On Sunday 3rd April, the 26th Marathon des Sables gets underway somewhere in the Sahara in southern Morocco. Around 1000 runners will be setting off t run 150 miles in six stages at what's often billed the toughest footrace on earth. I'll be one
. 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...
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
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
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...).
better in the morning. And of course, it does.I found out that I had a place at the 26th Marathon des Sables just three months earlier. The six-stage, seven-day race, which takes place in southern Morocco every year, might attract runners from all over
for the finish, remind yourself that it could be worse – you could be heading up the mountain rather than down. www.everestmarathon.org.uk AfricaMarathon des Sables, Morocco This punishing stage race has become a rite of passage for many runners who
temperaturesSimon Ward, triathlete and coach"I did the Marathon des Sables and everyone was scared of the heat - the hottest day was over 60°C. But it was dry heat, so the sweat dried on the skin and cooled us down. It was probably better than running in 30°C
