With its damp sand and biting coastal wind, Balmedie beach is a far cry from the Sahara desert.
Yet on this stretch of north-east coastline a father and son from Portlethen are training for a race that could be described as a journey through hell.
This April, Bronson and son Jayden Larkins will take on the Marathon des Sables, a gruelling 160-mile ultramarathon that snakes through the scorching dunes of the Sahara.
Over seven days, they will endure blistering daytime heat of up to 60°C, freezing nights, and punishing terrain, all while carrying their own food, tents, and supplies.
Each day, they’ll push themselves across distances ranging from 13 to 53 miles. One brutal stage will see them run through the night, navigating the vast desert by moonlight and headtorch.
It’s no coincidence the Marathon des Sables is dubbed “the toughest footrace on earth”.
So, how do Balmedie’s cold, windswept sands measure up?
Jayden laughs. “Gruelling,” he admits. “It’s certainly a lot harder than you’d think.”
The horrific skiing accident that led Jayden to running
Jayden, 24, is a mechanical engineering student at Robert Gordon University and currently on placement at Dyce-based Wellvene.
Despite only taking up running seriously a couple of years ago with The Green Run Club in Aberdeen, he has already tackled a marathon and run 31 miles in a training run with a friend.
But the Marathon des Sables is an entirely different beast.
“I enjoy running and I enjoy trying to get faster times, but it’s definitely not speed that I enjoy the most. It’s seeing how far and how long I can push myself,” he says.
“I find it much more enjoyable being able to go out for four, five, six hours.”
That resilience, he believes, partly comes from an experience that shaped his life — his recovery from a serious spinal injury after a skiing accident in Austria when he was 18.
He fractured multiple vertebrae and spent months in a back brace and physiotherapy. He was preparing to join the army at the time but was rejected due to his injury.
“Since then, it’s just been about being grateful for still having the movement that I’ve got,” he says. “That kind of took me to running — to keep fit and to see how healthy I can be.”
How training for Marathon des Sables has changed Bronson
Jayden originally signed up for the Marathon des Sables, which takes place in Southern Morocco, on his own, but it didn’t take long for his dad to join him.
“I told Dad that I’d signed up,” he recalls. “And half an hour later, he phoned me and said he’d done it too.”
For Bronson, 47, the decision was about more than just running. “This time last year, I was probably the most unfit I’d ever been in my life,” he admits. “Not unhealthy, but just unfit. Now, after 10 months of training, I’m probably the fittest I’ve been in 15 years.”
But beyond fitness, the race is about creating memories.
“Ten years ago, I climbed Kilimanjaro with friends and colleagues. Even now, when I bump into them, we reminisce for ages because it was such a special experience.
“That got me thinking — I wanted to create something like that with Jayden. He’s 24 now, and I thought, ‘We could go on a holiday, but why not really challenge ourselves and make it meaningful?’”
Jayden needed little convincing.
“It’s all about making those memories,” he says. “It’s a very small group of people who can say they’ve done the race with their dad.”
‘Three months ago, I was feeling nervous’
Running across the Sahara is tough enough, but doing so while carrying all their own equipment adds another layer of difficulty.
Each competitor must be fully self-sufficient for the week, with their pack containing everything from food to sleeping gear, medical supplies, and mandatory safety equipment.
“You scrutinise every bit of weight,” Bronson explains. “The difference between carrying nine and a half kilos and eight and a half kilos over that distance is massive. People don’t take extra clothes — what you wear is what you wear for the week.”
It will be tough, but Bronson is eager to face it.
“Three months ago, I was feeling nervous,” he admits. “But the more I train, the more I read about it, the more I watch videos — I just can’t wait.”
The challenge is personal, but the father and son are also using it to raise money for Walkoncemore, a charity that supports people with spinal cord injuries. Given Jayden’s past, it was an obvious choice.
“That was Jayden’s chosen charity, and I thought, ‘What a great cause — it all fits perfectly,’” Bronson says. “We’re reaching out to contacts and companies to raise as much as we can.”
Meanwhile, Jayden hails the space he has been given by RGU to complete his epic adventure.
“I work four days a week, and then one day a week I do my uni work,” he says. “Having that flexibility has definitely given me the chance to focus on running.”
Who inspires who?
Bronson hopes that, as a father, he has been an inspiration to his son. “Like any dad, you want to inspire your kids. I’d like to think Jayden looks at me that way,” he says. “But I’ve never actually asked him.”
He doesn’t need to. Here’s his answer.
“Absolutely,” says Jayden, when asked if his dad inspires him. He clearly remembers the time, ten years ago, when Bronson climbed Kilimanjaro.
“That was a pivotal moment for me – I realised these extreme challenges that you always hear about other people doing aren’t just for ‘other people.’ They’re actually within reach. That changed my whole mindset.”
A family affair for the Larkins
Mum Dawn and sister Beau will be closely following the Larkins’ progress from Portlethen, though both Jayden and Bronson say the women in the family are happier watching from the sidelines when it comes to this level of running.
For the men, though, it’s the scale of the challenge that unites them.
“We’re really close,” Jayden says. “He’s the one who got me into snowboarding. He’s the one who bought me my first pair of running shoes. So it’s kind of gone full circle.”
And he adds: “There’s not a doubt in my mind that we won’t both cross that finish line,” Jayden says. “Even if we’re crawling over it, we’ll do it together.”
Click here to donate to Jayden and Bronson’s fundraiser.
Conversation