being the oldest British entrant."

Over 800 competitors took part in the race and Rev. Smith finished in 629th place after running in baking conditions, up mountains and across sand dunes to complete the distance with a total run time of a little over 55 hours. Well done Terry from all at Leadbitter!