Marathon Des Sables
The Heat Takes It's Toll
David Campbell / 05.05.2005
Terrain Flat and sand, dried riverbeds and about 13km of dunes
Temp Mid forties
As we set off, Tom had been dealing with the heat better than I and was able to keep a faster pace going, so after a few minutes together at the start, Tom set off at his preferred pace.
Firstly I was a little put out as this wasn’t what we had discussed, but then was actually really glad as I could maintain my own pace. In training, we had been about the same so when one was low, the other was pulled along and vice versa. However, in the desert, Tom adapted much better to the conditions, so if we had stayed together, there would have always been the dynamic of him pulling me which would have lead to frustration and resentment on both sides.
After a short time, I realised that not feeling that I was holding Tom back was a massive boost to me and I really started to enjoy it. The terrain was dull for the first 10 miles, but after coming through the trials of the previous day, I felt good.
The dunes started to loom and I settled into a group of three welsh guys (2 paras and one of their friends) and the banter carried us through. The first few miles were remarkably easy. I had envisaged soft sand and a running-on-the-spot feeling. In reality, there were lines where you could cut out a lot of the up and down and although the sand was soft at times, it wasn’t as sapping on the calf’s as I thought (bearing in mind that I was walking at this point).
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