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A Steady Start

David Campbell / 10.04.2005

Woke up at 5:30 this morning, took a stroll with some loo roll and by the time I came back the Berbers had demolished half the camp already and were progressing quickly towards our tent! This prompted a hurried evacuation, followed by foot prep, breakfast, packing and then sitting around nervously wanted to get going. The last few days of waiting had made all the camp impatient to start the run.

We all queued for the start to be corralled into a number 20 for the shots by the helicopter (it’s the 20th MDS). This was followed by a long speech by Patrick the race organiser, translated into English in just a fraction of the words that he used, leading us to believe that his emotion may have been running away with him!

All this time the temperature was rising and the bag was weighing heavier on our shoulders … then the off, it was the first time you realise just how many runners there are. The chopper was buzzing backwards and forwards and the race started with a bolt of adrenalin and a bolt for the ridge that had been penning us in for the last few days.

The scenery is stunning, much more so than on previous year’s according to other competitors. We made the first 12km fairly fast and without pausing at the first checkpoint, we grabbed our next 1.5 liters of water and headed for the little dunes, or ‘dunettes’ as they are called. All the time we were following a chap in chinos, a wool top and an umbrella, very commendable, especially as he kept a very good pace.

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