Day 1
This year’s long stage (82.2 km) is rather longer than the average long stage on the MDS, but its most notable feature is the diversity of landscapes encountered: another way to celebrate the 25th anniversary…
The long stage, that can run over two days, was organized so that the 50 best runners so far got to start at 12.15, when the rest of the 961 competitors still in the race set off at 9.15.
This gap is for security reasons: the race doesn’t spread over too many kilometers so that the organization can concentrate assistance possibilities.
To start with the top runners is a matter of pride
Amongst those who are on the borderline between the two groups, some actively sought to be of the morning start, but they hadn’t anticipated that some on the top 20 runners would pull out during the now mythical third stage. To take but one example, Mohamed Faraj (436 – MOR), from team Terres d’Aventures, finds himself 49th this morning in the general ranking: he will have to start
at 12.15 when he thought he’d done everything to grant himself a cool start, before the heat kicks in.
“It’s not so bad, I will be with the top runners and that’s something to be proud of. Now, as to how the stage will go, well, we’ll see…”, says he with his usual broad smile.
The day starts with a 12 km long flat stretch to get to check point 1. Normally such a lengthy piece of flat land would depress runners, but yesterday’s legs was made of so many of those classic pieces of Saharan geography that all competitors have become fairly philosophical about it…
A huge, stunning valley
They also know from reading their road-book that it’s the price to pay to access the beautiful valley between Jebel Zireg and Jebel El Mziouda. After climbing up to a pass, they marvel at the extraordinary landscape: golden sand at the foot of the mountains, rocky undulations, fields of locust tree and camel grass, large stretches of black shiny stones.
Coming out of the valley, they come across CP 2, at km 26.1, and behind it, the dried up lake of the El Mader wadi. They cross it and then go up towards the El Maharch oasis, its inn and most of all its palm trees, offering shade to those who want to rest and recover. Further, CP 3 at km 38.7 opens towards the East and the Rhéris wadi crossing and CP 4 at km 51.
The timings of the best in each group
At this point of the race, whilst night is falling, here are a few timings at CP 4 to give you an idea of how things are going for the top of the race.
Amongst the first group, i.e those who left at 9.15, the first to get to CP 4 was José Miota Ibarrra (1060 – SP) at 2.54 (i.e after 5 h 29 min), followed by Karim Belhamadi (315 – FR) at 3.43, Ferdinando Hardouin Monroy (603 – IT) at 3.53, ex æquo with Xavier Renault (183 –FR), and then emblematic French veteran Karim Mosta (13 –FR) at 3.59.
The first woman in this group to have reached the 51 km check point was Jennifer Vogel (696 – USA), at 4.22.
Amongst the elite, who set off at 12.15, Mohamad Ahansal (1 - MOR) was the first runner to reach CP 4, at 4.30 (i.e after 4h15), closely followed by Salameh Al Aqra (391 -JOR) and Mustapha Aït Amar (4-MOR) at 5.32.
Most of the competitors will be spending the night on the track
But the great majority of runners are still very far from this point: it will take them at least three times as long to reach the last 30 kilometres. Competitors light on their frontal lamps, and faces appear even more marked. To each their own strategy: some will want to carry on no matter what, others will only stop to eat or sleep a few hours at a check point.
One thing is sure, in the darkness the pace will get slower. It is going to be a long night for most of our sand marathon men and women. A long night, dotted with firefly-like lights dancing on the track. These are the light sticks handed to competitors.
A Saharan night, even a painful one, is worth a poetical hallucination…
Day 2
On check point 4, night has fallen. It is 8.00 pm and runners arriving to the CP are visibly sorely afflicted by the 51 km just run.
Clumsy gestures as if all their body knew now was how to run
Once they reach the CP and get their water, all they want to do is sit or lie down, straight away, in one of the Berber tents or directly onto the rocky ground if the tents are full. Several urgent objectives: relax painful leg and shoulder muscles by getting rid of one’s ruck-sack AND get out one’s tin bowl, something to make a fire and prepare some food quickly… by the light of head-torches and lighting-sticks (which competitors must wear on their bags to mark their presence in the darkness).
Some still manage to laugh and joke, but most faces are closed, eyes lost in emptiness. They are just too tired. Their gestures are often clumsy, as if their body had forgotten everything, except walking and running. The strange ballet of white lights, fluorescent green sticks and flying sparks make for a surreal atmosphere.
The child of Zagora knows that, in the desert, nothing is ever for sure
This stage is obviously not the same for all. The top runners seem to fly above obstacles, rushing to get to the finish line before night-time. Mohamad Ahansal (D1 - MOR) completes the stage in 07h 09’13’’, about 20 minutes before Salameh Al Aqra (391 - JOR) and an hour and a half before Michael Wardian (698-USA). Mohamad is closer than ever to the final victory, but in the desert, nothing is ever for sure, and this child of Zagora knows that better than anyone else.
Night deepens. On the finish line, ghost runners appear in the distance, their front torch swinging fast or slow, depending on their pace. Then they appear in full light, unable to believe they have finally made it, as if some of them needed to touch the arch to convince themselves it’s all for real. Some scream with joy, some cry, others just collapse, like James Cracknell (812 –GBR). The leading British runner, so exhausted he seems drunk, can boast a proud 17th place, but for now, he has to go straight to the clinic to treat dehydration and what seems to be hypoglycemia.
Towards the middle and tail of the race, distraught and beautiful ghosts
The bulk on runners is still kilometres away from there, feet stumbling upon rocks or sinking into the sand, eyes hypnotized by the meager rays of light given off by individual torches. Some just plow on mechanically, their mind empty of all coherent thoughts; others meet perfect strangers to whom they give the most intimate details about their lives. The sight of such exhausted troop fills one with pity and total admiration. By a “tour de force” which must somehow be connected to the magic of the Saharan night, they manage, all of them, to be beautiful: their courage and will-power make them so.
At day rise, many of them as still on the track, looking up to the sun, happy that the terrible night is over, fearful of the temperatures to come. They don’t hasten their pace. They just want to keep going, step after step, to reach the bivouac.
Today, no-one can deny it, the real kings and queens of the Sultan Marathon des Sables are those competitors lost towards the end of the ranking, those “humble ones” of the sport hierarchy.
On this stage, the true heroes are the last ones to get there
Time, in the desert, doesn’t exist. The first nomad you get to meet will tell you that like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
So it is perfectly natural that those who take the most time to complete the stage end up the true heroes of the day.
When they finally walk toward their tent, stumbling hard, exhausted to the point of collapse, in total disbelief that they’ve reached their destination at last, other competitors, including the top of the race, shout a “bravo” that comes from the heart, a mark of the deepest respect.
The type of respect only those who know exactly what those heroes have been through can show.
Provisional stage ranking:
1) Mohamad Ahansal (1 - MOR): 07h 09’ 13’’
2) Salameh Al Aqra (391 -JOR) : 07h 27’ 03’’
3) Michael Wardian (698-USA): 08h 34’ 09’’
Provisional general ranking :
1) Mohamad Ahansal (1 - MOR): 15h 11’ 14’’
2) Salameh Al Aqra (391 -JOR) : 15h 51’ 33’’
3) Michael Wardian (698-USA): 17h 40’ 14’’
Women’s provisional stage ranking :
1) Monica Viladomiu Aguilera (1020-SP) : 11h 29’ 00’’
2) Jolanda Linshooten (90-NDL) : 11h 29’ 00’’
3) Jennifer Salter (936 – GBR) : 17h 40’ 14’’
Women’s provisional general ranking :
1) Monica Viladomiu Aguilera (1020-SP) : 22h 47’ 13’’
2) Jolanda Linshooten (90-NDL) : 23h 19’ 45’’
3) Jennifer Salter (936 – GBR) : 24h 46’ 40’’