Marathon des Sables (‘Marathon of the Sands’) is a seven-day footrace across the Sahara Desert of Morocco. It is known as ‘The Toughest Footrace on Earth’. Every year, about 600 competitors from about 30 countries take part in the race while carrying all their food and gear. You need to carry seven days’ supply of food, a sleeping bag, anti-venom pump, compass, distress flare, survival kits and medical supplies. Only nine litres of water and an open-sided Berber tent are provided daily to the competitors.

I took part in the 18th Marathon des Sables held from 6 to 12 April 2003. The race started in the vicinity of Ourzazate (pronounced wah-zuh-zot), Morocco and ended in a small town at Tazzarine. The exact location of the race changes each year and is kept a secret until two days before the competition. The total distance covered is about 250km over the seven days. There were 677 competitors this year and I was the only one from Singapore.

The requirement for entry into the race includes a mandatory ‘corpse repatriation fee’ and documentary evidence of recent electrocardiogram and medical examination reports. I guess the medical reports are necessary because a competitor in his 20s died of a massive heart attack previously. Evidence of recent psychiatric report is optional. I went to Alexandra Hospital’s Sports Medicine Department for the reports. The doctor who certified that I was fit to take part in the race of ‘about 200km in an extremely arid climate with temperature up to 45 degrees Celsius’ said this was madness and that I should not go. But I think otherwise.

In Ourzazate, we spent two days in the Sahara desert trying to acclimatise to the intense heat. The temperature then was about 38 degrees Celsius. What worried me most were the possibility of sandstorms and running off course in the desert. In the past, a competitor got lost in a sandstorm and wandered off in the desert for nine days, living on captured bats and urine. He was found later in Algeria, alive, but having lost some 40 pounds and about 200km away off course.

The first day of the race was a 25km run. This was a short run, taking into account that I have run in many marathons and have done the Hong Kong 100km trailwalker previously. However, the weight of my backpack containing my food and gear was unbearable at 14kg. We need at least 2,000 calories of food per day and the seven days’ supplies add up to 14,000 calories, which have to be verified by the event organisers. I finished the first day’s race with only one blister.

The next day was a 34km run on sand dunes in temperatures of about 40 degrees Celsius. It was difficult to run on the sand dunes. I had to stop at various points to empty the sand from my shoes. I finished the second day’s race with three more blisters on my toes. Many competitors developed blisters and gangrene on their toes. I helped a Korean guy to the clinic tent to treat his badly infected blisters. I was utterly shocked to hear screams and to see tears in the competitors’ eyes when the doctors removed the blisters (which had blood and sand in them) from their feet.

The third day was a 38km run in temperatures of about 50 degrees Celsius. I got more blisters on my feet and encountered a sandstorm. At different points, I had to stop running to treat my blisters. I had to cut them, wash the sand off with alcohol swabs and bandage them, so that I could run faster. At the finish point, I took off the bandage to dry my blisters. To my horror, blood started oozing out.

The fourth and fifth days of the race were a 82km non-stop run through the day and night. It took me 16 hours from 9am until 1am the next day to complete it. We ran from sunrise until sunset. The temperature was about 40 degrees Celsius during the day and dropped to about 15 degrees Celsius during the night. My morale was very low. In such an endurance event, you must find your own ways to lift your spirits. There are many ways to do that — a Korean guy ran the entire race with a golf stick. In fact, his golf stick came in handy in the night. We used it to dig a hole to start a fire. A British guy ran with a shovel. I asked him why? It was simple. He is a farmer and the shovel is his best friend. Luckily I did not subscribe to his concept; otherwise, I would have had to run in a black suit and gown.

After running for 14 hours, I was mentally and physically exhausted. I had another 14km to go before I reached the 82km end point. The night was really cold and I put my jacket on to run. I heard a competitor crying and running at the same time. He complained that his knees hurt very much and that he couldn’t run anymore. Not far ahead, I saw a fire started by a few local people to keep themselves warm. I stopped to rest by the fire and made myself coffee and pasta. After that, I picked up my pace and reached the 82km end point at 1am.

The sixth day of the race was a 42km marathon run. Many competitors, like me, had great difficulties walking properly let alone running. The only consolation to me was that the weight of my backpack had dropped to 7kg.

The seventh and last day was a 22km run. Finally, the footrace was coming to an end. Many competitors cried at the ending point. You cannot believe that you have run 243km altogether over the last seven days. We were then ferried to our hotel and I showered for two hours non-stop. I had accumulated much dirt and sand all over my body over the last seven days. I was ranked 326 out of 677 competitors. About 39 people withdrew due to heat exhaustion, fatigue and other reasons.

Now that I’m back to work at the office, I can’t help thinking about the Sahara desert. I am grateful to my religion in Tibet for giving me the endurance and courage to complete the footrace without any major injury. After resting for a month, I am now preparing for the next event in September 2003 — a 250km run over seven days in the Gobi desert in China, which is the third largest desert in the world after the Sahara and Arabian deserts.

Soo Poh Huat
JS Yeh & Co
E-mail: soopohhuat@jsyeh-co.com