My Maraathon of the Sands - sweat, tears and camel spiders!

[firstborn]

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin......

Well some 16 months ago I paid my £500 deposit and my preparation for the 21st

Marathon Des Sables (MDS) began. The time has flown by and its now all over but the memory of this event will live with me forever.

All in all it has probably cost me about £4500 including the £2300 entry fee, kit and other associated costs along the way. I have also used my participation to raise money for two charities Cancer Research UK and TyHafan Children’s Hospice in Wales and to date have managed to raise about £1600. It’s not too late to sponsor me .

So on April the 6th I found myself onboard a chartered flight to Morocco with 200+ British competitors bound for the 2006 Marathon Des Sables. Landing in Quarzazate mid afternoon with temps in the mid twenties we all boarded the coaches bound for the 5* Hotel in which we would spend one evening before heading out to the desert. Last chance to carbo-load at the extensive buffet and grab a few beers followed by an early night. During the evening a group of eight of us got together and decided to share a tent – couldn’t have asked for a better group to share a tent with as it turned out.

Outside Hotel:

One of many 'relief' stops:

 

[firstborn]

It was an early start the following morning to board one of several coaches that would take us to Tazzarine where a mad scramble onto the back of one of the waiting army trucks would take place. First onto the truck meant first to the bivouac and grabbing an empty tent before they started to fill up and we were hoping for an empty tent. Thirty minutes later after hanging on for dear life as the trucks raced each other across the desert floor I got my first sight of the camp. There were about 100 black Berber tents for the competitors and numerous ‘more luxurious’ tents for the admin staff. The Berber tent is basically a patchwork of old Hessian sacks hung over a few wooden poles, completely open to the elements and prone to collapsing in heavy winds as we were to find out.

First sight of the bivouac - 'home':

The British quarter!

Jack Osborne goes exploring

 

[firstborn]

So tent 90 was to be home for the week or so. We were subjected to quite a violent sandstorm that afternoon a feature that was to become a regular afternoon event. Following an evening meal provided by the organisers we settled down for our first nights sleep.

The next day is known as admin, or registration, day where you have to present all you kit and food, together with a medical form and a recent ECG before you are given your race number, emergency flare and salt tablets. All other luggage is then taken off you and is shipped back to the hotel. Once the registration was out of the way it was back to the tent to re-organise my pack and then wander round whilst acting as a source of amusement for the local children who constantly appeared out of nowhere. All was well and good until another sand storm blew up at 1pm and lasted till 7pm. As the sandstorm died down we were provided with our final meal and from there on in we were to be self sufficient.


The locals

Hiding from the storm:

My last supper??

to be continued.....

 

[firstborn]

Day 1:

We all gather at the start with and are arranged to depict the number 21 as this was the 21st MDS. Helicopters were circling overhead taking pics and the adrenaline was starting to build. The race director goes through the motions welcoming all the representative countries managing to forget the Welsh!! But he later put this right so I’ll forgive him. So after what seemed like hours of speeches hands are shook and wishes of good luck are made – ACDC then roars over the PA, everybody’s hands are raised clapping and a minute later we were off. The elite runners sped off into the distance as I slowed to a walk after the first few hundred yards. It had always been my plan to walk the first day in order to better acclimatise myself for the wek ahead.

The 21st MDS

And we're off!

Day ones stage was 28km and we saw temps reaching 41°C at 15h. Humidity was unusually high at 14% a factor that was to cause severe problems for numerous competitors. A sandstorm blew up again in the early afternoon and lasted through to the early evening. I came in 5hrs45mins after the start and could barely manage the walk back to the tent with the 4.5litres of water you are given at the end of each stage. I felt really rough at the end of day 1 and was rewarded with a bout of diarrhoea. Still other competitors were in a worse state – dehydrated and suffering heat exhaustion, the general result being that any water they drank was immediately vomited back up. 12 retired during this stage. And this was only the first day!

A long long way to go yet....

Another sandstorm....

 

[firstborn]

Day 2:

Following a very uncomfortable night I had managed to bring the diarrhoea under control in the morning with some Imodium and decided that the cause was down to food the night before upsetting my stomach rather that anything more serious. I had managed to keep myself hydrated so felt a lot better than I did the previous evening.

Today’s stage was 35 km. Temperatures reached 42°C with the usual sandstorm thought-out the whole of the afternoon. Humidity was increasing and the harsh conditions started to take there toll with a further 27 competitors dropping out by midday. I had made the decision to walk the stage again and paired up with one of my tent mates and came in 7hrs45mins after the start. Although today was tougher I finished feeling physically and mentally better than I had done the day before and so I managed a smile as I arrived back at the tent. Others competitors didn’t feel the same way and broke down in tears as they crossed the line.

Another sandstorm....

My first blisters had started to during today’s stage which I quickly treated before cooking a meal and settling

down for the evening. Morale was high in the tent which was to prove an essential element for completing this event.

The blisters begin to appear

 

[firstborn]

Day 3:

I Felt really good this morning. Today’s stage was 38km with temps climbing to only 40°C, but the humidity was increasing reaching 18% which was very unusual. A total of 68 competitors had retired prior to the start of today’s stage and a further 11 were to retire by midday.

This stage was to be the hardest stage for me, not physically but mentally. There were several climbs and long stretches of open ground. The long stretches provided no points of reference so although you could see a checkpoint in the distance it never appeared to get closer and this really messed with your head. Care had to be taken to drink at regular intervals whilst at the same time making sure you managed the amount of water so you wouldn’t run out before the next checkpoint. I saw several flares go up today. Passed one competitor who had collapsed and was fitting on top of one climb, another competitor collapsed as they came alongside me and I had to guide another towards a check point as they started to wander off away from it completely oblivious as to where they were going. Running out of water seemed to be the common factor amongst those that were suffering but I was managing mine fairly well. Drinking litres of warm water is a task in itself. During this day and after completing one climb and seeing another in the distance I felt particularly low and dug a hole in the sand near a rock and climbed in for a brief respite from the sun. A brief 20 minutes later I was off again wishing I hadn’t lost my MP3 player prior to leaving the UK as I faced another 8km slog to the checkpoint just visible in the distance.

Up hill slog

There was one major highlight to this day and that was passing a solar powered water pump. There was a row of taps outside the building that provided ‘cold’ running water. I cannot begin to tell you how good it felt to turn on this tap and soak my head for a few minutes. The finish was only a few km’s away and as I approached I burst into tears whilst singing Robbie Williams’ Angels!!! I crossed the line after 8hrs and 39mins, but felt remarkably good considering and trotted back to the tent to check on my blisters and cook my evening meal.

Cold, running, water... mmmmmm

That evening rumours were circulating of a record number of competitors withdrawing including a few serious causalities. These rumours were soon confirmed by one of the admin team and we were also informed that the distance was to be cut the next day because of the severe weather conditions and that the number of withdrawals was stretching the medical team to the limits. All made for a restless night. BUt had managed to drift off but was woken by shouting from a tent across from ours - the tent had been put up over a nest of camel spider at least three were running around the tent. One came to an unfortunate end and the others were running rampant around the place. Needless to say the occupants of that tent slept outside under the stars that night.

One ex camel spider

 

[firstborn]

Day 4:

Today’s stage was to be 72km but we were told in the briefing that morning that the distance had been reduced to 57km because of the extreme conditions and difficulty of today’s stage. Up to this morning 123 competitors had withdrawn, to put this in perspective last year saw only 50 withdraw throughout the whole race. Nevertheless this was to still be a long day that would see competitors completing the stage in the dark of the night or camping out and completing it the following day.

Physically I felt really good at the start and ran for the first 30mins and then settled into a walk. On the long day the top 50 competitors start 2 hours after the others and shortly before checkpoint 2 one of the chaps in my tent came flying past which, although knowing that he would be back at the tent long before I was, was a great morale boost as I cheered him on – I also knew that he’d have the tent sorted by the time us normal people got back. I met up with a few other members of the tent at checkpoint 2 and we decided to stick together for the duration. Time seemed to go quickly. We had the usual afternoon sand storm, with temperatures reaching 39°C and a humidity of 13%. As the sun started to drop and things began to cool down, relatively speaking, morale was high and we fast walked through to checkpoint 5 arriving in the early evening guided in by a laser . From here there were two more checkpoints spanning a distance of about 13.5km. After a rest and some food and surviving a camel spider attack I decided I felt great and left the others to run the remainder of the stage. It was a fantastic feeling running through the last few stages in the dark, the road ahead illuminated by the moon. Every now and again you’d pass by the shadowy figure of one of the local children stood by the side of the track – where they came from I’ll never know. After 14hrs30mins I arrived at the finish feeling great with a huge smile on my face. An official commented that I looked really fresh (HA!), I collected my water and headed back to the tent. A quick recovery drink then into my sleeping bag for a well earned sleep.

Run into the light!

5 mins rest

 

[firstborn]

Day 5:

This is known as rest day although some competitors were still finishing the previous day’s stage. At 2pm that afternoonthe last competitor came in just ahead of the camels that trail the event - it's said that if you are overtaken by them you are out. Admin staff and all the other competitors ran, walked or hobbled to the finish to applaud her over the line. Emotions were high and several tears were shed. That evening we were rewarded with a warm can of coke and issued new (i.e. clean) race numbers for the marathon stage the next day, it was then back to the tent to sort out the evening meal and an early night.

Gotta beat those camels

Big smile

Product placement!

 

[firstborn]

Day 6:

The marathon stage, 42.2km. Today was noticeably cooler at around 30°C and made for higher spirits than on previous days. We were told in the briefing that morning that so far 146 competitors had withdrawn with two seriously ill. But these thoughts were soon put out of my mind as ACDC was pumped over the PA, I was feeling extremely good and was jumping and clapping to the music like I was at a pop concert – don’t know what was in the coke last night but it worked :d.

I decided that today I would run as much as I could and as it turned out ran the whole of the stage. At times it felt like I was flying across the ground and can’t begin to describe how good it felt to be running and finished in 5hrs52min a personal worst for the distance and at the same time the best marathon I’d ever run.

Coming in relatively early made for a relaxing afternoon with only an 11km sprint to the finish to look forward to tomorrow, although the highest dunes of the event so far were still to come, spirits were high. We were treated to classical music and opera that evening before settling down for our last nights sleep in the desert.

Nice!

Dune section

 

[firstborn]

Day 7:

The final stage, 11.8km 7.5 across a flat wadi followed by the remainder over the highest dunes in morocco! We were informed that there had been no further withdrawals and that the critically ill competitors were now out of danger and recovering well. ACDC again set the adrenalin pumping and a fair pace was set from the start. The dash across the flat seemed to rush by as we approached the distant dunes but nothing was going to get in the way of a finishers medal now. I crossed the line in 1hr18mins with my thighs burning from the final stretch of dunes and a short sprint finish. I drenched myself with my remaining water and my medal was hung around my neck by the race organiser – it was said that he kisses every competitor that finishes, I only got a handshake but that was fine by me And suddenly it was all over. All of out tent made it through to the finish one being the fastest brit home.


Leave no man behind!

Chilling out before the last leg

Final dune section

And then it was over!

A 6 hour coach trip back to the hotel and an evening of well deserved beer – well only two or three as I was too knackered to drink anymore.

Well I hope you made through till the end of all that. Missed out loads of little detail but hope I've managed to convey some of magic of this event.

Steve

 

[firstborn]

Why did you put thread through your blisters?

I have been waiting since the 2nd update to ask that

The idea is to pierce the blister then put a thread through (soaked in aniseptic) which acts as a wick to drain the fluid off and stop it filling up again. Without the thread the hole would seal itself. The next morning the were dry and gave me less grief.

 

[firstborn]

Well done, i was tired just looking at that!

Great achievement.

Hehe - the event was easier than trying to write about it

2nd pic sorted!

 

[firstborn]

fantastic achievement, and fantastic pictures too! were they all taken by you? (except of course the ones of you)

Tom.

Nahh - some of them are off the organisers webby. I lost two disposable cameras due to sand damage and half the time wasn't in the right frame of mind to take pics but still have a few hundred from my now knackered digital camera.

 

[firstborn]

Sorry I missed it first time, I've sponsered you now though as it's not too late!

That is a great achievement for a good cause.

I think think your nuts though

Thanks starscream - and I'm perfectly sane I'll have you know

 

[firstborn]

Well done, that was a great read and those pictures really gave an insight. You planning to ever do it again or was once enough?

As much as it hurt at times I would do it again - but would probably only go as part of a team if I did. My main concern would be that I wouldn't end up in a tent full of great characters as was the case this time.

 

[firstborn]

A fantastic achievement, well done!

One question though. If it cost you £4500 to do this and you raised £1600, wouldn't it have been better for the charity if you'd just given then the £4500 and gone to Butlins instead

*runs (but not as far as you did)*

K.

Ha

 

[firstborn]

do you have to bring all your food with you? whats in the packs when you are running?

man thats awsome well done.

Yepp you carry all food, clothing, sleeping bag/mat, cooking equipment, first aid kit etc. Pack weighs about 10kg with upto 3kg of water on top of that. The only thing you don't have to carry is a tent.

 

[firstborn]

Congrats again! Did you happen to meet two London lawyers on your travels?

Names?

 

[firstborn]

Names?

Not Rob by any chance? If it was, him and his mate - bloody good effort, 2nd and 3rd brit I believe.

 

[firstborn]

I know her!

Well tell her she made me cry! In a good way