Mission to Morocco - MDS 2011 by Birdypie

• The 26th Marathon des Sables - event diary

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  Apr1720113:25 p.m.

  Marathon des Sables – 1^st – 11^th April

   

  I’m very proud to report that I successfully completed the MdS last Saturday. I experienced an amazing adventure in the Sahara and am very happy to be back in the UK in one slightly tired and battered piece!

   

  The race was incredible, far tougher than I expected and we were challenged by the longest, toughest and hottest event they have run. Temperatures reached 54 degrees which was quite some test! The scenery and camaraderie were something else though and more than compensated for the pain.

   

  We were given a soft start to the race with a night in a five start hotel in Morocco but the adjustment to the hardships to come soon started with a seven hour coach transfer to the Sahara on Friday 1^st April. We had assembled a group of 8 for our tent which soon named itself the Happy Cocks! Tent 105 was the same as all the other bivouac tents – a carpet on the rocky ground with black sacking draped over the top. When the wind blew, it blew straight into the tent along with a fair bit of sand! Saturday was a day of queuing as we picked up numbers, dropped off bags and made the final painful decisions about what we would and wouldn’t take with us for the next 7 days in terms of food and clothing. Once those final decisions had been taken the rest of the day was left to hover round the bivouac getting increasingly nervous and gazing into the distance at Erg Chebbi, 13km of the highest dunes in Morocco which were on the menu for the first stage....

   

  Stage 1

  The day started overcast giving us a nice warm up over the early 10k into CP1 at the foot of the dunes. I had decided to walk day 1 to acclimatise...turned out I walked the whole event but this was the first morning and I was still feeling optimistic! I hooked up with Kerry who I have met at previous events. We had a similar marching pace so stuck together for the week. Once through CP 1 the sun came out and off we went up into the dunes. It was a real shock to the system. Progress was very very slow and the temperature was increasingly brutal. We clawed our way up to the top where a Doc Trotters land rover was dealing with the first set of casualties. Thankfully we were fine and pushed on to CP2. The final dash was flat into the next bivouac but everyone was quite shocked at how tough day 1 had been. The views were already pretty stunning though and we had a good night back in camp.

   

  Stage 2

  Day 2 – 38 mainly flat Km was made more interesting by the desert wind arriving with a vengeance. Buffs were extracted and with goggles on we set off on what was easily the most boring day of the route and not a good one for me. The wind was relentless all day and I mentally found it quite a toughie. Still Kerry and I made it to the final dune set where the wind really kicked up and visibility dropped massively! Thankfully it was brief and we clawed our way into the bivouac in reasonable time to be informed by the rest of tent 105 that the tent had blown down twice already! We knew day 3 would be tough so an early night was on the cards. Sadly for some of the crew blisters were now becoming an issue and we started to use the excellent services of Doc Trotters to keep us on the trail.

   

  Stage 3

  Day 3 was a stunner – 38km of mostly sand based fun. The views were breathtaking all day and although this really was a tough stage it was an incredible day out. Temperatures started to climb and with a bit of wind around still it was a testing day. Kerry and I met up with Zoe our tent mate towards the end of the day and the three of us had a really nice final stage into the bivouac. It was a tough stage which saw further competitors dropping out  but we were relatively unscathed ahead of the Long Day which was looming large in everyone’s minds. I spent a nice hour or so with the Docs slicing and dicing a couple of blisters but going into the Long Day I felt pretty good.

   

  Stage 4

  Day 4 – The Long Day – 82km. Well this really was what it was all about. My game plan for the race had been to get to the start of Day 4 in decent shape, get through it somehow and then just hang in. I’d done the first bit. We were all rather nervous to find temperatures soaring when we started getting ready at 6am. By the 9am start it was full on hot and temps soon climbed up to the 50s. The early stages were beautiful but the heat was making Kerry and I very nervous....the thought of 24 hours on the trail was very intimidating. Still we broke the stage down and just went from CP to CP as best we could. At 5pm it was still hot and we eventually scrabbled into CP3 at 38km. We were given our glowsticks at this point – these are attached to the back of your rucksack so the organisers can spot you...the added advantage being when you can barely walk you can just follow the person in front. I had a massive and unexpected nose bleed at this CP but oddly it gave us a bit of an opportunity to rest and gather ourselves for the challenge ahead.

   

  As the sun set Kerry and I were feeling pretty good. It was cooler, we were still moving in the right direction and both of us were OK. We had a headphone stage at this point and I had a great time listening to Ministry of Sound raving my way through the dunes to CP4. When we crawled in we were starting to feel it – it was around 9pm, 12 hours on our feet on very little food. CP4 is a big marker for the race – miss the cut off here and you are out of the event but Kerry and I were well within the cut off. It was like a scene from MASH. People trying to sleep, people getting treatment, people cooking. Things were becoming increasingly surreal. Kerry had some nosh here and I tucked into some Peronin which was brilliant liquid food. Still...it didn’t taste as good as Kerry’s meal! We didn’t stop for too long as at this point, getting started again was agony. My feet were really hurting now, I was aware that something bad was happening to several of my toes and the rucksack was feeling like a dead weight. Still. On we went to try and get to CP5. The section was pretty much a straight line but with some dunes at the end. We were knackered, but the dunes were still a bit of a break from the straight line monotony. Finally....we emerged dribbling into CP5...the penultimate stop arriving around midnight.

   

  CP5 was just weird. I could barely see, we ran into a couple of other lads who were equally questioning their sanity. Kerry suggested I tried to eat something so I badly rehydrated some rice pudding with cold water. It was revolting. I managed to get some of it down but it will forever be the worst ever midnight snack I’ve experienced! We felt dire...but by now we knew it was just one CP to go. Some people choose to stop and sleep for afew hours on the long day but we were keen to just get it done and get our rest day on Thursday so slowly, painfully, we moved on. We picked up Pete  from our tent at this point and he staggered on with us for a bit. Conversation had now pretty much dried up. We just kept putting one foot in front of the other and crawled slowly forward. CP6 just wouldn’t arrive. Finally we saw the laser in the distance – this is fired from the finish line to the final CP to help guide you in. It was a fabulous site but it still seemed to take hours to get to the final CP. CP6 was very quiet, just afew people about, all looking awful and barely capable of conversation. We were still just about smiling though and exchanged afew chortles with fellow survivors. Then, with a deep breath we pushed on again.

   

  CP6 to the finish was just awful...a never ending stagger to a finish line that wouldn’t get any nearer. When we finally fell over the line all I could think about was getting back in my sleeping bag. It was 6.30 am, it had taken us 20 hours and 30 minutes but we had done it. Huge, huge relief and we had seen the worst of the MdS.

   

  The rest day

  We snatched about two hours kip before the arrival of other runners roused me from my sleeping bag. We were incredibly lucky that all of tent 105 made it home by 10.30am but we were shot to pieces. I headed off to doc trotters early having uncovered load s of blisters and one monster on my heel. At that point I was so knackered the next stage seemed impossible. My feet were huge – they had swollen massively. Thankfully the lovely Maurice in Doc Trotters had a look at my feet. Cut open the nasty blisters and stuck some iodine in and informed me my feet were in great shape and had I pre-treated them? So maybe all the nonsense with the surgical spirit and Nok cream actually worked. Nicky in our tent was not so lucky, her feet were trashed by this point with some massive blisters and infection developing. She wasn’t alone...a number of people had dropped out overnight and with the last finishers of the long day taking nearly 30 hours to get round, there were some tragic cases out there. We continued to rest during the day keeping the weight off feet as much as possible. The marathon stage the next day seemed like small potatoes....hmmm...

   

  Day 6 – marathon stage

  I felt great on Friday morning. Once I’d squeezed my rotten feet into my shoes, my legs felt Ok and with what looked like a pretty easy stage I was keen to push on and try and get to the next bivouac in time for the famous orchestra performance. Kerry and I bolted off at the start. It was going to be hot and I wanted to get the early part of the stage done quickly before it got super hot. There were afew hills and climbs to get over and i was keen to get to the flatter easier second half of the course. Spirits were high, it was only 42km after all. The scenery was lovely as we wound our way through oasis and palm trees on to the second CP. Temperatures were creeping up though and we started to slow. By the time we crept into CP3 it was blistering hot. We learnt that temps that day topped 54 degrees. It was brutal and the last stage took me apart. My feet were wrecked, it was too hot and the finish just wouldn’t come. One of the course commissairs caught up with us and told us we had only 4km to go....it nearly killed me. 4km at that point seemed impossible. But what can you do, I took a deep breath, tried to get it together and walked on. My grand plans for running the final section of this stage were out of the window and it was all I could do to follow Kerry and Zoe and then Pete slowly into the finish. Massive relief to finish that one and we came in just in time to get back to the CP and listen to the orchestra. Our thoughts were very much with Nicky though. She had started the day in severe pain and we were all worried. Nicky is a very very strong lady though and has some incredible determination. We were all utterly relieved when she fell into the tent at 8pm. She was totally spent but she’d done it and with just 11 miles to do on Saturday we knew we could all make it. Exhausted, aching, battered and bruised Tent 105 slowly started to realise that the end finally was in sight.

   

  Day 7 – 17.5 km – ‘the fun run’

  Happy days. The girls of tent 105 donned their union jack dresses and prepared for the final few miles to the glorious finish line. Spirits were high- it was a great morning. Nicky was up and about as she had an early start at 8am ahead of the main field. We all went out to see her off  - a very emotional start for us all. Kerry had eaten her go faster breakfast that day and set off at a blistering pace. Zoe and I could barely keep up but we soon swept into CP1 – the final CP of the race. After a brief stop we pushed on again keeping the pace up and clawing towards the finish. We finally arrived at Tazzarrine and suddenly the enormity of what we had done started to hit home. Smiles broke out amongst the racers and happy greetings were exchanged with the locals. We found ourselves on lovely, smooth, delightful TARMAC!! Finally, the finish was before us and we broke into a jog across the line. Indescribable. Tears were shed, hugs exchanged and finally race organiser Patrick Bauer hung the medal round my neck and gave me the traditional French greeting a peck on both cheeks. Amazing. We had done it. Nicky finished ahead of us but was waiting at the finish and soon we were all on a lovely air conditioned bus on the way back to five star heaven.

   

  The MdS was a truly amazing experience. Its cliché to say it but if you haven’t been there its difficult to describe just how tough it is. I enjoyed it, I had some low moments but on the whole I found this an incredible experience and I’m immensely proud with what I’ve achieved. I wouldn’t do it again, never say never but there are other events out there which I would like to try out. For the minute though, the trainers are off and the feet are up. I’ve got afew months of time out to catch up with friends across the UK who I’ve neglected terribly. Then come the autumn it’ll be time to get started on the next project whatever that might be.

   

  Its been a journey. My enormous thanks to Kerry, Nicky and Zoe and the Tent 105 boys Pete, Nick, Stewart and John without whom I wouldn’t have made it.  Also huge thanks to boyfriend Kevin who led the cheerleading brigade back in the Uk. The emails and support were just brilliant and really kept me going.

   

  Now pass the wine please!

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  Comments (3)

  • Thebandit 'Brilliant Job. Very well done. I am very proud of you and I don't even know you! I really want to have a go at this event. Have yourself a well earned rest. Great job' added 17th Apr 2011

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  • awomaninsane 'What a fantastic read... you had me glued all the way through! I can not imagine how you managed to do that or the training you must have had to do to prepare yourself. What a fantastic achievement... 'well done' doesn't quite seem to cut it! You deserve that well earned rest and i look forward to reading what your next event will be!' added 17th Apr 2011

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  • eclipse 'Well done doesnt quite cut it, I was following your times all the way through and couldnt believe it when you did the long one in 20hrs, awsome. Fantastic achievement and one that will probably be difficult to better. Tel' added 19th Apr 2011

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