Steve Partridge - Marathon Des Sable - Day 5, 6 & 7 and final wrap up!

Day 5 continued
The sandstorm continued to rage through the night and the tent collapsed on one side. Sand blew in and we remained motionless with buffs over our faces to stop inhaling the dust. A quick look around the camp confirmed that we had come off lightly. A tent nearby was completely collapsed on the floor with mutterings coming from underneath, the wind continued to howl.

Abandons
It's been very difficult to get reports out by phone or information on any Brits who have abandoned. In the tents people are known by their first names and I cannot write about a Mark or a John being in trouble without worrying 17 other families who know 17 other completely fit Marks or Johns in the race. Please look at the Darbaroud site to see who has dropped out.

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What I can say is that those who do drop out have had to be physically removed from their tents by the doctors as the runners are unable to move and yet desperately want to continue. Some have had layers of skin removed from their feet and even morphine cannot stop the pain so they are unable to put any weight on their legs. Even so, they would crawl to get their medal and it‚s heartbreaking to see men crying at the acknowledgement that whatever they do it just won‚t work out. They really have tried their hardest and they will return and succeed - but this time the desert has won.


Day 6 Marathon day 42.2k
The course was fine but it was hot again. The fast runners took off. The going was flat, fast and relatively easy to Checkpoint 1. At 19k we went up the hills, again strewn with toe stubbing, blister producing rock. By now the slower, more damaged runners had become experts at running shoe footprint recognition as their world is only the 2 metre track ahead of them, whilst they are on high alert, wary of every jagged pebble in their way. When they make the mistake of looking at the breathtaking scenery around them they pay the price of another blister bursting in their shoe caused by collision with an innocent stone. Walking in Indian file you can hear the occasional yelp.

Checkpoint 2 to checkpoint 3 was very soft grey sand that sapped energy at every step. We stopped at Tarhalt; a mud wall town high on up a cliff dominated by an impressive casbah. The last stretch of 12k was dunes again, but these were surprisingly easy undulating dunes with no large highs or lows. We could see the finish for an hour and a half, slowly, imperceptibly, coming closer. It seems to taunt the runners as they try to complete the stage. The fast runners have their own problems. Running in this heat caused three to collapse on the line through dehydration and required IV drips to revive them.

Doc Trotters medical team are exceptional. The team is huge with over 30 doctors and sets the standard for sports medical help at the extreme events world-wide. Not only are they at every checkpoint but they pass you every kilometre as you progress along the course. They are never far away. One French runner injured himself when he slashed his forehead with a ski pole. Despite the winds and sand, Gaston and his team quickly erected the operating theatre and resolved the problem. Their care and equipment is excellent.

Tomorrow is a short run home (half marathon) and a medal. Everyone is beaming.

Day 7 Finish 20k
We awoke from a good night‚s sleep, and having prepared made our way to the start line.

The start was announced by a volley of rifle fire from the mounted Touaregs who formed an avenue through which we would pass. A group of really slow runners had commenced 30 minutes earlier but despite this we soon overtook them as they hobbled to the finish in an appalling but determined state.

We passed through Checkpoint 1 and passed through the outskirts of Tazzarine. The town is typical of Berber towns in Morocco. There are dilapidated mud wall properties which have been superseded with newer better constructed houses and roads further to the west as the town has prospered and increased in size. The last 2k was on tarmac roads. It was curious to see how our speed picked up on the improved surface, having spent a week in the dunes. We decided to walk in as a tent but this broke down as the only way to finish the race was full-on. We sprinted to the line as fast as we could, standing laughing and breathless as Patrick and his team put medals around our necks. We then answered questions and gave short interviews to the press before being bussed away to the hotel.

Fantastic day, fantastic week and a fantastic event. Job done.

Results
Overall
Men
1 AHANSAL Lahcen MAR 19H09'04"
2 AHANSAL Mohamad MAR 19H16'59"
3 AKHDAR Lhoucine MAR 21H17'44"
4 BONAUDO Samuel F 21H58'02"
5 AIT AMAR Mustafa MAR 22H11'45"


Women
1 KAYSER DIEDERICH Simone LUX 29H36'03"
2 THEVENOT Virginie F 30H43'07"
3 DEGRAND Isabelle F 32H25'27"
4 SATRIN Sophie F 32H30'55"
5 LANGLACE Chantal F 34H15'24"


GB
Men
1 MACRAE Duncan GB 28H05'50" overall pos 30
2 GILLETT Stuart GB 28H28'42" overall pos 38
3 WILLIAMS Benjamin GB 29H49'22" overall pos 49
4 VERO Alexander GB 31H36'35" overall pos 68
5 BRUNTON Jerym GB 32H17'51" overall pos 77


Women
1 PHILLIS Bettina GB 35H52'00" overall pos 157
2 HEADING Amanda GB 41H06'19" overall pos 281
3 SHELLEY Victoria GB 43H15'37" overall pos 340
4 THOMPSON Sharon GB 45H03'55" overall pos 388
5 CLAMP Louise GB 45H04'19" overall pos 389
Last
727 BENGUIGUI Didier H F 74H09'28"
728 BACH Michel F 75H09'28"
729 CHUA OEI CHEE Edrick SING 76H17'09"
730 KIM Dae Young KOR 81H22'42"
731 JU Ji Young KOR 85H40'15"



Final thoughts and statistics
Just some quick statistic and personal final thoughts of the highs and lows of the race.

13 Britains out of a total of 220 ( 5.9%) failed to finish. Our best result ever and just shows how our preparation, communication and training are improving. In 1999 over 20 % failed to complete.

Over 100,000 litres of water were drunk by the competitors and staff.

There were 777 runners and over 400 staff travelled around the country each day; their accommodation being erected at a new place despite trucks and lorries getting bogged down in the sand.

Each runner expended over 44,000 calories during the race whilst only eating 14,000 calories of food and most will have lost around 9 pounds of weight during the race.



Entertainment
At night included Berber dancers, an opera singing „Summertime‰ under the Saharan night sky, mounted Tourag firing rifles in the air as they rode on camels through the camp and belly dancers performing for our pleasure whilst another sandstorm raged.


Personal Highs and Lows

Highs
My personal high point was helping Elizabeth Evangelista over the mountain despite her vertigo and helping John Buckingham through the marathon despite his appalling feet problems and his general dehydration.
Finally, a Swedish competitor came up to me and said "Oh you are Steve Partridge you are real hard core". I‚ve never been called that before.

Lows
My down was at checkpoint 2 on day 3 in the dunes when I too suffered from dehydration for a few hours.


This was my fourth and possibly favourite MdS to date. I can't recommend it enough to any aspiring ultra runner. If you have never done it you should really try it. It is simply the best race in the world. I'll be back!