Mark Gillett – Junglemoon Images

A total of 791 competitors today crossed the line of the last stage of the Marathon des Sables 2012, with 4 ‘ranking in progress.’ The fact that 59 runners abandoned the course for reason or another, shows just how tough the conditions were this year. Rain, wind, hail, and lightning; baking temps of nearly 50 degrees C and sand storms – they had it all!

For final rankings visit darbaroud.com.

This film by the ‘Marathon des Sables’ media team was chosen as the GoPro VIDEO OF THE DAY, receiving 1346+ likes last counted & reaching an audience of 2 million GoPro fans!!!

As camp Marathon des Sables packs up for another year, both runners and volunteers are en route back to Ouarzazate.

For a showreel of the highs and lows and a slideshow finale of those special, finish-line-crossing moments, check back in a couple of hours. While the images and footage upload, I leave you with a poem.

Westward Bound, by Jon Blais, the ALS Warrier Poet

Live…
More than your neighbours.
Unleash youself upon the world and go places.
Go now.
Giggle, no, laugh.
No…stay out past dark,
And bark at the moon like the wild dog that you are.
Understand that this is not a dress reheasrsal.
This is it…your life.
Face your fears and live your dreams.
Take it in.
Yes, every chance you get…
Come close.
And, by all means, whatever you do…
Get it on film.

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.
 

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:
 

Click a pic to engage slideshow.

Nobody at the beginning thought that it would be possible to run with a pack and the expedition aspect was an extra bonus. You need to manage calories, hydration, your effort, your rest, your recovery and I think it’s all these elements that make the event so special. It’s the concept, the cocktail of the desert, the running and the self sufficiency that create the success of the event.

- Race director Patrick Bauer talking to TalkUltra (Episode 5 MDS Part One)

A selection of runner’s share their experience at the end of day 3. Footage shot using multiple GoPro Hero cameras:

STAGE 4  of the Marathon des Sables 2012 :
EL MAHARCH / JEBEL EL MRAÏER: 81.5 Km

Today is the dreaded long day.

At 8am the humidity was 20%, temperature: 23°C.
By 11am the humidity was 19%, but the temperature up to 29°C.
Number of runners on the start line: 821.

Meanwhile, 180 tents are being dismantled, transported and set-up by the volunteers needed to move them. The logistics are awe-inspiring! The traveling circus of the MdS is captured in this behind-the-scenes film by Suitcase Media & Productions:

Blog title inspired by the song The Distance, by the band CAKE.

“It’s a hot, hot, hot day out here and another incredibly windy afternoon! Whether you’re an athlete in camp or out on the course, the waves of sand the wind pelts you with are a major challenge. At present, visibility is about a half-mile because of the sand, which has totally blocked the sunshine. Race officials report today’s high as « just under » 50 degrees C!

Stage 2 was 38.5 kilometers and featured complete flatness. First it was rocky sand, then a series of low dunes, then a long, white, salt flat; then a riparian* zone containing residual water and mud from last week’s weather and finally, another five or so kilometers of dunes to the finish. (* Riparian Zone: the interface between land and a river or stream, Wikipedia)

The race administration notes 20 drops from today’s stage, which is very high, considering that in the past only 20 people in total have dropped out of the entire event. The race administration says that heat was the day’s limiting factor for many.” – Meghan Hicks, currently 5th in the women’s race, writing for irunfar.com 

‘It was a hell!’

‘I think today er, is better than yesterday!’

Mark Gillett interviews runners from different nationalities and shows us that while bodies may be sore and feet blistering, the competitors still have their sense of humour in tact!

The ‘Marathon des Sables 2012′ starts this morning with 1013 competitors from 46 different countries around the world; from Chile and Mexico to New Zealand, to the Ukraine, Jordan and Japan!

“Today’s course featured a series of low dunettes, two jebels*, and several black-rock regs. Though the distance was a bearable one, the terrain made for the greatest challenge. After several days of mild desert weather, the heat and aridity are now back. Thermometers on course reportedly hit 40 degrees C (104F) and the race administration reported that between five and ten runners had dropped out of the race.” – Meghan Hicks, runner

*A jebel is a fairly flexible word that can mean either hill or mountain.The plural is actually jibal, although they’re known as jebels to most western Europeans. (Definition from Saudi Aramco World)

The film/s du jour were shot in GoPro splenti-colour, as a Suitcase Media Production.

E voilà:

Well, if you followed us at the Yukon Quest and loved that then follow us at the Marathon des Sables in April.

This mountain of a race takes part in the Sahara Desert from 7th April. You will need to add me as a friend on Facebook, “Like” the MDS page and “Friend” the UK MDS page It’s best to do all three.

The race is 250 Km through the Sahara and runners carry all their own gear and food for 7 days.. It is run over 6 stages looking a little like this… Day 1 – 28km, day 2 – 35km, day 3 – 38km, day 4/5 – a huge 80km, day 6 – 42km and day 7 – 21km.. So pretty damn tough.

Runners will battle temperatures of up to 50 degrees, blisters and soreness like never before, total exhaustion and inevitably some will drop out… They cover sand dunes that go for ever, mountains and valley salt flats on a daily basis. This years race will be as exciting as ever so go to those FB sites and follow it through here…

We will for the first time be filming it with GoPro and mobile cams and uploading to the social networks as we go along… Images will also be uploaded to the official site on a daily basis…  I will upload blogs for the English-speaking runners and supporters and other reports can be seen on the official site www.darbaroud.com and the Facebook pages mentioned earlier… There is no shortage of information coming out of the desert from the 7th April. No excuse not know what happening deep in the Sahara.

Search this site for older articles from previous years to get a flavour.. It’s the toughest footrace on earth.

MDS Start Line 2010

…You are about to run the event of your life, or at least most of you are, so don’t be overly worried about ‘stuff’; if your shirt is the right material, has great wicking properties, shoes that support better than any others, or do my gaiters stop all the sand?

It does not matter a whole lot. You need enough food for a week so choose that well and pack it well as you have to carry it. Your shoes are to protect your feet. The best are those you have been wearing for the last 3 years. Read the rest of this entry »

I love words…. I always have. Even as a young child I remember playing with them. I think most children probably do this. I would put the emphasis on different syllables or letters. Change the tone. Sing them….  I would do anything to see what they sounded like in as many different ways as I could. Then I would notice that the word would often sound silly once I said it more than 5 or 6 times..

What I noticed was that just by small changes in the pronunciation or tone, the effectiveness or even meaning of that word would change and sometimes quite radically. Try saying “I had a great day” in as many different ways as possible and feel the difference. Just say the word “great” in different ways too…. Said sarcastically of course it means the opposite. Said with passion, it comes from the heart. Said blandly it means nothing at all.

When I started coaching Read the rest of this entry »

More to come…..

Why not find out more about the previous two posts…. A colleague of mine has offered a free consultation at Prohab as will I for coaching. The only stipulation is that you contact us through reading this blog and the offer will last for one month….  Read more on Carlyle at http://prohabperformance.com/ and for coaching go to Coaching

Your chronic injury is your excuse, your disclaimer. Not in all cases as some people will have chronic pain and no the reason and others will have it and attend many sessions with a chronic pain psychologist to get help and never find a reason for the pain. However there are a large number of people who’s injury is no more than their mind creating it for them so they have reason not to do stuff.

I have met so many who don’t run because their “knees are bad”. “Cant go to the gym I have a bad back”. “Doctor says no”.

Then again, someone I covered this year in the Marathon des Sables completed the last 3 days with a broken foot, was medical tented on the long day and recovered only when he was told he would get a penalty if he took on an intravenous drip, then on the last day pulled a hamstring which is an acute injury and still ran 20km through sand dunes.

So in essence your chronic injury is your lack of want, need for an excuse and your very good disclaimer…….  Sorry for those who have one but I am not too sympathetic.

Look within and look at your life. Many of your injuries will resolve with work on your whole body, mind and nutrition. Look after these and your wants and desires come back……. More to come later

Are you fed up in your work, your life?

When you decide on a life change, career change or simply something you would really like to achieve, you need to find your motivation. What is it that drives you? What is it you so badly want to be or do that you were not, or did not do, before?

Most people who decide to run a marathon do so in their mid thirties and are typically NOT runners. They just decide they want to do it. Of all of those, there are a percentage who decide for the wrong reasons and by the third or 4th week of training, usually less, they quit. Then there are those who carry on but get a chronic injury that they cannot explain and that forces them (in their minds) to stop and quit. There are a few who get acute injuries and have no choice but to stop and then there are all those left (the majority) who go on to complete the biggest event of their lives. Until they have done it that is and they realise that yes, even they can do a marathon and they do more……. Read the rest of this entry »

His intent was to win... He did.

I read through an old post called intent and took this paragraph and have decided to add a few bits..

In sport you have an opponent you wish to beat. It is unlikely you will win without mistakes and failing is a part of the process in any sport as it is in life. In sailing for example or golf, your opponent is not fighting against you directly but still has an effect on your performance. You are aware of them, their standing, their ability and what you have to do to win. On that journey you will make mistakes but this does not mean you wont win, or be first. It is no different in life but its how you deal with these failures or mistakes along the way that can increase your chance of success. Having intent and consistently striving for your goal will greatly increase your chances even more. In both sport and life there is a battle that needs to be thought through and tackled with tenacity and skill but can only be done effectively with intent.

Making mistakes is really not the best way of looking at something you do that has an undesirable result, however, thinking of it as an action that has a consequence is more productive. If the consequence in not to your liking change the action next time. Change how you do it or what you do. The result will be better…. More in a bit.. Off for a run.