. Today was really tough; tomorrow we face 38K.Find out the story behind Alison's MdS attempt in her first blog entry.

Stage 2: 38KThe sun usually rises here just before 6am but there was no sunrise this morning. We woke to a sandstorm, just what we didn't need to kick off a 38K stage. I'm sharing a tent with Jay Batchen, who has done the race eight or so times: he said he had never seen such win...

Stage 3: 38KI should say a little about our routine in the camp: at 6am the tent is taken down while the eight of us sharing it pull sleeping bags high and tight over our heads to pretend it isn't happening. Grudgingly accepting reality we rise for breakfast: cold porridge with m...

At just 17.5K, the final stage of the 26th Marathon des Sables was the shortest by far but still proved to be challenging. It was another hot day - although once the temperature rises above 40C it's hard to differentiate between simply hot and blisteringly boiling. In a departure...

Stage 5: 42KToday was the marathon stage of the race. I managed to run the first half - I'd become bored with walking and wanted to test myself, but at the second checkpoint, at the 24K-mark, and with the temperature hovering around 50C, I took a break and never really got going ...

from the Marathon des Sables.The Race The Marathon des Sables (MdS or Marathon of the Sands) is a seven-day six-stage race held annually across a section of the Sahara desert in southern Morocco. 2011 sees the 26th running of the event that is often

You've followed Triathlete's World Editor Alison's Marathon des Sables blog over the last week, and now she's back with some stunning pictures which show off the dramatic backdrop to this epic week-long desert race (and her bandaged feet...).