The Marathon Des Sables

John Thynne

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What's it all about?

John Thynne

The Marathon des Sables (MdS) is a 6 day / 230km endurance race across the Sahara Desert in Morocco. I'll be racing in the 23rd Marathon des Sables in 2008, along with around 700 others, and the marathon takes place between 28th March and 7th April.

During the race, we competitors have to carry all food, cooking equipment, survival equipment, etc, over ground ranging from sand dunes to uneven rocky ground in temperatures up to 120 degrees F. In terms of how far we are likely to be racing each day ... in 2007, the total distance was divided up as follows:

Day 1, 29.3 km;
Day 2, 35 km;
Day 3, 32.3 km;
Day 4, 70.5 km;
Day 5, 42.2 km;
Day 6, 11.7 km.

Am I going to be actually running every step of the way? It seems unlikely; a Moroccan once completed the race in 19 hours, 9 mins - that's 12.83 km per hour which is very impressive! The fastest British person that year, coming in a fantastic 30th overall, did it in 28 hrs, 5 mins - also impressive. Many enter to walk, not run, and most competitors average speeds between 4 and 7 km/h (that's 2.5 - 4.5 miles per hour). Follow the MdS website link below for more information.

What does it look like?

You can watch a short video of the 2007 race, and view the UK MdS picture gallery for previous years, here. (The video commentary is in French, but you'll get the drift ...). Additional photos are on the Darbaroud website below, or click here to go directly to some mid-race photos. See how hot it looks? Is that pain etched on their faces?

You can also see some good pictures in a bi-lingual pdf brochure on this page of the French website.

So why would you do this crazy thing?

I decided to go on this endurance event to test my own doggedness and to give something to the kids suffering from NOMA. I started training by running for an hour around Lake Caldecotte in Milton Keynes in August 2006. Run was fine, but my knee blew up requiring three months of treatment and rehab. Now back on track and running regularly and cross training at the LA Fitness gym in Milton Keynes.

I want the personal challenge. It's an age thing. I'll be sixty years old in May 2008, one month after the event. (Anyone fancy rowing across the Atlantic?) Also when I saw the suffering of the kids in Africa with NOMA I thought that I should do something about it, no matter how small a thing. Being socially excluded as a child must be the absolute pits and I'm sure we in the West can afford to give a bit to these kids. I also believe the camaraderie and the satisfaction in completing a challenge like the MdS, and the added bonus in helping the children, will be plain satisfying, not only to me, but to all of you who put a bit in knowing it's going to make a difference.

How you can sponsor me?

If you are generous enough to sponsor me for this very challenging expedition, the easiest way to do it is to donate online:
Follow the link below to the charity Facing Africa which works tirelessly to cure and prevent this disease; or go directly to the Online Donations page and make a secure credit or debit card donation, not forgetting to enter my name as the person you are sponsoring, and to giftaid your contribution for maximum benefit to the charity - THANK YOU.
You can also email me at thynnes@tesco.net if you are interested to receive training updates before the event, and/or an account of my run after it. Thank you very much for your support, both I and Facing Africa are grateful for it.

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