MARATHON DES SABLES 2014
by Helen Bridle

Sand dunes are my favourite kind of orienteering area. Moroccan sand dunes though are on an entirely different scale! And the sand seems much softer and more difficult to run in. Though maybe it only seems that way in the 40˚C heat, carrying everything that I need for 6 marathons in 6 days in the Saharan desert.

The Marathon des Sables is known as the world’s toughest foot race and I took on this challenge in April 2014, raising money for Yorkshire Cancer Research. The race consists of 3 days of around about a marathon distance, followed by the infamous long day which is a double marathon with a 34 hour time limit for completion, and finishes off with a final day over exactly 42.2k. There is a final charity stage on the last day of just 8k. Over a thousand people started this year with over 10% of those not reaching the finish line.

The maps are terrible and while a compass is on the compulsory kit list luckily (having seen my tent mates attempts to figure out how one works) we didn’t need to use it, as the course is well marked. Other items I was very grateful I didn’t need to use included the emergency flare provided by the organisers and my anti-venom pump!

The only things provided by the organisers, other than the flare, are tent space every evening and a water ration, dealt out at morning camp, checkpoints along the day’s route and at the finish. The water totals about 12L for drinking, cooking and washing  - not much of latter happens. My bag weighed about 6.5kg, minus water, with my compulsory kit and all of my food for 7 days.

For me the hardest thing was taking on enough salt  - I had underestimated how dehydrated I would get as my nutrition had worked really well during practice runs from Berwick-upon-Tweed to North Berwick and along Hadrian’s wall. Due to the lack of salt I really overheated on day 3 which was pretty scary. I also stupidly got excited on day 5 thinking “Hurrah, easily going to make it now, only a half marathon to go!” and pretty much straight after that my knee got really sore making that last 21k an incredibly slow and painful experience.

If those were my worst moments there was a whole host of fantastic ones – running in at 2am in the morning under the most amazing starlit sky to cross the finish line after 81.5k, climbing up 10% sandy jebels and especially descending the other side, crossing the biggest sand dunes in Morocco (which were thankfully on day 1 before too much hatred of sand set in), dancing on the startline, seeing camels,  the whole camp hobbling over to cheer in the last runner to finish the long stage about half an hour before the cut-off, random chat with my tent mates all of whom also finished, and the support of the other runners and the awesome helpers.

The MDS was an amazing experience, even if I did decide halfway through day 1 that I was never doing it again. The scenery is incredible and everyone is so supportive and friendly. However, I don’t think you have to go all the way to Morocco to get the experience of a multiday running challenge - doing the preparation made me realise how many adventures can easily be found close to home, like running the length of Hadrian’s wall, which is also something I would totally recommend.

In addition to finishing the race in 301st place as 20th lady I raised nearly £9000 for cancer research. Thanks so much to everyone who supported me and/or sponsored me – I really appreciate it!