From Morocco With Love

The British are known for their charity causes like Children In Need and Red Nose Day, where millions of pounds are pledged. This week I have witnessed something more than charity: giving from the soul.

Two years ago a team entered the MDS and pulled the length of the course, a specifically designed wheel chair that seated one of four handicapped children from their home town of Vannes. The children would take turns in the chair, while ten Pompiers (fire-fighting paramedics) rotated to pull the chair. This edition the Pompiers returned.

What they do for these children is simply phenomenal. They do not raise money, they do not run a charity. They just come to the desert, bringing the children and the chariot. They give four children an experience they wouldn’t otherwise have.

I am left here in the press tent full of emotion, having just watched them cross the finish line of the Marathon Stage 5. When they finish tomorrow, as it was two years ago, there will not be a dry eye on the finish line. These men are true givers, giving more than money can buy.

I leave you with a video-roll of messages, from runners to their friends and families at home.
 

‘Only’ One + A Half Marathons to go…!

As the road book for the penultimate Stage 5 becomes available and competitors contemplate running some more, several reflect on the longest (and arguably the hardest) stage so far…
 

Stage 4 recapped in GoPro HD:
 

MdS Runners & Home Viewers: A Pole Apart

Face time with the competitors of the Marathon des Sables 2012.

In Pictures… Before, During + After the longest day (Stage 4)

Click a pic to engage slideshow.