Marathon des Sables 2010
Discussion
In case anyone is looking for advice in the future. I'll do the pics just now and add some text detail tomorrow, (long story), with stuff on preparation, kit, clothes, experience etc.
For those that don't know, it's 250kms (155 miles) across the Moroccan Sahara self sufficient except for warm water and an old tent in 7 days.
Suffice it to say that we both thought it was the most relaxing time we'd had for years...
Our home for 8 days.
The tents are set up in a circle (the black ring to the right) and the white tents are for the 400 or so support guys:
Lois, my wife, getting her s
t together before the first day:
The tent, in it we had someone drop out (needed Morphine and a helicopter), someone in the bottom 50 (it was his second time; first time out he was medivacced to France in a coma), someone in the top 50 (a real gent to boot) and me and Lois - Team Strolling Jokers! Lois in black, me in grey).
Queen of the Desert. Easy boys.
Nothing inside my head, nothing outside either...a particularly barren stretch.
Sundown.
Oh, check out these gaiters ducky.
Follow the dots into the distance, it's about 42 degrees but a nice breeze:
The top 50 set off 3 hours after us, we're about 16 miles in and they are starting to overtake. Here's the guy who did 250kms across country in 18 hours...
And close behind is James 'where's the boat' Cracknell. Good on him, he's lost a bit of timber (HIs blog is on the Telegraph website)
Our own pet elite runner, 'and there he was, gone'.
One of the Irish boys (and me at the side) during the 82km stage.
fked or blissed, I still don't know.
John sets off on another fancy dress stroll. The unstoppable in search of the undo-able.
Otherworldly aliens, the locals were herding camels in flips (no flop), I wonder what they made of us...
The Paris Opera, in best bib 'n tucker, doing a turn on the penultimate night. Bloody buskers...
The aforementioned Johns feet. Not mine. Thank God.
A bit grubbier and worn out than the first team pic...last day.
One of the lads had to cut his shoes up as his blisters were just to bad.
Pushing the snake.
Medal for her; tea for me. The End.
For those that don't know, it's 250kms (155 miles) across the Moroccan Sahara self sufficient except for warm water and an old tent in 7 days.
Suffice it to say that we both thought it was the most relaxing time we'd had for years...
Our home for 8 days.
The tents are set up in a circle (the black ring to the right) and the white tents are for the 400 or so support guys:
Lois, my wife, getting her s
t together before the first day:The tent, in it we had someone drop out (needed Morphine and a helicopter), someone in the bottom 50 (it was his second time; first time out he was medivacced to France in a coma), someone in the top 50 (a real gent to boot) and me and Lois - Team Strolling Jokers! Lois in black, me in grey).
Queen of the Desert. Easy boys.
Nothing inside my head, nothing outside either...a particularly barren stretch.
Sundown.
Oh, check out these gaiters ducky.
Follow the dots into the distance, it's about 42 degrees but a nice breeze:
The top 50 set off 3 hours after us, we're about 16 miles in and they are starting to overtake. Here's the guy who did 250kms across country in 18 hours...
And close behind is James 'where's the boat' Cracknell. Good on him, he's lost a bit of timber (HIs blog is on the Telegraph website)
Our own pet elite runner, 'and there he was, gone'.
One of the Irish boys (and me at the side) during the 82km stage.
f
ked or blissed, I still don't know.John sets off on another fancy dress stroll. The unstoppable in search of the undo-able.
Otherworldly aliens, the locals were herding camels in flips (no flop), I wonder what they made of us...
The Paris Opera, in best bib 'n tucker, doing a turn on the penultimate night. Bloody buskers...
The aforementioned Johns feet. Not mine. Thank God.
A bit grubbier and worn out than the first team pic...last day.
One of the lads had to cut his shoes up as his blisters were just to bad.
Pushing the snake.
Medal for her; tea for me. The End.
A PT I used to use did this, too. Thanks chaps - and thanks also to the Phers that laid some sponsorship at my door - much obliged :doffhat:
Here's the boring rundown on kit etc - it's mainly for reference if anyone else is thinking of doing it...
This is my second MdS so I thought I'd got everything fairly well-off, however, I learnt lots on this trip also -
Preparation.
This all depends on how you a) imagine doing it and b) actually do it; the reality will be somewhere in between unless you’re an ‘elite’ class athlete, in which case you don’t need my advice.
I’d put myself and my wife in the ‘strolling joker’ class. We planned to try to keep to 4mph or 6kph, a fast walk or slow shuffle. The event is a week long and quite a few burnt themselves out in days 1, 2 and 3 only to be shuffling along the long 82km stage – the stage where many places can be made and lost.
So, bearing in mind our aim, we entered a few Mountain Marathon events which are good practise at running/walking x-country with a pack with an overnight stop and meals to cook etc – a great way to test the gear; think of it as two small MdS stages in the cold and you’re getting there. Another thing we did was to enter a few 50+ mile walks/runs – the Caledonian Challenge is on our doorstep and is an ideal taster for the long MdS stage. All this was interspersed with normal weekday daily runs from between 30mins and 1hr 30mins but on average 45mins over generally hilly terrain. We’d also acquired a dog, so that was another 4-8 miles a day at a good walk. Nothing more than that really.
Footwear is important but first it’d pay to visit a chiropodist to tidy your feet up, advise whether you’re oily or dry, take off any hard bits, corns etc and secondly get your nails trimmed.
Kit
The Marathon des Sables is a long fancy dress party; similar to the way that F1 cars look nothing like normal cars, MdSers look nothing like normal runners. Exotic plumage is de rigeur, and even old codgers like myself can still make a ‘bush hat’ anti-establishment statement in the ecclectic world of the desertified runners gear.
Here’s a run down of some of the kit that was taken by us and some inclusions of other kit that’d be worth a look:
Wear:
Legs:
Mine was a pair of old Speedo shorts that I use regularly anyway. Lois had a pair of under-armour long trousers. For men it was probably slightly more tights than shorts, under-armor and Skins seemed to be the brands of choice. Our elite went with Raidlight ¾ length tights, the gaitors he wore came up to the end of the trouser, but more about them later. I brought a pair of Ron Hills along for night-time, not required really and could have had lighter with some running tight type trouser but the wallet was feeling the pinch at that stage.
Top:
We both had Berghaus Tech Tee ‘Argentium’ long sleeve tops.
Most people seemed to bring a second top for night-time, either to wear over or instead of their running top. A few had light jackets, I had a MontBell Ultra-light jacket, 200gms. Lois chose what most people did and opted for a slightly warmer type of top – like a Helly Hanson or an Icebreaker merino or something. Our elite, went with a thin light shirt for night but ran in a Raidlight desert top – almost see-through but very good performance, although it may be a one off sort of shirt as it started to fray towards the end. The Fennec X-Bionic were also popular and well commented on.
Socks:
Personal choice, but 1000-milers and the like were popular, I had Bridgedale and a thin liner all the time. Lois had 3 pairs – Injinins, 1000-miler and Bridgedale all worn at once.
Shoes:
Ah, the critical choice –We both went for Inov-8s, we’re used to them as we’ve been running in them for a few years now. Lois used Roclite 315s and got a saddle maker to stitch velcro around the edge for her Raidlight gaitors. This was the best solution – stitched rather than glued – coming unstuck, as a fair few seemed to, was not a good thing and glue became like hens teeth. Her’s worked perfectly well. Mine were the Roclite 312 GTX, these have a goretex layer, which doesn’t heat your feet too much but keeps sand totally out when worn with the Inov-8 debris gaitor. The only glitch in that plan was when sand got between the outer mesh layer and the goretex inner layer, only really on the last few days but I cut a hole in the mesh to get me through the penultimate round and covered them in zinc-oxide tape for the last day. They were doing something they aren’t specifically designed for, so no gripes about them, and indeed, apart from that I found them extremely good.
Hat:
Lois went for the Raidlight sunhat and I went for an old Millets bush hat thing, anythings good really, but Lois cut the mesh out of hers and it made it much cooler apparently.
Sunglasses / Goggles:
Scenarios – day/clear, night/clear, day/sandstorm, night/sandstorm. I thought I’d cover all those with some Wiley-X SG-1’s with interchangeable clear/dark lenses and interchangeable stalks or elastic strap. As we never had a sandstorm I spent the time wearing my battered Blocs – comfort being the main factor (after 100% UV protection of course). The Wileys looked pretty around my neck though.
Lois went for some very swish Cebe glacier glasses, the ones that have the leather trim around the outside – perfect, I could pull faces she’d never see! They did make her look very ‘Queen of the Desert’. For sand goggles she got a pair of the tinted ‘ Marathon des Sables’ ones. Most prominent were Oakley or runners glasses though – but as with any accessory – personal choice. If you want to cater for night/sandstorm, bring a pair of swimming goggles, then leave them behind on admin day as your sack is so stuffed you can’t get them in…
Sundry:
We both had Buffs, very versatile bits of kit, I ran in one last time wearing it as a hat and a fair few were doing that this year. This time I used mine more as a bottle cooler and makeshift flannel than anything else, but you’ll miss it if you bin it! Patagonia pants are all the rage, apparently - a couple of Marks' best for me
Sleep:
PHD sleeping bags much in abundance, along with Rabs. The PHD minimus (ours were with Dri-Shell) are excellent bits of kit – I’ve been -5 degrees in shorts in mine and no problems, very cosy but just light enough for balmy nights. It didn’t really get ‘cold’ cold at night, but it was cool nonetheless.
Some people dispensed with a sleep mat altogether, I took a Thermarest ¾ Pro-lite one. I swithered about a new model, the Thermorest blow up NeoAir. I didn’t go for it despite the weight and space saving as I thought it’d burst and be useless. Mine was punctured anyway but at least you still got the layer of foam – interestingly the three out of eight in the tent that had NeoAir’s ended up punctureless. Just be carefull before you flop it down, but at 270gms as opposed to my 310gms, there’s not much in it although the NeoAir does compact down better as well.
Cook:
We had to use hexi-blocks or Esbits (solid paraffin tablets) pre-ordered via the organisers, these worked very well on a small titanium spider cooker with a length of folded tin-foil for a wind shield. You can rustle up a brew using sticks and bits of wood, but the hexi was far easier. 3/4 tablets for a boil – enough for tea and food.
Eat:
Dear Lord - whatever you get you'll be sick of it by the end - I'd suggest the 800Kcal Mountain meals, two a day. The racing snakes re-bagged them and saved space and a touch of weight, they kept one bag to use as a bowl the whole race, either that or the bottom of a water bottle. Nuts, raisons, sweeties, dried banana flakes, jelly beans - whatever has got a taste and lots of Kcal per gm. 2000Kcal a day is obligatory, we went for about 2,400 and I shared a fair bit out towards the end. Energy gels/bars are a great snack at checkpoints or on the hoof - Buzz bars were well rec'd.
Drink:
Nuuns tablets are great electrolyte solutions, but you have salt tablets given to you (6-8 per day) anyway - you get heartily sick of the taste of any flavour so the key is to mix it up a bit. It's gagworthy stuff, especially as it's always warm, but essential to manage your salts. Lois had two 750ml Raidlight bottles and a 2lt camelback, I had one 750ml bottle for electrolyte and a 3lt camelback.
Sun:
P20. P20. P20. If you had to design a sunscreen, this would be it; non-greasy after 15 mins, apply once and it lasts all day despite sweating like a bd. Brilliant stuff, great for kids in the summer too - apply, forget, simples.
More after the break....
Here's the boring rundown on kit etc - it's mainly for reference if anyone else is thinking of doing it...
This is my second MdS so I thought I'd got everything fairly well-off, however, I learnt lots on this trip also -
Preparation.
This all depends on how you a) imagine doing it and b) actually do it; the reality will be somewhere in between unless you’re an ‘elite’ class athlete, in which case you don’t need my advice.
I’d put myself and my wife in the ‘strolling joker’ class. We planned to try to keep to 4mph or 6kph, a fast walk or slow shuffle. The event is a week long and quite a few burnt themselves out in days 1, 2 and 3 only to be shuffling along the long 82km stage – the stage where many places can be made and lost.
So, bearing in mind our aim, we entered a few Mountain Marathon events which are good practise at running/walking x-country with a pack with an overnight stop and meals to cook etc – a great way to test the gear; think of it as two small MdS stages in the cold and you’re getting there. Another thing we did was to enter a few 50+ mile walks/runs – the Caledonian Challenge is on our doorstep and is an ideal taster for the long MdS stage. All this was interspersed with normal weekday daily runs from between 30mins and 1hr 30mins but on average 45mins over generally hilly terrain. We’d also acquired a dog, so that was another 4-8 miles a day at a good walk. Nothing more than that really.
Footwear is important but first it’d pay to visit a chiropodist to tidy your feet up, advise whether you’re oily or dry, take off any hard bits, corns etc and secondly get your nails trimmed.
Kit
The Marathon des Sables is a long fancy dress party; similar to the way that F1 cars look nothing like normal cars, MdSers look nothing like normal runners. Exotic plumage is de rigeur, and even old codgers like myself can still make a ‘bush hat’ anti-establishment statement in the ecclectic world of the desertified runners gear.
Here’s a run down of some of the kit that was taken by us and some inclusions of other kit that’d be worth a look:
Wear:
Legs:
Mine was a pair of old Speedo shorts that I use regularly anyway. Lois had a pair of under-armour long trousers. For men it was probably slightly more tights than shorts, under-armor and Skins seemed to be the brands of choice. Our elite went with Raidlight ¾ length tights, the gaitors he wore came up to the end of the trouser, but more about them later. I brought a pair of Ron Hills along for night-time, not required really and could have had lighter with some running tight type trouser but the wallet was feeling the pinch at that stage.
Top:
We both had Berghaus Tech Tee ‘Argentium’ long sleeve tops.
Most people seemed to bring a second top for night-time, either to wear over or instead of their running top. A few had light jackets, I had a MontBell Ultra-light jacket, 200gms. Lois chose what most people did and opted for a slightly warmer type of top – like a Helly Hanson or an Icebreaker merino or something. Our elite, went with a thin light shirt for night but ran in a Raidlight desert top – almost see-through but very good performance, although it may be a one off sort of shirt as it started to fray towards the end. The Fennec X-Bionic were also popular and well commented on.
Socks:
Personal choice, but 1000-milers and the like were popular, I had Bridgedale and a thin liner all the time. Lois had 3 pairs – Injinins, 1000-miler and Bridgedale all worn at once.
Shoes:
Ah, the critical choice –We both went for Inov-8s, we’re used to them as we’ve been running in them for a few years now. Lois used Roclite 315s and got a saddle maker to stitch velcro around the edge for her Raidlight gaitors. This was the best solution – stitched rather than glued – coming unstuck, as a fair few seemed to, was not a good thing and glue became like hens teeth. Her’s worked perfectly well. Mine were the Roclite 312 GTX, these have a goretex layer, which doesn’t heat your feet too much but keeps sand totally out when worn with the Inov-8 debris gaitor. The only glitch in that plan was when sand got between the outer mesh layer and the goretex inner layer, only really on the last few days but I cut a hole in the mesh to get me through the penultimate round and covered them in zinc-oxide tape for the last day. They were doing something they aren’t specifically designed for, so no gripes about them, and indeed, apart from that I found them extremely good.
Hat:
Lois went for the Raidlight sunhat and I went for an old Millets bush hat thing, anythings good really, but Lois cut the mesh out of hers and it made it much cooler apparently.
Sunglasses / Goggles:
Scenarios – day/clear, night/clear, day/sandstorm, night/sandstorm. I thought I’d cover all those with some Wiley-X SG-1’s with interchangeable clear/dark lenses and interchangeable stalks or elastic strap. As we never had a sandstorm I spent the time wearing my battered Blocs – comfort being the main factor (after 100% UV protection of course). The Wileys looked pretty around my neck though.
Lois went for some very swish Cebe glacier glasses, the ones that have the leather trim around the outside – perfect, I could pull faces she’d never see! They did make her look very ‘Queen of the Desert’. For sand goggles she got a pair of the tinted ‘ Marathon des Sables’ ones. Most prominent were Oakley or runners glasses though – but as with any accessory – personal choice. If you want to cater for night/sandstorm, bring a pair of swimming goggles, then leave them behind on admin day as your sack is so stuffed you can’t get them in…
Sundry:
We both had Buffs, very versatile bits of kit, I ran in one last time wearing it as a hat and a fair few were doing that this year. This time I used mine more as a bottle cooler and makeshift flannel than anything else, but you’ll miss it if you bin it! Patagonia pants are all the rage, apparently - a couple of Marks' best for me
Sleep:
PHD sleeping bags much in abundance, along with Rabs. The PHD minimus (ours were with Dri-Shell) are excellent bits of kit – I’ve been -5 degrees in shorts in mine and no problems, very cosy but just light enough for balmy nights. It didn’t really get ‘cold’ cold at night, but it was cool nonetheless.
Some people dispensed with a sleep mat altogether, I took a Thermarest ¾ Pro-lite one. I swithered about a new model, the Thermorest blow up NeoAir. I didn’t go for it despite the weight and space saving as I thought it’d burst and be useless. Mine was punctured anyway but at least you still got the layer of foam – interestingly the three out of eight in the tent that had NeoAir’s ended up punctureless. Just be carefull before you flop it down, but at 270gms as opposed to my 310gms, there’s not much in it although the NeoAir does compact down better as well.
Cook:
We had to use hexi-blocks or Esbits (solid paraffin tablets) pre-ordered via the organisers, these worked very well on a small titanium spider cooker with a length of folded tin-foil for a wind shield. You can rustle up a brew using sticks and bits of wood, but the hexi was far easier. 3/4 tablets for a boil – enough for tea and food.
Eat:
Dear Lord - whatever you get you'll be sick of it by the end - I'd suggest the 800Kcal Mountain meals, two a day. The racing snakes re-bagged them and saved space and a touch of weight, they kept one bag to use as a bowl the whole race, either that or the bottom of a water bottle. Nuts, raisons, sweeties, dried banana flakes, jelly beans - whatever has got a taste and lots of Kcal per gm. 2000Kcal a day is obligatory, we went for about 2,400 and I shared a fair bit out towards the end. Energy gels/bars are a great snack at checkpoints or on the hoof - Buzz bars were well rec'd.
Drink:
Nuuns tablets are great electrolyte solutions, but you have salt tablets given to you (6-8 per day) anyway - you get heartily sick of the taste of any flavour so the key is to mix it up a bit. It's gagworthy stuff, especially as it's always warm, but essential to manage your salts. Lois had two 750ml Raidlight bottles and a 2lt camelback, I had one 750ml bottle for electrolyte and a 3lt camelback.
Sun:
P20. P20. P20. If you had to design a sunscreen, this would be it; non-greasy after 15 mins, apply once and it lasts all day despite sweating like a b
d. Brilliant stuff, great for kids in the summer too - apply, forget, simples.More after the break....
Good reading that
I watched a show with some geordie fella doing it a while ago (might have been last year, might have been the year before) & the range of emotions he felt was amazing. Couldn't help but feel inspired seeing him at rock bottom but managing to pull through it & gaining enormous satisfaction & self confidence from doing so
Credit where it's due for being able to do it, 1 day I hope to be willing to sacrifice enough to do something like that
I watched a show with some geordie fella doing it a while ago (might have been last year, might have been the year before) & the range of emotions he felt was amazing. Couldn't help but feel inspired seeing him at rock bottom but managing to pull through it & gaining enormous satisfaction & self confidence from doing so
Credit where it's due for being able to do it, 1 day I hope to be willing to sacrifice enough to do something like that
Read this one my phone, but forgot to post.
Is it just the elite athletes that run through some of the stage? In a couple pictures it looks like people are running, and others it just looks like people are walking. Then you say you aimed for 4mph, but i wasn't sure if that was an average or a steady pace you were aiming to maintain throughout.
I think I'd just be walking, I get annoyed at how humid and hot it is in the gym when I'm on the treadmill
Is this the same event that Jack Osbourne done a few years back for one of his TV shows? If it is, I seem to recall someone from his group having to pull out, and everyone ending up with horrific feet at the end.
It's definitely on the list of things to do! Can I be rude and ask how much it costs? Feel free to PM or just ignore if you don't want to answer.
Is it just the elite athletes that run through some of the stage? In a couple pictures it looks like people are running, and others it just looks like people are walking. Then you say you aimed for 4mph, but i wasn't sure if that was an average or a steady pace you were aiming to maintain throughout.
I think I'd just be walking, I get annoyed at how humid and hot it is in the gym when I'm on the treadmill
Is this the same event that Jack Osbourne done a few years back for one of his TV shows? If it is, I seem to recall someone from his group having to pull out, and everyone ending up with horrific feet at the end.
It's definitely on the list of things to do! Can I be rude and ask how much it costs? Feel free to PM or just ignore if you don't want to answer.
Slagathore said:
Read this one my phone, but forgot to post.
Is it just the elite athletes that run through some of the stage? In a couple pictures it looks like people are running, and others it just looks like people are walking. Then you say you aimed for 4mph, but i wasn't sure if that was an average or a steady pace you were aiming to maintain throughout.
I think I'd just be walking, I get annoyed at how humid and hot it is in the gym when I'm on the treadmill
Is this the same event that Jack Osbourne done a few years back for one of his TV shows? If it is, I seem to recall someone from his group having to pull out, and everyone ending up with horrific feet at the end.
It's definitely on the list of things to do! Can I be rude and ask how much it costs? Feel free to PM or just ignore if you don't want to answer.
No worries - you're right - the 'elite' (top 50-ish) run most of it. A lot of very fit road marathoners just couldn't run on the terrain so were reduced to walking - which puts them at a relative disadvantage as they've not trained specifically for long distance fast walks. This is probably why people have trouble with their feet - they are on them for twice as long as they normally would be. We aimed for 4mph which is a fast walk, and to keep this steady throughout. The average pace is slightly less of course as you have to take into account checkpoint rest times (anything between 1min and 30mins depending how you're going/where you are).Is it just the elite athletes that run through some of the stage? In a couple pictures it looks like people are running, and others it just looks like people are walking. Then you say you aimed for 4mph, but i wasn't sure if that was an average or a steady pace you were aiming to maintain throughout.
I think I'd just be walking, I get annoyed at how humid and hot it is in the gym when I'm on the treadmill
Is this the same event that Jack Osbourne done a few years back for one of his TV shows? If it is, I seem to recall someone from his group having to pull out, and everyone ending up with horrific feet at the end.
It's definitely on the list of things to do! Can I be rude and ask how much it costs? Feel free to PM or just ignore if you don't want to answer.
Last time I did it 10 hours faster and 200 places higher up the results, I jogged where able but still fast-walked the majority.
You won't have any worries with humidity...!
I think Jack O did it, I did mine at the same time as Ben Fogle and he performed pretty much as I'd expect a normal fit guy to do. James Cracknell (Ben Fogles partner to the Antarctic) was obviously out to do well and is of a different calibre entirely. Managing feet, fluids and food are the secret, and lots of people fell down with feet but a lot of the time it's just down to luck. The docs station went through 5 kilometres of steritape fixing up feet. A few years ago they would just deroof blisters, apply an iodine solution and bandage them up - great if you're doing nothing for a week but not so good if you've a few marathons to do. They now prick/squeeze/inject (iodine sol.) and bandage - much better treatment.
It was quite expensive but I couldn't fault any of the organisation - £2,300 pp but as there is a 2 year waitlist then you'd be able to save/spread the cost out. Just don't take the wife.
Must get around to finishing off the kit-list...
andy_s said:
Slagathore said:
Read this one my phone, but forgot to post.
Is it just the elite athletes that run through some of the stage? In a couple pictures it looks like people are running, and others it just looks like people are walking. Then you say you aimed for 4mph, but i wasn't sure if that was an average or a steady pace you were aiming to maintain throughout.
I think I'd just be walking, I get annoyed at how humid and hot it is in the gym when I'm on the treadmill
Is this the same event that Jack Osbourne done a few years back for one of his TV shows? If it is, I seem to recall someone from his group having to pull out, and everyone ending up with horrific feet at the end.
It's definitely on the list of things to do! Can I be rude and ask how much it costs? Feel free to PM or just ignore if you don't want to answer.
No worries - you're right - the 'elite' (top 50-ish) run most of it. A lot of very fit road marathoners just couldn't run on the terrain so were reduced to walking - which puts them at a relative disadvantage as they've not trained specifically for long distance fast walks. This is probably why people have trouble with their feet - they are on them for twice as long as they normally would be. We aimed for 4mph which is a fast walk, and to keep this steady throughout. The average pace is slightly less of course as you have to take into account checkpoint rest times (anything between 1min and 30mins depending how you're going/where you are).Is it just the elite athletes that run through some of the stage? In a couple pictures it looks like people are running, and others it just looks like people are walking. Then you say you aimed for 4mph, but i wasn't sure if that was an average or a steady pace you were aiming to maintain throughout.
I think I'd just be walking, I get annoyed at how humid and hot it is in the gym when I'm on the treadmill
Is this the same event that Jack Osbourne done a few years back for one of his TV shows? If it is, I seem to recall someone from his group having to pull out, and everyone ending up with horrific feet at the end.
It's definitely on the list of things to do! Can I be rude and ask how much it costs? Feel free to PM or just ignore if you don't want to answer.
Last time I did it 10 hours faster and 200 places higher up the results, I jogged where able but still fast-walked the majority.
You won't have any worries with humidity...!
I think Jack O did it, I did mine at the same time as Ben Fogle and he performed pretty much as I'd expect a normal fit guy to do. James Cracknell (Ben Fogles partner to the Antarctic) was obviously out to do well and is of a different calibre entirely. Managing feet, fluids and food are the secret, and lots of people fell down with feet but a lot of the time it's just down to luck. The docs station went through 5 kilometres of steritape fixing up feet. A few years ago they would just deroof blisters, apply an iodine solution and bandage them up - great if you're doing nothing for a week but not so good if you've a few marathons to do. They now prick/squeeze/inject (iodine sol.) and bandage - much better treatment.
It was quite expensive but I couldn't fault any of the organisation - £2,300 pp but as there is a 2 year waitlist then you'd be able to save/spread the cost out. Just don't take the wife.
Must get around to finishing off the kit-list...
I'd like to think my feet are quite tough from running, but I'm sure a few days in those conditions would soon bring the blisters out!!
£2300..Ouch. I'd imagine there will be several hundred going on kit aswell?
Still, looks like a good challange. Maybe in a few year's time!
Thanks - next up will probably be either the Lakeland 100/50 and/or The Scottish Ultra. Same sort of set-up/principles as the MdS except midges and rain would appear to be the sickeners as opposed to heat and sand...
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