Meet one of the guys who ran the Sahara

The Children's Scholarship Fund is holding a fundraiser Thursday that will feature Greensboro native and ultra-marathoner Charlie Engle as the speaker.

The 7 to 9 p.m. event at the uptown Knight Theater, 430 S. Tryon St., will raise money for tuition assistance for disadvantaged children going to independent schools. It is open to the public.

In 2007 Engle ran 111 straight days in the Sahara Desert, covering 4,500 miles with two other runners to raise awareness of the need for fresh water. Long before that, he'd struggled with alcohol and drug addiction and declared himself sober in 1992.

He has finished 215 marathons, triathlons and adventure races over the past 20 years. And he has gone across the country talking about how running saved him self-destruction.

Tickets for the event are $75 per person or $50 for individuals in groups of 10 or more. Buy tickets at the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center box office, by calling 704-372-1000, or on the Internet at www.carolinatix.org. --Mark Price, The Charlotte Observer