A FATHER and daughter have raised more than £12,000 for charity after overcoming the extreme terrain and heat of the Sahara Desert in the “toughest footrace on Earth.”

Holly Millar, of Dringfield Close, Dringhouses, York, and her father Clive recently completed the extreme desert marathon, Marathon Des Sables, in southern Morocco, in aid of Cancer Research and Dementia UK.

It involved them having to trek 250 kilometres over six days in temperatures of up to 45C.

To make the challenge even tougher, Holly and Clive, along with the other competitors, had to be fully self-sufficient for the duration of the race, with the exception of rationed water.

Holly, 26, who is a podiatrist, said: “It comprised of 250 kilometres over six days with us carrying all our nine kilo kit and food, covering miles of sand dunes, salt flats, rocky planes and jebles as high as the Scottish Munros. Temperatures soared to 45 degrees celsius during the day and dropped to four degrees at night. Sand storms threatened the camps at night and anything that wasn’t battened down disappeared into the melee.

She added: “The toughest part was probably on the long day when we had to cover 86 kilometres. We ended up losing six hours on our expected time due to my dad having dehydration issues.

“Apart from the odd blister, and stiff legs until you got going the next morning, physically we were ok throughout really.

“We both loved it and I hope to go back again within the next 10 years.”

This year’s Marathon Des Sables saw more than 1,000 people take part from 49 countries. By the end of the race only 40 people had dropped out.

Explaining why they chose to raise funds for Cancer Research and Dementia UK, Holly said: “We decided to raise money for our charities as cancer and dementia have affected our family recently with my grandfather suffering dementia and my aunt passing away in June 2016 with cancer. That was what made us finally decide we were going to do this challenge.”

They have raised £10,000 and in excess of £12,000 with Gift Aid, which will be split between the two charities.

Holly said: “Thank you to everyone who has supported us throughout our 18 months of training, the event itself by sending us emails of encouragement and of course donating to our charities.”

While Holly now lives in York, Clive, 53, is an arable and poultry farmer in the Scottish Borders, which is where Holly was born and raised.

It is still possible to sponsor the pair by searching for Holly Millar or Clive Millar on virginmoneygiving.com.