BALLARAT chiropractor Brett Foote is preparing to run across the Sahara Desert.Some say he is crazy. Most are supportive.Foote says it will be an amazing experience.He starts in the southern-central Moroccan town of Ouarzazate and will clock up more than 250 kilometres in his six-day quest.It is the famed Marathon des Sables and Foote could not think of any better way to celebrate his 40th birthday.Runners are not sure exactly where they are heading until they receive their racebook on day one.What they do know is this year's event will include some of the biggest dunes in the Moroccan Sahara, touted at least as big as climbing Mt Buninyong.Foote will arrive in Ouarzazate on April 1.He will be bussed to the outskirts of town where the next day his backpack will be checked.Must-have items include anti-venom (for snake or scorpion bites), flares, minimal kilojoules, and personal items (like toilet paper) for the entire journey.Specialised shoe covers are designed to keep sand and stones out of his shoes.Competitors will average 25-30 kilometres for the first three stages.Days four and five are set aside for an 80km stage.Foote is scheduled to run a marathon on his birthday.Foote ran his first half-marathon in 2006.He moved to full marathons in 2007 and 2008.In 2009, Foote took a break from distance running but last year completed his first ultradistance at the Comrades Marathon in South Africa.The plan was to work up to the Marathon des Sables by 2012 but a spot came up early and Foote seized his chance.Foote says he is far from a fast marathon runner. His aim is to complete the distance.Foote has heard that two days in the Sahara will make you a desert person.He has heard tales of competitors falling sick or splitting their feet open. But they do anything to reach the finish line.It is the stories of mental toughness that inspire Foote and spur him on to test his own courage.Preparation is tough to plan.Hygiene and foot care are imperative as is sun protection, hydration and nutrition.Scorching dry heat and sand storms are only the beginning hurdles.Foote looked forward to running through desert communities and meeting all nationalities along his journey.Foote’s training base is Ballarat.Foote is in talks with the University of Ballarat to organise a couple of sessions in the heat chamber to help acclimatise.He says three to four sessions about a week out from the race should be enough – any more is likely to be redundant, and going too soon is likely to wear off.This is lucky because Foote’s family summer holiday is far from Sahara conditions.Foote will spend his leave on an ice-breaker in Antarctica.The family will wait in Argentina to board, where Foote hoped to squeeze in a few runs, but from there the trip is mostly a different kind of sight-seeing.Both locations – the Sahara and Antarctic – are high on Foote’s to-do list.