About the Marathon Des Sables
The Marathon des Sables (MdS) is a 6 day / 230km endurance race across the Sahara Desert in Morocco, normally taking place at the end of March / beginning of April.
During this time the competitors (myself included!) have to carry all food, cooking equipment, survival equipment, etc over ground ranging from sand dunes to uneven rocky ground in temperatures upto 120°F.
Why I'm running the Marathon des Sables
I saw in the Millenium and decided I wanted to do something I'd never done before so signed up to and completed my first Marathon in 2001. I got the running bug and have achieved somewhere close to 20 marathons at the time of writing this post; I'm not fast but seem to have some Forrest Gump tendancies and can manage to keep going! I have found much more enjoyment in off road events and have completed 2 x 3-day coastal marathan events, with a third one scheduled for later in 09. When not running, I'm an average Joe living in Surrey - I work full-time and travel with my job, so training for something like the MdS will be a challenge but one I'm determined to have a good go at. I'm certainly in the 'complete it' rather than 'compete in it' type of category. Thankfully, I'm married to an active man who understands the hours of training needed for endurance events as well as the subsequent snoozes on the sofa once the training is completed! Others who know me think my doing this is madness. They're probably right. By the time I take part in this event, I would have just turned 40; this seems a good way to celebrate it ....Events I am competing in
27 Marathon des Sables 2012
Links
- www.saharamarathon.co.uk - More information about the MdS (you could run it too!)
- www.facingafrica.org - Helping to cure and prevent NOMA
- www.darbaroud.com - The organizers of the MdS
- www.bestofmorocco.co.uk - Tailor-made trips to Morocco (marathon not compulsory)