Scots dad running 252km across Sahara Desert to fundraise for 'amazing' Edinburgh children's hospital

A dad is running across the Sahara Desert to raise vital funds for a Scottish children’s hospital that treated his premature son.

Mark Innes is currently fighting his way through the Marathon Des Sables, a six day challenge that will see him run more than 252km.

The 35-year-old, from Tranent, is hoping to raise £50,000 for Edinburgh’s children’s hospital after they treated his son, Lachlan, who was born five weeks premature.

Mr Innes’ partner Ashley O’Neill sang the praises of the “incredible” team at the hospital for their treatment of Lachlan and other children, as well as the support they give parents.

“Our eldest son Lachlan was born five weeks premature, and you don’t realise until you’ve seen it first hand the amount of work and effort they put into supporting parents and children at Edinburgh Sick Kids,” she told STV News.

Ms O’Neill said that the challenge came about after they had watched a programme showcasing the race in January 2023.

“He just said he was going to do it, and I said ‘Mark you don’t run’ and he just replied saying he was going to start training, that was 15 months ago and now we’re here,” she said.

Since leaving for challenge on Thursday, Ms O’Neill has only been able to get updates from her partner with minute-long videos sent to her, where he described running on sand dunes “the size of the Pentlands”.

The 35-year-old, from Tranent, is hoping to raise £50,000 for Edinburgh Children's hospital. — The 35-year-old, from Tranent, is hoping to raise £50,000 for Edinburgh Children’s hospital. Supplied

“It’s a crazy challenge and really emotional,” she explained.

“On Thursday, he seemed really broken in his video, I thought it would’ve come after his 85km run but he seemed okay after that despite burning 16,000 calories.

“It’s mad to say but he’d only ran 42km that day which is a full marathon, but he’s carrying all his food so he won’t be able to properly fuel up. It was really emotional to see.”

However, in Friday’s video she said he was “flying” and seemed in really good spirits as the finish line approaches.

“Mark is just the sort of guy who really cares about giving back and he has always been like that.

“He started his own company, Tartan Timber, and has donated over 40 supply boxes to nurseries as well as built them some treehouses which he was working on till just before he left. That’s just who he is,” Ms O’Neill said.

The dad-of-two has been collecting donations via a Just Giving Page since April 2023, which has raised over £15,500.

Ms O’Neill added that he has also raised around £8,000 from businesses that have donated while he has been doing the challenge that will add to the total.