37th Marathon des Sables

The 2023 edition was special because was the last with Patrick Bauer as its race director. Patrick is a legend and founder of this legendary race who, back in 1984, filled up a pack with food and water and trekked off alone into the Algerian Sahara to cover 350km’s on foot in a self-sufficient manner. Little did he know at the time, but this journey was the start of something incredible, the Marathon des Sables. Patrick lives now in Barcelona enjoying a well deserved semi-retirement from the dessert running scene.

Let’s start from the beginning. This iconic race is a real self-sufficient, five-stage race to cover distances of approximately 254km race in the middle of the Moroccan Sahara. You would require carrying everything in your rucksack except water, and that means compromising. You can either go faster and lighter or heavier but comfortable. Obviously, I did choose the first, and I’d finished the race with the same clothes I’d started, slept on the floor with no matt or sleeping bag and cooked dehydrated meals with the water left to boil by the heath of the sun,… every single little detail matters in the dessert, and helped me finishing the race, better than expected, in a very decent position.

Some competitors walk the full distance, and the only rule is to walk faster than a camel pace, so at the beginning of each stage a pair of dromedaries and their proud berbere owners, walk the full distance behind the pack, and if they catch you, then you are automatically out.

The 2023 edition of this iconic race was the hardest so far, due to the intense heat and “harder” than usual stages. Coming later in April due to Ramadan, the predictions were always for hotter temperatures and an increased chance of sandstorms – we got them both! Gladly, the intense sandstorms subsided after stage 2, but the heat grew in intensity as the week progressed with 42 degree temperatures in the shade and low 50 degree temperatures recorded in the direct sun.

The first day we’ve bagged a 36km stage, when typically, was always at around the 30km mark. The additional distance adds to an immediate stress and strain. It’s easy to look on and say, but it is only 4km to 6km! True, but 4 to 6km for some can be 2 to 3-hours in the heat, carrying a relatively heavy rucksack. It takes a toll.

Stage two was a beautiful stage and a classic distance; however, this stage had more technicality and additional vertical gain, this in itself added a stress and strain, add intense heat and sandstorms towards the end of the day, plus carry over fatigue from day one and we can see how 106 did not finish. For me was a close call to retirement because that morning I was hit by a stomach bug that didn’t leave me until a couple of days later.

The third day of the race is always a cautious stage as many want to preserve energy for stage 4, the long day. Starting with km after km of flat running, the stage was in comparison to other stages, an easier day, however, 72 abandoned.

The long stage at 90km was the second longest ever stage of the MDS, coming in a brutality hot year it was always going to be a tough challenge. A beautiful route that included climbing Jebel Otfal, the route had relentless soft sand and intense heat. Darkness and cooler temperatures were the saviour of many runners and despite this, 119 did not make the line. At this point I was fully recovered from my stomach bug, and I ran for most of the stage to complete the day in a very decent time of 17h and 51 minutes. A long day for the legs. The weight of the rucksack reduced considerable at this point from the initial 8kg in day one, I was eating close to 5000kcl a day, so I was probably running with something close to 5kg plus the water, and that was a great relief for the back and legs.

The following day, after a well-deserved rest, we started with the full marathon distance. Because I was in the top 100 runners (totally unexpected!) we started an hour behind all the rest of runners so it makes the race more interesting with fast runners chasing the slower runners, and for people to have the chance to run alongside the leader and take some good decent pictures if they can. This is the last running stage, and the medal is in sight, no matter how tough the day is, the hug and kiss from Patrick (el capo) makes one more day of pain manageable.

That evening is a night of camaraderie and celebration in the camp. We were finishers! We went through it and some came victorious on the other side. A bunch of people that merely a week before were total strangers are now best friends and brothers.

The camp is divided by nationalities, we had the British and Irish quarters next the Koreans and far away from the Spanish and Italians but opposite the French and Moroccans. Tents (haimas) are positioned in a circular way all facing the start/finish arch. For a week this is our home and operates as a little village, where after a while, you start knowing your neighbours and understand their daily routines of the day-to-day life at camp.