Tom's MdS 2014 Blog: 29th MdS: My Experiences

This is a (not very) brief day by day account of my experiences during the MdS with a few of my photos thrown in to brighten things up (to be added soon)...

A quick summary of the stages:

06/04/2014	Stage 1	STAGE N°1 - Ouest Erg Chebbi / Erg Znaigui	34	Km
07/04/2014	Stage 2	STAGE N°2 - ERG ZNAIGUI / OUED MOUNGARF	41	Km
08/04/2014	Stage 3	STAGE N°3 - OUED MOUNGARF / BA HALLOU	37.5	Km
09/04/2014	Stage 4	STAGE N°4 - BA HALLOU / RICH MERZOUG	81.5	Km
11/04/2014	Stage 5	STAGE N°5 - RICH MERZOUG / IGADOUN TARHBALT	42.2	Km
12/04/2014	Stage 6	Charity Stage	7.7	Km
		Total	244	Km
			152	Miles

Journey out & control day

The morning of the flight out to Morocco I woke up full of nerves in the hotel. I spotted some people at breakfast who were dressed in running tops with big breakfasts in front of them and apprehensive looks on their faces. They were clearly there for the same reason as I was and joined them for some breakfast. We got chatting which helped calm my nerves a little but I wasn’t able to eat much which was a shame with all of that cooked breakfast laid out and looking inviting.

I arrived at the terminal a little early, immediately seeing people standing out as MdS competitors with their WAA or OMM bags. I met up with some of the Tent X crew before checking in and then joined the queue to check in which was full of well –prepared and fit looking people. This made me all the more apprehensive until I got talking to people and realised I wasn’t the only one who hadn’t had perfect training. After check-in there was a steady flow of MdS people through security and into the duty free area, looking sufficiently odd to prompt one of the shop attendants to ask what it was we were all doing – her expression turned from bewilderment to complete incomprehension as we told her!

The flight out was pretty uneventful. Apart, that is, from the pilot not knowing how to pronounce our destination, and some confusion as to the local time. As we stared to descend into Errachadia we got a good view of the expanse of monochromatic desert below – many shades of brown and very little in the way of human presence. This started to make me wonder what it was that I’d let myself in for…

We got off the plane and felt the heat of the afternoon sun which felt quite pleasant initially, though after a few minutes queuing out doors to go through immigration in the tiny airport building I did start to feel the heat. Patrick Bauer met us on the way through immigration and they took our passports, presumably to sort the immigration all in one go but I did feel a little naked without it! We then got a flavour of what was to come over the following week or so as they made us sit in the coaches for an hour and a half before setting off.

First Experiences of the Bivouac...

The journey from Errachadia lasted about 90 minutes and it was dark by the time we arrived. Max, Matt James and Colin from our tent group had been on the earlier flight and had claimed a tent for us when they arrived. They were waiting for the rest of us just by the entrance to the bivouac when we arrived and guided us to our home for the week – Tent 115 (we stuck with Tent X though as it sounded much cooler). We then went to get some dinner (3 courses and wine in the middle of the desert – the French know how to look after you!) and settled into our tent.

The next day was the control day , renowned for queuing with a bit more queuing, and then some more just to make sure we didn’t feel cheated. I picked up my passport (phew!) and then went to queue for the kit/medical check and supplied kit issue with Matt who had the same check time. It was in this queue that a French TV channel presenter came up with his camera crew and asked us to do an introduction for their programme – not quite what I had in mind for the first test of my French!

After over an hour of queuing in the sun, we made it to the tent, handed over our suitcases before heading into the tent. This was one of my most nervous moments, I really didn’t want the whole thing scuppered by some small irregularity in my kit or ECG, like the wrong bit of paper being stamped or signed in the wrong place… In the end they didn’t look at any of my kit (after all of that stress and organisation!), but the Doctor did pay some interest to my SVT ablation noted on the medical certificate and my ECG. My letters from my cardiologist did the trick though and he let me through, phew! I picked up my transponder, flare and salt tablets and I was done, free to wonder around for the rest of the day.

Me at the start - still sort of clean at this point...

Later in the day we had a briefing from Patrick welcoming us and giving us a demonstration of how to use the emergency flare we had been issued with. All of this was quickly forgotten though, as it was followed by a wonderfully entertaining demonstration of how to use the toilet bags/stools by a Frenchman on top of a land rover. Shortly after we retired to our sleeping bags, ready for the next day and our first stage.

The desert beyond....

Stage 1 – 6th April 2014: Ouest Erg Chebbi / Erg Znaigui - 34 Km

(Turn left at the massive Dune…)

The Biggest S***ing Dunes in Morocco!

From the morning of the previous control day we could see the huge looming dune we were to head out across on the first leg of the first stage. There had been rumours flying about for a few weeks that we were to start around here and they turned out to be true. The organisers had said that the first stage wouldn’t be easy! We gathered for the traditional aerial photograph of all the competitors gathered in the shape of the number of the year’s edition – this year 29. After plenty of waiting around we finally moved over to the start line for the first of our daily (and seemingly endless) briefings by Patrick, explaining the breakdown of the day, how much water we could get at each Check Point and several choruses of happy birthday. We also got a taste of what would prove to be a little bit of an obsession of Patrick’s with the song ‘Happy’ – I quite liked it before, but several hundred repeated plays down the line and I’m not so sure any more!

We started with the traditional Highway to Hell accompaniment and lots of low passes of the helicopter filming the start. This was quite a sight to behold in itself, flying only a few metres above the runners’ heads at all sorts of weird angles to allow the camera to get its shot. The first 3 Km was across the plain to the dunes and I remember feeling pretty knackered with my calfs complaining after the first 15 minutes with only another 150 odd miles to go! It was quite a sight seeing (and being one of) just over a thousand runners setting off on this silly adventure in the desert with their lives on their backs.

Heading towards those lovely dunes.... calfs already killing me!

Off into the dunes... this doesn't seem too bad...

Surprisingly I wasn’t actually feeling very excited during the start or for the first few kilometres. I was more apprehensive than excited, something I had been feeling ever since we arrived at the bivouac. What If I couldn’t finish it? Had I trained enough? What if my ITB went? Was this a step too far? Had I chosen the right kit? Was my bag to heavy?... So many things going round in my head, and not much I could do other than to just man-up and get on with it. This began to change when we got onto the sand and I started to enjoy myself – the location, the terrain and the people. It wasn’t quite the serene experience I had imagined with helicopters buzzing all over the place just above our heads but the sight of the line of runners disappearing into the dunes was striking. I soon realised that there was a method and a certain amount of strategy needed to move efficiently through the dunes. The sand that had been churned up by the hundreds of feet preceding me was loose and energy sapping to move over, unless you could find compacted ‘steps’ to use. This was easier in later stages further from the days’ starts as the foot falls would be more coherent as a result of less people passing through at any one time. On this first leg Matt (a fellow Tent X member who was nearby) and I discovered that the undisturbed sand on nearby dunes tended to be harder and was therefore easier to make progress over. This lead to some slightly circuitous routes but it was fun to feel like we were trailblazing, a little like walking on freshly fallen snow. At the top of the first crest the route took us up to after a few Km in the dunes we got an amazing view of the sprawling dunes in front of us with a line of runners leading off into the distance. Fortunately this was still early enough for this not to bother me. In fact I wasn’t terribly surprised as I knew we had a long way to go in the dunes and had only been going an hour or so. After a few photos and a close shave with the helicopter very close above us which was determined to blow my hat off, we took advantage of the steep descent down the dune, running as fast as we could.

Hmm... that's starting to look like a long way!

Me Just before my friend in the helicopter tried to blow me off the dune...

Then followed several very long Km of sand, up and down, and up and down – this got a little tiresome after a while and the kilometres felt ever longer as we were presented the more and more views of sprawling dunes. Fortunately, though it was a hot day, there was a good breeze on the dunes. Nevertheless, as it took so long to get through the dunes many people had problems with running out of water before the first CP, which caused many people to retire on the first leg of the race (around 40 I think!). We had been warned that it was a tough first stage, but was turning out to be pretty brutal. Max, Matt and I got to the first CP together (we had met up with Max – another from Tent X - in the dunes) and set about re-filling our water bottles and getting as much water down as possible to compensate for the dunes (we were given 3 L here). This was one of the very few times during the week that I checked my feet, applying a little extra Body Glide to the arches of my feet which had felt like they were rubbing in the dunes.

We bumped into Sarah (another Tent X resident) on the way out of the CP and all four of use carried on into the dried river bed. It was beginning to feel hot and the soft sand on the flat river bed was making it hard going. I wasn’t feeling too bad and the apprehension had faded – I felt much better for having started, though we started doing some run/walk intervals and I could feel my ITB complaining which was annoying. After a while we climbed out of the river bed (I came to hate dried river beds over the week) and onto a rocky plain rising to an abandoned village and mine. The views back towards the dunes were stunning and it was easier going under foot. Sarah and I had begun chatting and carried on to the next CP together, seeing it appear as we crested the pass just on from the abandoned village.

The other side of the dunes... Starting to get a little hot now!

A very picturesque abandoned village

I felt pretty encouraged by having made it to the second CP and after getting some food and water down we carried on over a couple of rises towards the stretch of smaller dunes that sat between us and the end of the stage. I was in awe of the landscape which varied a surprising amount over relatively short distances. Amazing views were constantly giving way to new draw dropping views every time we rounded a corner or crested a hill giving me quite a buzz. I couldn’t quite believe that I was in the middle of a stage of the MdS, and in the middle of the Sahara, it felt almost surreal.

Could be Mars... Not that I've ever been but I'm sure its not far off :)

The second CP in the distance - a nice sight but it felt like being in an oven on the black sand!

Sarah and I entered the final 3Km of dunes before the finish, really feeling the heat of the day with little breeze about. After the first punishing leg of the stage over the Erg Chebbi, these were not welcome and they felt like they went on forever. This wasn’t helped by the relatively low level of the dunes which didn’t give any vantage points to give any idea of how much more there was to come. It was in these dunes that I saw my first person being treated by the Doc Trotters; apparently there were quite a few that found this section difficult and needed help.

A nice smiley face to spur us on :)

A couple of Km from the end we reached the top of a crest and were rewarded with our first view of the second bivouac in the distance on the plane below us. This was our first lesson in MdS route planning – the finish shall be visible from as FAR AWAY as possible so that it feels like its NEVER GOING TO COME.

Finally, the finish!... Well almost...

We saw Ian the photographer on the way down and finally made it out of the dunes and made it over the finish line. We were handed our cup of Sultan sweet mint tea (which was hotter than the sun but so so good) and wandered over to get our water ration. The Tent X consensus was that it must be Patrick’s idea of a joke to give you three 1.5L bottles of water when you are knackered after a stage so you have to hobble - desperately trying not to drop anything - back to your tent. When Sarah and I got to the tent Colin, Adrian, Paul and James were already back and relaxing. Max and Matt appeared shortly after. Both Matt and Max had had some problems with dehydration – Matt had run out of water during the first leg over the dunes and Max was struggling with the quantity of water we were given – he is a much taller guy than most of us.

Actually the finish! Well the first one anyway...

After this first stage I felt much better, the apprehension was gone; it had been a hard day - tough but do-able. My feet were in a good condition – no blisters and my legs didn’t feel too bad considering all of the dunes we had crossed.

Stage 2 - 7th April 2014: ERG ZNAIGUI / OUED MOUNGARF - 41 KM

Lots of eager runners... and one slightly loopy french man on top of a lorry....

The second stage was much flatter than the first and more conducive to running, starting over some flat gravelly plains with some very small sporadic dunes up to the first CP. I ran most of this, walking for short periods when I felt my ITB tightening. As we were running the first CP came
up really quickly which was good for morale.

Lots of people in front....

...and a few behind :)

After getting some water and food down, Sarah and I set off at a walk along the dry river bed letting everything settle a little before trying to run again. We passed through a small village with some enthusiastic spectators – the kids lined up enthusiastically for some High-5’s with the elders sat observing from outside their houses.

After leaving the village we decided to start doing a run/walk routine – 5 minutes on and 5 minutes off with which we managed to make some good progress down the valley towards an open plain (a dry lake bed by the looks of it). It was about this point I saw some half buried bones which looked a little comic – for some reason it made me think of Disney films (the Lion King?), not sure why! It did also emphasise (somewhat dramatically) the harshness of the environment we were in – we could not survive for long without our water ration and salt! A rather pale Englishman is not well adapted for this…

Looks like something out of the Lion King...

At this point we gave up running, it was getting pretty warm and we had a sustained incline up out of the valley. This gave amazing views across the flat expanse spreading into the distance, and ahead up through a few dunes before CP 2 which appeared as we crested a dune at the top pf the incline. I was feeling pretty good considering the long leg from CP 1, though the lack of breeze was very noticeable in the heat of the day. I could feel some hot spots on my feet which I stopped to take a look at and put on some Body Glide, fortunately this seemed to work and I didn’t pick up any blisters.

Onward towards Checkpoint 2.

A good excuse for a stop :)

The Landrovers of Check Point 2 with lots of cheery faces to welcome us in.

After a water top up and something to eat at CP2 we carried on out over another plateau towards CP3. The views over this plain were particularly good and were a good distraction from the heat. I spent a while buzzing around taking photos while Sarah chatted with some other brits. At the end of the plateau we reached some palm trees with some more kids there to cheer us on. We then went through another village before going up an incline on some gravel and sand and up to CP3 which was cunningly hidden from view behind a rocky outcrop.

Not a cloud in sight....and quite warm without a breeze!

Another stunning view...

Some greenery at last! And some fun local kids.

After the normal checkpoint routine we headed on up a steep sandy slope up to a pass which gave great views across the valley ahead with some hills of very black rock at the other end. It was during this ascent that poor Sarah started to get a picture of my tendency to rather bluntly report on my bodily status, as I commented on the rather toasty condition of my testicles in my black shorts in the sun. It’s amazing she put with running with me for so long!

Phew!.... At the top!

There was a fun sandy descent from the pass onto the gravelly valley floor which almost made up for the climb up, and this was followed by an easy section on the valley floor before crossing a dried river and rising to a shallow pass at the other end of the valley. There was an impressive dust devil when we were approaching the river which contrasted nicely with the black rock of the hills behind so naturally I had to whip the camera out. Maybe I should have been trying a little harder – I do have A LOT of photographs – but I was worried about buggering my ITB and I was enjoying myself, which is really what I was after. I’m always onto a looser if I aim for speed of any kind!

The route stretching out ahead with that scorching black rock...

One handsome dust devil.

Anyway, as we came over the pass out of the valley we found ourselves on the black rock; it’s amazing how much hotter it is when the ground is a dark colour. It felt a little like being grilled from above and below as the black rock radiated strongly back upwards. We were hoping to get a view of the bivouac form this pass - we knew it wasn’t far off – though it was still hidden behind two small hills on the descent to the plain below. We passed between these hills and finally got a view of the camp – still 2 Km away. Again it looked so close but it took us an age to get there – we were hot and slightly grumpy when we finally got to the finish.

Only 2 km away... it felt a lot further!

Almost there...!

When we got over to the tent with our water Colin, Adrian, Paul and James were already back and relaxing again. Max and Matt had taken it easy after their hydration problems and came in shortly after us.

I was nicely settled into bivouac life by this point, and the eat-and-rest routine felt very natural. We only had a few hours to sort everything and maybe head over to the email tent before the sun would set, after which all there was to do was to go to sleep (or try to).

An Aside on Drinking…

Sarah had a good scheme for making sure she drank enough with an alarm on her watch going every 10 minutes. I was conscientious in taking my salt tablets and didn’t have any problems, though I was conscious that while I was trying to meet the suggested salt dose for the amount of water I had drunk, and the time I had been out, I needed to be more structured. After a couple of days I learnt that taking a tablet every half hour, rising to 2 tablets every half hour after four hours seemed to work pretty well.

Stage 3 - 8th April 2014: OUED MOUNGARF / BA HALLOU - 37,5 KM

The third stage started with a flat stony plain rising gently through a gap between two hills. We knew this was going to be a difficult stage (the shorter distance was a bit of a clue), as the route included two long sets of dunes which would make progress slow and arduous in the heat.

Off we go again...

I started off running, making sure I kept track of where Sarah was – we’d had a good time running together and I didn’t want to lose her in the mass of runners. After a gentle descent over a dried river bed (not sandy thankfully) down towards the small dunes that marked the start of the first set, we resorted to a walk with sporadic running. This was however stopped by sand when we got into the proper dunes and it was walking from hereon in. Just into the dunes Max and Matt caught us up and we carried on into the dunes together. The views around us at this point were particularly stunning with hills on both sides, with spectacular flat-topped tors to our right. I had commented to Sarah that there seemed to be a lot of dung about considering that we hadn’t come across any animals and sure enough we caught a glimpse of some wild camels off in the distance to our right shortly afterwards.

Small dunes...

.... getting bigger...

Some nice doctor people making sure we're OK

As we carried on into the dunes they got progressively taller, running parallel to each other so that we had to go up and over each one. I didn’t really mind at this point; it was fun trotting down the other sides. CP1, half way through the dunes, came up pretty quickly. Max decided to stop off and see the Doc Trotters here as he was concerned about a fluttering feeling with his heart when he tried running and thought it might have something to do with his hydration or salt intake. Matt, Sarah and I headed on while Max had and ECG; he caught us up later on in the day at CP3.

There are some camels in the distance... very small ones!

The dunes were much flatter after CP1 and there was a gentle incline and then descent down to the valley floor. There were some salt flats to our left which looked very picturesque, particularly with some camels in the middle distance. I was feeling pretty enthusiastic and energetic at this point, darting about taking photographs. Maybe that’s a little bit of an exaggeration – trotting about is probably more accurate. Anyway, I was particularly excited when I found some silver ants I had seen on a David Attenborough documentary – Sarah and Matt must have thought I was mad stopping to take photos of ants; they’d probably be right, but it made me very happy.

Our first Jebel...

When we started heading down from the dunes we got a view of the Jebel we were heading over, with a winding line of runners heading up it. It looked worse than it was, and the ascent started relatively gently, though very rocky. It became steeper as we entered a gully which evidently transported a lot of water when it rained. There were some nice white flowers in here – the first I’d seen in desert. The ascent was over rock slabs at the bottom of the gully with some sand over the top and though steep wasn’t too hard going – the weekends in the lakes had obviously paid off. There wasn’t much air movement though, so it was hot work. The top rewarded us with great views from where we’d come from, and towards the dunes ahead between us and CP2. I remember feeling particularly salty at this point, getting a sharp salty tang as I licked my lips. There was a deceptive Bedouin camp just off course just into the dunes which gave a moment of hope until I realised that it wasn’t far enough into the dunes.

One the way up.

Looking back over the route from CP1...

... and looking forward (with a very salty man in front!)

The descent was quite steep over sand with some fairly big rocks in it (incidentally I have since decided this is my least favourite terrain, though at the time which ever surface we were on was my least favourite!). The slope then levelled out to a gentle sandy descent which took us down past some abandoned looking huts and some Bedouin children who were taking a great interest in this long line of idiots traipsing past.

More dunes :)

Crossing a river bed we then entered the second set of dunes where there was little wind and it was getting very warm. These were pretty big dunes and more interesting than many of the previous ones – they weren’t all aligned and had deep wells between them where water obviously collected when it rained. They did seem to go on for a while though and in the heat we found ourselves wishing for the next CP. We were eventually rewarded with a view of CP2 as we crested a dune. It was pitched in front of a vast plain at the bottom of a tall dune with a steep slope which was great fun to go leaping down.

CP2 with the plain spreading behind.

The next leg involved another few km of dunes and flat valley bottom. The dunes weren’t too difficult in comparison to what we had seen before. They were pretty flat but it was getting very warm by this point though, and my blood sugar was dipping making me a bit grumpy. It was in these dunes we saw what looked like some tourists out for a stroll with a local guide; the sight of normal people almost seemed like a hallucination given we hadn’t seen anyone other than locals out there. We must have looked very strange to them!

My salt tablets... seemed like a good idea for a photo at the time!

We finally came down off the dunes on the valley floor and after rounding a corner in the valley a flat expanse with scrubby shrubs stretched out in front of us. There was very little wind at this point and it felt the hottest I remember it being through the entire event. Save for a dust devil spinning around to our left there was little by way of interesting scenery. This was definitely not one of the more picturesque sections of the course and I wasn’t enjoying it – probably one of the lower points of the week. The only thing to do was to put my head down and stride on and try and get it over with as quickly as possible. This was one of the times that being able to run would have been a real benefit as it got more difficult the longer you spent out there.

Very warm and not very interesting!

Eventually we got to CP3 and picked up some much needed water – this was one of the few times I was worried I would run out. Max caught us up here, just as we were about to leave. I pushed on as I was in a bit of a mood and just wanted to get off the course, Matt and Sarah followed on shortly after. Fortunately this was a short leg (only 5K or so) and there was just a dusting of dunes towards the end, so it passed pretty quickly. The route took us past some ruins on an out crop which was impressive to look at and had I not been in the middle of a race (and hot and grumpy) I would have liked to have a wonder round. This was only 1.8 Km from the end and as I rounded a corner by the ruins I got a view of the finish in the distance which was a great relief.

As expected it had been a hard day, but again not impossible. It would definitely have helped I had been able to (or had the confidence) to run over the flats to avoid a bit of the heat but at the same time going slower did definitely help get me to the end of the third stage in good condition in preparation for the long stage, which was my aim.

Stage 4 - 9th & 10th April 2014: BA HALLOU / RICH MERZOUG - 81,5 KM

It turns out Patrick is pretty obsessed with the song Happy... This was his attempt to get everyone to dance at the start - I don't dance when I have 82 km to run!

This was the long one – the one I had been most concerned about, though I had managed to keep myself in pretty good condition by being conservative with my pace over the first three stages. This wasn’t entirely by choice – my ITB had had some say in things but in retrospect I think it was probably a good thing, given I had no previous experience of this sort of event or environment. My legs were fine (bar the ITB) and my feet were almost blister free which I thought was quite an achievement. Paul, one of the guys in the tent had developed some nasty deep blisters on the arches of his feet from his insoles rubbing. These had become infected and were extremely painful – I was very glad I wasn’t in that position!

So I was in pretty good condition all things considered, which had been my aim for the first three stages. After this one there were only the marathon and charity stages which would be easy if I could get this one out of the way. I decided to try and get as much distance in as quickly as possible as the route was pretty flat and solid under foot up to the first CP. My pack had reduced in weight by this point and to it was easier to run. This went well and I was wondering what I had been so worried about - up until just before the first checkpoint when my ITB decided it wanted to weigh in. Annoying but not unexpected. Unfortunately I had lost Sarah, Matt and Max in the crowd at the beginning as I rushed off to have a pee and so it was just me at this point, tough there were a few people I recognised around.

Running wasn’t really an option after the first CP anyway as the route took us up a jebel. It was possible to make pretty good progress up until we got to the rocky ascent half way up where a queue had formed. This wasn’t really surprising considering the ascent with limited space and the number of runners, but it was a little frustrating. Dodgy leg or not I wanted to make progress – there was A LONG WAY to go – and I had found the previous day that I could make good progress up the mountains. It wasn’t the best rest either as it was mainly a case of balancing on small ledges until I could move on. The up-side was that the view that had unfurled behind us was stunning. The queue eventually made it up to the roped section at the top of a sandy slope just below the top – this had been part of the bottle neck I think. Given the ledge that the hundreds of feet in front of me had created, the rope wasn’t really necessary but I suppose it would have reassured those who were uncomfortable with heights – the slide down the sand didn’t look like it would be too uncomfortable, but it was a long way down.

First jebel of the day....

Up we go...

A long queue, not moving very fast!

Still, gave time for a few photos :)

The view from the top was definitely worth the wait – you could see along the broad ridge in both directions, with views back towards the start and over across the dunes and plain to CP2 (though it was too far away to see at this point). I was very glad of my camera at this point!

.... and to admire the view.

The top, looking back towards the Bivouac

Going uphill with the complaining ITB hadn’t been a problem, however going down was another story. The descent down towards the dunes was distinctly uncomfortable and I was very slow. Fortunately it wasn’t too technical and I didn’t need to do too much hopping down the dried stream bed (or what looked like one anyway). I was glad to get to the bottom and we were met with some nicely formed small dunes for a short distance before joining the plain spreading in front of us. It was another case of putting your head down and going. CP2 was just visible in the distance but there were several km of flat expanse between me and it, which would take a while to cover at my walking pace. I tried to do some slow running but my ITB was having none of it. The plain ahead may have been large, but that was nothing to the huge expanse spreading out to our right, it just looked like it went on forever, book-ended on each side by ridges - one of which we had just crossed.

Such a huge expanse - fortunately we weren't going in that direction!

There's Matt in the background, with the jebels behind.

After passing a couple of photographers who’s 4x4’s had looked like they were the CP from further away (which was annoying when you got closer and realised there was another kilometer to go!) , I reached the checkpoint on top of a small raised area in the middle of the plain. Matt was just behind and caught up as I was filling my water bottles. He wasn’t handing about and headed off before me. Max had obviously been just behind and arrived at the checkpoint just as I was leaving.

Just after leaving I decided that some music would help move things along. I had brought an IPod shuffle with me but not used it yet, preferring to enjoy my surroundings and make sure I didn’t run down the battery before the long stage. Anyway this was the long stage and was over 20 km in, in need of a boost, so I decided I would allow myself be a bit distracted. It really did help - my selection of cheesy upbeat songs energising me and helping me power on. After half an hour or so as I was catching up with Matt and reaching the end of the plain, the first of the elites past me, followed shortly after by Danny Kendall. Seeing him come flying past and shouting him encouragement helped with the morale boost. This was amplified by the IPod choosing this moment to play the song I associated with the excitement of doing my initial research two years before.

Danny Kendal flying through.

I caught up with Matt shortly afterwards as we joined a track going past an oasis with the first greenery I had seen in days (it looked VERY green in compassion with the barren surroundings). There were a few small buildings and what looked like a small number of crops, all extremely green. We carried on along the track, through a cutting in the ridge at the end of the plain and down on to some salt flats on the bottom of the next broad valley. CP3 was at the other side, not far off half way which was a very positive thought; though it was difficult to tell from looking exactly how far away it was given the flatness. It was crossing these flats that Matt and I saw a local lady cycling by in a very relaxed sort of way as if she was just going down to the local shop (there weren’t any anywhere near that I could see). The bizarre normality of it and my cooked, starved brain made it seem very amusing at the time – the photograph is one of my favourites of the whole week.

Salt flats...

And a lady going for an afternoon ride :)

Thankfully we reached the CP reasonably quickly, and received our glow sticks before heading up the side of a hill of black rock dusted with very orange sand. This leg was probably the prettiest part of the stage; well the prettiest part I could see, I can’t really comment on the bits I covered in the dark! The top of the hill yielded great views ahead (more black rock and orange sand) and back over CP3 and the salt flats. After going over the top of another small hill, the route crossed a small plateau and rounded a corner before crossing a very broad valley. I was on my own at this point having become separated from Matt at the checkpoint and decided more music was needed to push me on. The valley took a while to cross and I remember feeling particularly hot at this point; it would have been around 4 pm at this point – the hottest part of the day.

Back over CP3 and the salt flats.

Forward over the hills... almost half way!

After reaching the bottom and crossing a makeshift track created by the race support vehicles, the line of runners stretched up the shallow incline towards what looked like a pass. I had thought that CP4 would be somewhere around this point – I was wrong. We carried on going up, over some sand and then a steeper rocky ascent onto a ridge. The views along the ridge were stunning which I could just about appreciate in my slightly dazed and thirsty state. It was feeling like a very long stage and I was running out of water. It was clear however that CP3 was not close; I could see the line of runners heading along and up the ridge ahead and there was no sign of the CP in the valley below. All there was to do was to enjoy the views around me and push on.

Up another hill...

Worth it a the top :)

Looking back down the ridge.

And forwards towards CP4 (just round the corner... sort of)

After a while the footprints disappeared down a broad sandy gulley down into the valley below. The descent was nice and sandy and would have been good fun if my leg hadn’t been complaining and stopping me taking full advantage of the nice low impact downhill. Ian the photographer was half way down and told me CP4 was only 3 km or so away which was very welcome news. This, along with the sight of a familiar face helped cheer me up as we traversed the sandy slope of the ridge we had just come down the side of, after a few minutes arriving at the top of a gentle sandy slope down to a plain and CP4. The sand underfoot at this point was quite gritty and set into hard wavey ridges which would have been good to make progress over but the spacing of the ridges forced me to take unnatural pace lengths which wasn’t much fun on my tired legs. Maybe I was just being grumpy – I was hot and thirsty! Anyway I was over half way at this point which was encouraging.

Down we go...

I had planned to stop off for a slightly extended break at this CP so I could eat/drink something more substantial than normal and rest a little. As I got in I saw Paul from our tent who was suffering terribly with his blisters. He had been there a while and set off shortly after. I took my water over to one of the tents and sat down to make my Ultra Fuel liquid meal – just add water for all of the nutrition of a whole meal, a bit like Complan but higher energy. Despite the inviting title ‘Milky Dutch Chocolate’ it wasn’t really very nice; it didn’t help that my attempts to mix it in the packet with my water bottle straw weren’t very successful – I just got a load of powdery lumps. By this point I was also starting to have difficulty swallowing my salt tablets which were taking multiple attempts to get down. The Ultra Fuel may not have been very pleasant to drink/eat, but it did have the right effect after a few minutes – I felt energised and not just as if I’d downed a load of a sugar, in a somehow more substantial way. Definitely worth the effort of getting it down me.

Pretty knackered by this point!

After a few minutes Matt arrived at the CP and joined me in the tent. We set off together, with the sun getting low in the sky – it was very pretty setting off across the plain. There wasn’t much breeze but it was cooling down and it was lovely and calm. The sun was setting in front of us – we didn’t get a big fiery display because of the clouds gathering, but the silhouettes of the runners and mountains ahead were a fair substitute.

As it got darker we entered some small dunes and stopped to light our glow sticks. We went as long as we could without our head torches, preferring to maintain our night vision and using the light of the moon. The first hour or so in the darkness didn’t seem too bad. It was quite novel plodding on following the line of glow sticks in front of us, and coming across the odd group of local kids sitting on dunes watching these weird lunatics trek through the night. The first couple of times it gave me quite a shock; not being able to see far in the darkness they seemed to appear very suddenly. After a while though, the monotony began to set in. CP5 had a green laser set up, directed up into the sky. This seemed great to begin with, but then it became clear that it was not going to get any closer, it just never seemed to get any bigger! Again one of those things it was best not to focus on, but it wasn’t easy given that there wasn’t really anything else to look at.

After 2 hours on the move the effects of the Ultra Fuel had long since worn off and my morale was dipping. Previously when this had happened, in the light, I had just taken a moment to look around me and take in the amazing surroundings. This hadn’t yet failed to perk me up, but in the dark there was nothing to see – only the darkness pressing in around us. It felt very isolated and I was glad to have Matt’s company.

After another couple of hours and several occasions on which my hopes were raised only to be dashed when I realised we still weren’t anywhere near the CP. The time which had been going so fast during the day seemed to slow down and I noticed every single minute. Eventually, however, we did reach CP5, with everything aching. My legs were tired but not too bad considering, but it was my feet that were killing me – not blisters, just aching from having been on my feet for so long. The darkness and lack of visual stimulation only served to amplify this by depriving me of distractions.

It was very tempting to sit down and have a nice rest in one of the tents but we resisted. Matt was feeling some rubbing in his shoes and was worried one of his blisters might burst. A very kind fellow brit gave him some tape so he could stop if he needed, not wanting to stop longer was necessary at the CP. We set off into the darkness again and the lights of the CP retreated slowly and disappeared into the darkness.

We put our music on to try and distract ourselves – we had run out of conversation, and were too tired to try and think of inventive things to discuss. We were walking in convoy which really helped me, Matt in front of my striding along and mentally dragging me with him. We swapped after a while and I took over at the front. I had Bastille turned up very loud helped keep me going and I got myself into a zone pushing as hard as I could while still walking. This meant I didn’t notice initially when Matt disappeared from behind me and he had to flash his torch to get my attention. One of his blisters had burst and had to stop to try and tape it up. We were in the middle of a sand plain in the pitch dark (just before the house at 61.6 Km on the road book map), with a few head torches in the distance behind us. I made my way back to see what was wrong but my feet were killing me and I wasn’t sure how long I could stay on my feet and so (somewhat selfishly) I headed on by myself. A 10 minute stop could have finished me off and I needed to keep my momentum up. It was around of this point that one or more of my blisters burst as well – evident from the squelchy feeling in my shoe. Not pleasant, but my feet were already screaming and I just wanted to get off them so decided to leave it; I also thought I would probably make things worse trying to tape it myself.

So I plodded on towards the next CP, still 10 Km or so away at this point, on my own. Matt and I hadn’t been talking, but knowing he was there had helped and I soon found myself feeling distinctly lonely; knackered and alone in the dark with only the distant glow sticks of runners up head for company. The music was a huge help at this point, and my purposeful stride was turning into more of a continual forward fall. The restricted view afforded by my torch beam didn’t help the stumbling along, preventing me seeing what was around me and choosing a more efficient route.

The plain slowly turned into small dunes which were hard work as I kept unnecessarily going up dunes when I could have gone around, unable to see the route round until I had already done the climb. They weren’t tall, but after this happened a few times it became very frustrating. Unfortunately this wouldn’t get any better over the remainder of the stage.

The dark was really pressing in around; I was only able to see a few metres around me which showed very little until the route joined another dry river bed which was bordered by some vegetation. It had become flat and sandy under foot and the little energy I had in my legs was disappearing into the soft sand which didn’t help my progress. The feeling of isolation made the time pass very slowly. The music helped but I was anxious to see the lights of the next CP up ahead. After several rounds of imagined groups of lights in the distance, I saw some lights up ahead which eventually grew into a real check point with land rovers and everything.

I collected my water and stumbled a few metres before planting myself on the sand near the water bottle bin. It was a great relief to be off my feet and the fire in the soles of my feet diminished a little. I set about trying to find my For Goodness Shakes that I had promised myself. Unfortunately I had forgotten to take it out of the main food bag and spent a few frustrated minutes fumbling with the inside of my pack trying to find it. Having removed what felt like everything in my bag I found it and made myself my shake which tasted amazing and cheered me up.

By this point my legs felt like they had set into my seated position and it took a huge effort to get up onto my feet again. I started off, probably looking like a foal walking for the first time, wincing as I went. My legs loosened up as I went though and I got going again, on more soft sand.

In the dark I found myself needing to pee every few minutes. I had got into the habit of drinking so regularly during the heat of the day that I was drinking a lot more than I needed in the cooler night time. I also wasn’t sure how much salt I needed, so resorted to one tablet every half hour just in case – I figured I’d just throw it up if I was taking too much. The advantage of needing to pee so often was that when I stopped to do so, I would be temporarily distracted from the pain in my feet which was very pleasant. Until I was finished however, when it would come flooding back. This flat sand continued for another 7 Km or so during which time I got talking to an Italian chap which was a good distraction. He was in worse shape than me with terrible blisters.

Then 5 Km from the end, after so many hours of shuffling through sand in the darkness, we came to the edge of a plain with some lights in the distance. These had to be the bivouac – there couldn’t be anything else out there. The ground allowed better progress which was a relief after so long on the sand, but it was harder on the feet. I had been prepared for the route to allow us to see then end from a long way away (they had done the same thing every other day), but this leg seemed to go on for an eternity. After a little while I could make out the inflatable arch at the finish, but after that it didn’t seem to get any bigger, no matter how far we went. This was not fun! Obviously in the end it did come closer, and a km or so from the end a figure appeared in the darkness up ahead which turned out to be Paul. He must have been in a huge amount of pain with his feet by this point.

Eventually I caught the sound of the generators powering the finish lights and inflatable, meaning I must be very close. I stumbled across the finish soon after feeling numb – I had finished the long stage! I felt like I had finished the whole thing, except I hadn’t and my feet were killing me! I picked up my tea (nothing has ever tasted so good) and my water. I wanted to go and see Doc Trotters about my feet which I was convinced were covered in two huge blisters. Unfortunately they weren’t open until the morning so I hobbled with my bottles of water back to the tent.

Colin, Adrian and James had all been back for ages and Colin and James were in their sleeping bags. Adrian had a very unreasonable amount of energy considering, and leapt up to look after Paul when he appeared in a considerable amount of pain, shortly after me.

I had gotten off very lightly in comparison with Paul – I only had a few blisters (two of which had popped as suspected), and the majority of the soles were in good condition, just b****y painful. Pauls feet were in a terrible state; he took off a sock, looked at his little toe and asked me if I thought that was the nail or the bone sticking out. I have huge respect for him for keeping going.

I had a nasty surprise when I delved into my food bag – the pork scratchings that I had been looking forward to weren’t actually in that day’s food, they were actually in the last day’s food! I had been looking forward to these for hours. I did a quick crafty swap between food packets and devoured the salty snack, followed by a peperami along with a shake. I didn’t feel like a proper meal and soon started to feel quite cold in the cool night air so I clambered into my sleeping bag – after a quick wipe with my wemmi wipe ration that is; I had to maintain some form of civilisation after all! I lay down with my fleece on in my bag, legs up on my pack throbbing, and quickly fell asleep.
Rest Day:

I woke up three hours later with the sunrise feeling surprisingly perky. My legs and feet were sore but a big improvement over what they had been when I went to sleep. Sarah still hadn’t come in, so after a lazy breakfast I headed over to the finish to see if it was possible to find out where she was. Apparently she had spent the night out on the course, spending a few hours at CP4 which was a relief to hear. The only other thing to do was to send my email telling people I was alive and in one piece; after that there was nothing to do but graze on the day’s food and rest out of the sun in the tent. I was quite happy lying down in the heat resting with the breeze gently blowing past.

Sarah arrived in the afternoon looking pretty knackered but in good spirits. Shortly after we were called to the middle of the bivouac to receive our can of coke which had been widely rumoured but never confirmed. I’m not a fan of coke normally but in the heat anything cold was lovely. Just before the stage time cut-off everyone gathered over by the finish to watch the last people finish after which it was time for some dinner and an early night, ready for the last proper stage the next day.

Stage 5 - 11th April 2014: RICH MERZOUG / IGADOUN TARHBALT - 42,2 KM

So this was the last main stage, only a traditional marathon stage; it felt like nothing in comparison with the long stage. The top 200 runners had a slightly later start behind the rest of us which I was glad of; it was good to be able to take advantage of the cooler hours. There wasn’t much pomp or ceremony about our start; no helicopters or long speech from Patrick, just a few words and we were off.

I started off running as I had every other day but this time I knew that the next stage was a mere 7.7 km which I could crawl if necessary. My ITB was complaining from the beginning but I’d had enough of it and was enjoying having a light bag so I carried on, running faster than I had all week over a nicely flat plain. The first CP arrived very quickly which was really encouraging; I was feeling better than I had all week, buzzing with the fast progress I was making. I got some water down me and headed straight off, running for a while before having a short walking rest. I couldn’t stay at a walk for long though - I became impatient after the first two minutes of my planned five minute walk and gave up, breaking into a run again.

There was a slight rise over a crest which slowed progress slightly and then we headed down into a broad valley with an oasis to our right. The terrain was nice and easily runnable at this point with only small stones. I was still feeling exhilarated by the relative speed with which the kilometres were going by. The landscape wasn’t anything special, particularly given everything we had been through over the preceding days, but that really didn’t matter. For once I wasn’t terribly interested in taking photos.

The terrain remained easy up to CP2 after which I knew from the roadbook it became a little more difficult. By this point however we were over half way. A masochistic bit of me was really enjoying punishing my leg for causing me so much frustration and pain over the preceding stages and weeks of training; it was a good release.

Shortly after CP2 we joined a track, the first for days, and the terrain became more undulating. I slowed to a walk and we started to head up towards a gulley. It was going up this that Danny Kendall passed me in second place. Again this was a really good boost and helped me push it up to the top. Most of the rest of the route to CP3 was on tracks which were easy under foot, though the descent down into the thin valley shortly before the checkpoint was pretty uncomfortable because of my leg and I ended up doing a pretty undignified hop/limp until things leveled out.

CP3 - Almost there!

CP3 was positioned by a dry river bed surrounded by some lovely greenery where the valley started to open out. There were quite a few people supporting at this CP, friends and family of some of the competitors who had come out. It was nice to hear some cheering - even if it wasn’t really for me! I couldn’t be bothered to spend much time faffing with water and anyway I hadn’t been out nearly as long as normal so hadn’t drunk as much. I topped one bottle and drank as much as I could quickly without making me feel bloated and set off as quick as I could. There was only 10 km to go, and I was starting to realise that I had very nearly completed the MdS. This really hit me when I put my music on and I suddenly felt quite emotional.

Unfortunately the terrain wasn’t so good now, there were 4 km of sandy river bed which wasn’t much fun. The music helped push me on though, and there was a nice delicate smell of flowers coming from the small crop beds next to the river bed; novel after so long getting ever smellier in the desert heat.

Some encouragement :).... from a rock!

After a while shuffling over the sand the route took us up a small adjoining valley. Someone had painted three explanation marks on a rock on the way up this, driving home that this was almost over. At the top the terrain became very rocky, but I felt surprisingly light on my feet and easily bounded around the big rocks. After crossing the plateau, I finally crested the top of a rise to see the finish on the edge of a plain in the distance. I stopped to take a photo and pressed on downhill over some final dunes as fast as my legs would let me. After the last dune there was a final couple of hundred metres across some flat sand and with a final effort and spurt of speed, I passed a group in front arranging their union jack and crossed the line.

That's the finish in the distance!

I was on the verge of tears for much those last few km, so exhilarated and emotionally charged knowing that two years of my life planning and preparing was almost over. Some of the most intense minutes of my life so far.

For a few minutes after crossing the finish line I was in a bit of shock. Patrick was putting a medal over my head, struggling to get it over the peak of my hat and I think I managed a bit of a grunt – not my most eloquent moment! I went to wave at the webcam and get my tea at which point the tears made an appearance. It only lasted a couple of minutes though and then I started to finally realise I has finished.

One very smelly man! But very happy!

James had already finished and was getting ready to take videos of the rest of us coming in. Over the next couple of hours I watched the others coming in, sat on the hot sand slumped against my rucksack watching people come in, including Paul and Max, and later Sarah and Ranj.

Stage 6 – CHARITY STAGE – 7,7 KM and Ouazatate

The last stage was the charity stage – 7.7 km over mainly flat land over to the last finish line. We had been given a charity t-shirt to wear for this last stage which was lovely and clean but hot and mine was soon nice and sweaty. I walked these last few km with Sarah, Max and James and very soon we were at the end being handed a packed lunch and some bread which tasted amazing. We found a coach and set off for Ouazazate for a nice shower a clean bed and a cold beer….