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John’s Marathon des Sables

John Wilton Davies from Last Great Challenge just succesfully finished the Marathon des Sables

I had hoped to be in Antarctica throughout the winter of 2009/10, returning only a few weeks before I’d need to fly out to Morocco to run 150-odd miles in temperatures some 80 C higher than I was acclimatised to. However, Antarctica was put back by 12 months, and so the MDS, billed as ‘The Hardest footrace of the planet’ became relegated to a training platform to kick-start my expedition fitness program.

This may come across as foolhardy. After all, most MDS competitors see the event as the toughest physical event of their lives, but 60 days manhauling alone on the Southern ice changes one’s perspective.  To me, I saw the MDS as ‘only’ a week and, psychologically, if I couldn’t cover 26 miles a day with a lightish backpack, what chance did I have of doing 20 miles a day with a 200 kg sled?

So, as is my way, I found myself 6 weeks away from the MDS, woefully under-prepared but full of confidence.  I needed to get two things done urgently.  I had to research and buy all my kit, and I really had to do some training.

Training was easiest.  I was starting at around the time most serious athletes would be ‘tapering down’ – reducing their training to allow their body to recover before the main event.  I managed a couple of long runs (well, long to me – about 18 miles) with a pack before deciding that I’d be better off doing a couple of all-day hikes along the hilly sections of the South West coast path. So that was it, training done.

Gear selection took longer. There is tons of information on the web from specialist ultra-marathon suppliers, ex-competitors, and manufacturers.  With no experience of this type of event I was wholly reliant upon others’ expertise and was lucky to have been given time and help by a local ex-competitor.  I left for Morocco fully kitted out and generally unaware if my selections were appropriate or not.  The first clue arrives when you meet fellow competitors at Gatwick.  If no one else has the same kit you’ve got, you start to worry.  I’ll comment on the kit selection later.

We flew to Ouarzazate in the Middle of Morocco, before taking a 6 hour coach ride to the back of beyond – an enormous double circle of black tents in the desert looking, for all the world, like the 7^th Cavalry on patrol.  Here we joined up with the other 41 countries that had sent competitors for what was to become both the longest, and the hottest, MDS on record.

You can read the rest of Johns incredible account of the desert marathon
at the Last Great Challenge:
Marathon des Sables #2
Marathon des Sables #3
Marathon des Sables #4

By Belinda Kirk of London Published in: Categories: News. Tags: marathon.