Matt Turner
The Marathon des Sables, a six-day race through the Sahara desert, has a hard-won reputation as “The Toughest Footrace on Earth.”
The 32nd edition of the race starts April 9 in Southern Morocco, and runs until April 14.
I took part in the 31st edition of the race, the longest yet at 159 miles. As one of 973 who crossed the finish line, I can attest that the race is not for the faint-hearted.
The route took in towering sand dunes, airless oueds (dried-up riverbeds), and scrambled jebel (rocky hill) ascents.
The distance typically comes in at almost a marathon a day, with the longest stage a punishing double marathon.
Competitors run or walk through 104-degree plus temperatures, carrying their food for the week. Water is rationed. Salt tablets are essential.
Competitors sleep in bivouac tents, which do little to retain warmth when the temperature drops overnight and offer limited resistance to sandstorms.
It is no surprise then that a lot of competitors don’t make it to the finish. There were 18 participants who didn’t make it past day one in 2016, according to the provisional results, and nearly 60 more dropped out on day two.
In all, around 130 were forced to drop out, often through no fault of their own. The desert is relentless, and there is a large slice of luck involved in surviving what it has to throw at you.
This is what “The Toughest Footrace on Earth” is like:
The event requires quite a bit of kit. We had to carry at least 2,000 calories a day for seven days, with the bulk of this made up by caloric freeze-dried meals. We also had to pack survival kit with items ranging from a venom pump to a signaling mirror.
Elizabeth Fournier
We flew in to Ouarzazate in Morocco on Friday, April 8, before boarding coaches for the six-hour drive to the first bivoauc.
Matt Turner
The bivouac camp has around 170 tents, each sleeping a maximum of eight competitors. The tents are organized by nationality, with large British and French contingents dominating camp. I stayed with three friends and a British runner named Dave who we met on the bus.
Matt Turner
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