Banking Lawyer Runs Grueling Race in Sahara for Charity

Think banking has been tough the last few years? Try running 156 miles in the Sahara Desert.

Last month banking attorney Brennan Ryan participated in the Marathon des Sables in Morocco, considered the toughest footrace on earth.

Ryan, his wife, Stefanie Ryan, and friend Robert Lewellen raised $45,000 for the research fund Hemophilia of Georgia by making the run. Two of Stefanie Ryan's nephews have hemophilia.

Ryan — a partner at Nelson Mullins who counts State Bank Financial (STBZ) in Atlanta and Talmer Bancorp in Troy, Mich., among his clients — is a prolific runner. He runs six to eight distance races a year, he says, but the des Sables was like no other.

"It is a bucket-list race," he says. "It is difficult for two reasons: the weather and terrain are brutal, of course, but it is also self-supporting, meaning you have all of your food, supplies, sleeping gear on your back as you're running."

The race happens over six days, with runners completing roughly a marathon — 26.2 miles — a day for four days. The last leg is 50 miles, and runners have two days to complete it.

It was a nice break from having to juggle banks across the country, Ryan says.

"It is tough to focus on any one client when you have emails, texts and phone calls," Ryan says. "With something like the Marathon des Sables, your life is focused on a single task for a week and that is really liberating and mentally calming."

While it is a nice mental vacation, it is still a physical beast.

"There is nothing easy about running 155 miles in the desert," Ryan says. "At some point you think, 'What am I doing?'"

There were also no showers along the course.

"I hope the smell doesn't come through in the photos," he said.