Taking on the World’s Toughest Footrace

A MASSIVE thanks to Laura Pearson for this insight into preparing for the Marathon des Sables. We are happy to be able to help out with the medical aspects of entry requirements and other endurance events.

This blog is a heady mix of sheer determination, inspiration and a little bit of craziness, but hopefully, no sand in your shoe.

Go Team Pearson!!!

‘You’ve got to be a complete nutter to even consider doing that!” I laughed, shaking my head as the credits rolled signalling the end of the Toughest Race on Earth documentary we’d just been watching on the Marathon des Sables (MdS).  “You sure do” came the reply.

Fast forward three years to early 2024.  My husband Matthew and I are now just weeks away from toeing the line of the 38th edition of the iconic race in Morocco. For those sensible enough not to have heard of the Marathon des Sables it is a 250km+, six-day ultramarathon across the Sahara desert carrying everything you need to survive on your back.  With temperatures often exceeding 50C, endless sand dunes and ankle-twisting rocky Jebels (mountainous hill ranges) to climb, its billed as one of the most extreme footraces on Earth. 

The reality hasn’t fully sunk in that we are now those ‘nutters’ despite the last 12 months being consumed by the event. We certainly never anticipated just how much more goes into it beyond the running in a desert bit. It’s a whole new way of living, where every aspect of your daily life goes under the microscope.  Eating, sleeping, washing, all the basics, suddenly get analysed, over-thought, re-hashed and often re-invented several times to make them work for this challenging new environment. While the race is unique to every individual, these are a few of the things we’ve discovered on our way to the start line.

The trial run, Wadi Rum, Jordan.

Training 

Hours of it, for months on end. Dark mornings, brutal gym sessions, hours staring at your kitchen wall from the seat of a static bike, looking like the afore mentioned ‘nutters’ running around the City in full desert gear, testing kit with a weighted rucksack on your back trying to act like its perfectly normal.

However, preparing for the MdS isn’t all sweat and aching muscles. As with many endurance sports, success is usually driven by 80% mental strength and 20% physical. With ultra running, mindset is a constantly developing game; beating the snugged down demon telling you to stay in bed, pushing to do those last couple of muddy kilometers even though you’ve had enough, knowing you’ve not fuelled your body properly but struggling on to reach your target. One of the weirdest phenomenons, especially for someone who couldn’t run 50m to the end of the road during lock-down, is that distance becomes relative.  At first you battle to reach 10km, then that becomes the norm so you aim for a half-marathon, to the point now where a 50km ultra race has become ‘just a training run’ WTF!! Trust me, for someone who was told they run like a chicken all their life, this is a bit of a surreal revelation!

A joyously boggy Dartmoor training run

 Food

Lots of exercise requires lots of food, happy days! Second only to training, food will consume the most prep time for many MdS participants. Ensuring we have the energy to complete our training plans is one thing, (as will remembering it’s no longer acceptable to eat 2 pizzas for dinner when the long runs are a thing of the past!) but correct race fuelling from both an energy and hydration perspective also mean we will all have rigorously tested everything we’re going to take with us. This might sound fun but there have been many times when the ‘test’ food on a run hasn’t agreed and finding an emergency W.C has become mission critical! From rehydrated meals to salt tablets, eating and drinking for an event like the MdS is about survival rather than enjoyment so every calorie is counted, macronutrients analysed and electrolyte tallied. 

All the food taken for the 4-day HMDS Jordan

 Kit

The fun bit, trying to pack light and figure out solutions to everyday activities you don’t normally think about. How am I going to wash if there are no showers, rationed water and a packet of wet wipes will dry out instantly? (compressed wipes) I’ve not got room to carry a box of tampons so what’s the alternative? (MoonCup) How am I going to keep the sand out of my shoes to prevent blisters? (velcro sewn onto your trainers by a cobbler with sand gaiters attached) How will I protect my eyes if there’s a sand storm? (clear ski goggles - the glamour never ends!) You get the idea. Nothing is straight-forward when you’ve limited space and an inhospitable, unpredictable desert to cross, and I’ve not even touched on the mandatory kit which includes a compass, signalling mirror and snake venom pump! 

Breaking in ultra running trainers complete with velcro for sand gaiters.

Pulling it all together

A trial run (excuse the pun) is always the best way to test anything new and we were lucky enough to participate in the Half Marathon des Sables (HMdS) 2023 in Jordan, a 120km desert race following a similar format through the incredibly beautiful Wadi Rum desert. Like the full MdS, the organisers put in place strict entry requirements and all participants must complete a medical and ECG.  Being based in Plymouth, we’re lucky enough to have Aquamarine Medicals on our doorstep who have been brilliant in helping us fulfil our qualification criteria. 

Navigating the sand dunes of Wadi Rum, Jordan 

 How did we get on in the desert? Well, let’s just say it was an eye-opener, although not all bad. The biggest surprise was probably the acceptance of being absolutely filthy for 4 days and not caring - sweat and dust even make a pretty good sunscreen. We needed more food, an inflatable roll mat to support sore hips and better fire lighters but everything else worked a treat. We certainly had some interesting looks from our fellow guests as we wandered back into the event 5* hotel directly from the desert though; can’t imagine why they security checked us in!

So, we’re almost as ready as we’ll ever be. In the next blog post we’ll let you know how we got on in the 2024 Marathon des Sables - wish us luck, we’re probably going to need it!

Matt and Laura - Completing the HMDS Jordan 

Thankyou for doing this blog for us Laura. Team Aquamarine will be cheering you on from Plymouth!