Going to extremes

He has completed many ultra distance races, including the famous Marathon des Sables, which took place in the sweltering Moroccan Sahara Desert.

His next challenge is an epic adventure inside the Arctic Circle.

‘It’s just a natural curiosity that now I’ve completed the race dubbed as “The hottest race on Earth”, I should embark on one of the coldest,’ he said.

On 22 February, he will embark on the Ice Ultra, a 230-kilometre race through five stages of Arctic tundra, endless pine forests, snowy mountains and frozen lakes. It starts in Swedish Lapland, where temperatures will fluctuate between -5 and -40. Daz will be pushing himself mentally and physically to raise vital funds for the Priaulx Premature Baby Foundation.

‘I am preparing to take on an epic self-sufficient ultra marathon with freezing conditions that we’re not used to in Guernsey,’ he explained.

‘The race is fully marked and starts at the Mountain Centre at Stora Sjofallet and finishes in the small town of Jokkmokk. The longest stage is on day four, which is a 64km stage that starts before the sun rises on the remote island of Laxholmen.

‘Apparently, if you are lucky, then nature’s fireworks display, otherwise known as the Northern Lights, would have greeted us over the finish line of day three before we sleep in traditional yurts, warmed by a log fire.

‘Unsurprisingly, there is a large compulsory kit list which includes food for five stages of racing (minimum 2,000 calories per day), medical supplies, race equipment and enough clothing to stay alive in this extreme endurance test.’

Thanks to FerrySpeed, Daz got to test out his clothing in their freezer at -21 degrees.

‘It was an interesting experiment and I learned a few things which will hopefully help me out.’

His training was going well until before Christmas, when he caught Covid.

‘Training halted after I had Covid, but it’s slowly getting back on track. It’s been a struggle but I’m still in good shape, although I haven’t done quite as many miles as I wanted to. We’ll see what happens,’ he said.

He chose to support the Priaulx Premature Baby Foundation because the local charity helped to house some close friends of his in one of their Southampton apartments for a period of time while their son was undergoing life-saving treatment.

Funds received by the PPBF will go towards their compassionate housing next to Southampton Hospital – two vital home-from-home flats that are rarely empty. They help keep families together, close to their ill child in hospital far away from home. The flats provide a real sanctuary for Bailiwick of Guernsey families during exceptionally difficult times.

Jo Priaulx, founder and trustee of PPBF, said: ‘This is an amazing but really tough challenge for Daz. We want to thank him so much for supporting our charity and wish him the best of luck. We hope he has an awesome time.’

• Maiden Guernsey, a band in which Daz plays, are playing a gig this evening at The Vault. There is no entry fee but there will be PPBF collection buckets if people would like to donate to his challenge.

• If you’d like to support Daz, you can donate at https://donorbox.org/darren-ice-ultra