Marathon Des Sables
Marathon Day
David Campbell / 09.05.2005
The mood in the tent was jubilant this morning. Banter was flying left and right and there really was a sense that this was our last hurdle. How far a marathon really is seemed to have slipped to the back of our minds.
Putting my pack on, I realised that it was tangibly lighter. I was buoyant as I lined up and set a good pace to the first couple of checkpoints, even where the terrain was uneven and loose I was on form. Alarm bells should’ve been ringing when I saw a couple of land-rovers pulled up beside a fellow competitor who was lying on his back being pumped full of saline before the 10km mark. Shortly after the checkpoint, I skirted round another competitor who started puking like I had on the long stage. Nevertheless, I carried on still glowing from having broken the long stage.
The way on from the halfway mark involved some long flat, sandy riverbeds, where the sand was so soft progress was slow. We then started moving through some areas where there were fields of green and trees by the track. I was slowly dawning that we were approaching civilisation again. It also dawned on us, as we could smell the plants, that all we had smelt were humans and dust for the previous week.
Checkpoint 3 (30km) took a long time to arrive and again the temperature began to soar. By the time I arrived, I really needed to try to cool down. Fortunately, there was an unscheduled additional 1.5l of water if you wanted at this checkpoint. I used a little to cool my head and legs (I had terrible heat rash on my thighs), drank a lot of water and sit in the shade. I had been here for a few minutes when I spied Ollie (the snail) and we agreed to set off together.
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