Running Hot & Cold

Follow Doug Richards' incredible running journey, from his first mile at the approach of middle age, via marathons at home and abroad, and on to wider and wilder horizons. How will a bus-pass-bearing pensioner fare running across the Sahara Desert and the polar ice-cap, confronting elephants in South Africa and tsunami devastation in Sri Lanka?

It''s now a common sight to see people of all ages and abilities running through our towns, parks and rural areas; but it can still be surprising where the running journey can take us. Doug Richards was indifferent to exercise until, approaching his middle years, he became increasingly aware of his declining fitness. So Doug took up running. Rather slowly at first; but he made steady progress. Follow Doug''s journey - overcoming modern-life obstacles including a marriage breakdown, work-related stress, anxiety and depression - from that very first one-mile run to marathons at home and abroad. And so on to wider and wilder horizons. How do you prepare for running 140 miles across the Sahara Desert? How does a bus-pass-bearing pensioner stay upright running on Greenland''s polar ice-cap? Read of a confrontation with elephants in South Africa, puddles in the desert in China and the emotional rollercoaster of running in tsunami-ravaged Sri Lanka.