Ultra4Veterans Tunisia Desert Race: a 57km Mission for Veterans’ Charities

Sergeant Matthew Sampson, C Company, 4th Battalion, Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment

  On Sunday the 26th of October I ran the Ultra4Charity Ultra4Veterans Tunisia Desert Race. This saw me taking on 57kms of the Sahara Desert with 180 other competitors to raise money for 4 veterans charities.

I was diagnosed with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) through combat trauma in early 2018 after being involved in an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) blast on the 31^st Jan 2012 on Op Herrick 15 with 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (1PWRR). The IED blast saw the multiple commander, Corporal (Cpl) (now Sergeant (Sgt) Retd) Jay Baldwin suffer a lower bilateral amputation.

As a result of this event, plus others during the operational tour it affected my mental health (MH) severely and impacted my service career seeing me become medically downgraded.

I thought this would be the end for me, but through speaking out and seeking help, I was fully upgraded to continue with my army reserve career. Since then I promoted to Sergeant, and just this year I have been awarded the honour of 4PWRR’s Sobraon Sgt award (best Sgt), a Brigade Commander’s Meritorious Service award and now a Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire’s Meritorious Service Award. Hopefully my story helps those who are suffering to speak up, seek help and give faith that a successful military career can be achieved.

I had met Brian Wood, the organiser of the Ultra4Charity event, a few times prior through links within the Regiment, so when I saw he was working to organise an Ultra4Charity event, I had to show my support to a fellow Tiger but more importantly to help those who may find themselves in similar situations to what I have been and hopefully raise further awareness and help to those suffering with MH issues.

Due to the conditions, we had to pack a race vest with essentials; water, food, GPS tracker, electrolytes, survival blanket, warm and wet kit. The race vest totalled 6kgs. There were checkpoints along the route between 8-10km intervals where a medical and physio team were on hand to support and we could take shelter from the sun and replenish water supplies. I had signed up to take part in the 50k race, but due to course changes due to heavy rainfall, this turned out to be 52.9kms.

We set off at 0715 at a good pace of 11min miles and was running as part of a pack with Brian. However, after 2km, we took a wrong turn due to a route marking error. 4kms down the line a safety vehicle chased us down after seeing from our GPS trackers we had taken a wrong turn. They shuttled us back on course, but this added to the overall distance.

After 19 years infantry service my knees felt the strain from the soft sand and with the heat reaching highs of 38 degrees centigrade, it was a real challenge. I made it to the finish line at 57kms, with a movement time of 8 hours and 44 minutes. It was an awesome experience and seeing the sunset over the sand dunes of the Sahara desert is a sight I will never forget. The team at Ultra4Charity succeeded in creating an event that was inclusive of all abilities, pulling people from all over the world to take part in a gruelling challenge. The sense of community that was formed in that desert was inspiring. To see people who had never met before, service members, veterans and civilians going through their lowest and highest and pulling together to support and achieve was amazing.

I am hoping to take part in the next event in the series, the mountains of Albania but may not be able to due to my units operational rotation.

So far I have managed to raise £2265! Funding page here