HE is the daredevil adventurer who has already beaten a series of life-threatening health trials to notch up one world first.
Now 31-year-old Luke Robertson - who last year became the youngest Scot to ski 730 miles to the South Pole - is to take on a challenge on a different temperature scale altogether.
The record-breaking polar explorer will bid to beat temperatures of 50°C from -50°C and one year to the day since becoming the first Scot and youngest British born explorer in history to ski 730 miles solo to the South Pole, Mr Robertson, is now training.
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The adventurer, who has an artificial pacemaker and has undergone brain surgery, and his wife Hazel, will be taking on the Marathon des Sables, a gruelling 150 mile multi-stage running race through the Sahara Desert, billed as the "toughest footrace on earth".
During the race - where water is rationed daily - competitors must be self-sufficient, carrying all food, sleeping gear and other equipment they’ll need, including anti-venom pumps in case they are bitten by deadly scorpions, snakes or spiders.
The race is even more impressive given that only a few years ago he was undergoing surgery to remove a suspected brain tumour, which turned out to be an extremely large and rare enterogenous cyst, and also has a pacemaker fitted after suffering complete heart block in his early twenties.
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The adventuring couple, who were married in August last year and are Ambassadors for the charity Marie Curie, already have experience in running huge distances together after completing the inaugural Cape Wrath Ultra Marathon 250 mile eight-day race through Scotland.
Mr Robertson said: "One year on from reaching the South Pole, I can’t wait to test myself in a completely different but another incredibly challenging environment. I’m definitely more used to trekking for hundreds of miles through snow and ice, and I’m under no illusion as to how deep we’ll have to dig to ensure we make it through the Sahara Desert.
"Give me penguins over snakes any day.”
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Mrs Robertson said that they hope to "inspire others to achieve goals that they think might be beyond them but are really within touching distance".
Their experiences of Antarctica and other adventures will be recounted at Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival next month.
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