Marathon des Sables

[ever__hopeful]

Hi,
Im thinking of taking part in the Marathon des Sables. For those of you who haven't heard of it this is a brief outline:

The MdS is a 6 day / 151 mile (243km) endurance race across the Sahara Desert in Morocco, normally taking place at the end of March / beginning of April.

The 18th Marathon des Sables (MdS) took place in April 2003 with 200 British entrants among 630 entrants from 25 countries. The distance covered was 243km/151 miles (made up of legs of 25, 34, 38, 82, 42, 22 km) run over 6 days (7 for some) which is equivalent to 5 1/2 regular marathons. That's a speed of between 3 and 14 km an hour for competitors aged between 16 and 78). In addition to that, competitors have to carry everything they will need for the duration (apart from water and a tent) on their backs in a rucksack (food, clothes, medical kit, sleeping bag etc).

You will have to prepare all your own food throughout the race and I warn you that there is not a chain of Tesco stores or corner grocery shops dotted around the Sahara. You will experience mid-day temperatures of up to 120°F of running or walking on uneven rocky, stony ground as well as 15 - 20% of the distance being in sand dunes.

The heat, distance and rubbing will trash your feet and may cause severe trauma if incorrect shoes and equipment are not used. Mental stamina probably constitutes at least 50% of whether you will complete the distance or not. Physical fitness is important but don't underestimate the mental stress that you will need to endure. Even if you have run dozens of 26 mile marathons, this does not mean that you will automatically find the MdS easy.

On the 4th day, you will set off across the barren wilderness to complete a 45 - 50 mile stage. Few people complete this before dark that evening and some will not come in till after dark the next night. This is followed by the 42km Marathon stage!! Its tough, so don't say that nobody warned you in the strongest terms.

I was just after any advice that you lot could offer, regarding everything (food, kit, training etc)

Thanks

EH

[Sarastro]

Used to run regularly in 105+ degree heat during the summer when I lived in Washington DC, and it's a whole different game running in those conditions.

Found that it's very easy to lose your focus after a while and suddenly fall / trip / injure yourself in some stupid way, just because your body reacts strangely to the overheating. To alleviate that, I constantly varied my pace, and played attention games (such as counting lamp-posts, fences and other objects) to keep myself alert. Unfortunately, this means you can't find a comfortable runner's "trance" to ignore the physical effects, so the whole thing is much more painful than usual running. Get used to dizzyness as well

Though every fitness advisor under the sun will tell you, er, not to run under the sun, training in serious heat is actually a fantastic way of getting fit fast, as long as you can hack it without collapsing! Start carefully, but if you can handle the heat I highly recommend it as endurance training.

Imagine some of the more recent ex-bootnecks can tell you the current professional thinking on tackling this kind of load-bearing run in heat from their Iraq training.

Hello forums, by the way.

[speed freek]

Im pretty sure this is what was on that BBC2 program called 'The challenge'.

The guy done it aswell! But jesus 5 and a half marathons in less than a week... I hope your fit.... infact, I hope your a PTI or something lolol.

P.S. I remember the program well, The same people win the 'race' every year, they're two moroccan brothers

[Boredatwork]

A mate of my Dad's did it and used to move a treadmill into the sauna of his local gym every Sunday, to get used to the heat and water loss. That might be a good idea, along with running with weight on your back.

How much distance running have you actually done before? You will be averaging a marathon a day on Des Sables, which will take a terrible toll on your legs and feet if you havent had much experience. How many marathons have you run? Have you done any ultramarathons?

[ever__hopeful]

I've never actually attempted a whole marathon, but often (once or twice a month) do 12-15 hr yomps, alternating between a fast walk and a moderate run (12km/h)

The treadmill in the sauna sounds good! if slightly sweaty

EH

[Bliartheliar]

Seen 'The Challange' too. One of the coaches was Dr Mike Stroud, who completed 7 marathons in 7 days on all 7 continents with Sir Randulph Fiennes - who had recently recovered from a heart attack. My point is, get some expert help.

[AC]

The Marathon des Sables isn't something you can just go and do - you're going to need a lot of training and some expert help. Have a read of 'Survival of the Fittest' by Mike Stroud - there is a chapter on Marathon des Sables. The best people to ask however, would be the organisers and people who have done it before.

It's not a cheap race to run either!