Marathon des Sables

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Into the Dunes

Fredrick Olmqvist / 31.03.2009

The waiting is over. The race is on.

Since stage 1 was cancelled the race began with the 33K second stage, starting with a 14K crossing of the magnificent and somewhat terrifying sand dunes at Erg Chebbi. As usual the Moroccans took the lead. Choosing the best line through the dunes proved to be tricky as the field spread out in different groups. It was also much hotter in the dunes with no cooling wind whatsoever. It would have been hard even without the backpack, which in my case meant about 8 kilos including water. But many carried much heavier packs, like one Japanese woman whose pack weighted 16 kilos at the gear check the day before.

At the first CP, we got more water and faced 10K of running on stony plains to reach CP 2. The stage ended with more big dunes, where the famous Italian ultra runner Marco Olmo, passed me, very light on his feet. If I had been tired before now I also got cramps and had to struggle to keep up with his little group. I reached the finish after 3 hours and 8 minutes in 22nd place, and more than half an hour after the stage winner Mohammed Ahansal, who crossed the line after 2 hours 34 minutes. Relaxing in the camp afterwards feels good. Eating and resting. Making necessary repair work on the equipment and chatting with other runners that I have got to know the last few days.

The rainfall and flooding will affect the race course and we will be briefed daily about course changes. In the next story I will tell you about the 7 unlucky British runners who were left behind at the flooded camp on Friday afternoon and had to spend all night long standing since there were no dry spots to lie down; until the were found next morning.

For more infomation about the race check out the official website at www.darbaroud.com and you can also read my personal blog where I present my Superfood project. As an experiment I am trying to complete the race only eating organic Superfood products and no products with added sugar.

See www.fredrikolmqvist.wordpress.com for more.See All Event Posts