ARCHITECT Jon Lingard has drawn up his grandest plan yet - a six-day race across the Sahara desert in April.

He is taking part in the notorious Marathon des Sables, regarded as the world's toughest foot race.

Jon, from Hale, will cover 156 miles - the equivalent of five and half marathons - battling sweltering heat and sandstorms.

"I've never run a marathon before. It's my biggest challenge yet and I've not come across anyone who thinks it's a good idea," admitted Jon, who works in Altrincham.

He is raising funds for St Ann's Hospice where his grandfather Doug Naylor was a patient before he died from cancer in 2006.

"My toughest challenge so far was a 100 kilometres trek across the North Yorkshire Moors in 24 hours with my mates who backed out of doing this race.

"One of the biggest problems is training because it's hard to recreate the intense heat in a gym. It'll be impossible to run all the way because of steep sand dunes and temperatures."

Jon will be among 1,300 competitors in the Marathon des Sables (Marathon of the Sands) in Morocco where entrants must carry their own food and clothing and sleep in a tent. Water is rationed and given out at check points.