In April 2024 I will compete in the Marathon des Sables (MdS), a six-day, 250 km (160 mile) ultramarathon race in the Sahara Desert, dubbed ‘the toughest foot race on earth’. In preparation, I attended the MdS expo in October 2023, in London. There was a range of presentations and stalls to see and I will summarise some of my personal highlights.
Presentations
Kevin Webber – Making your MdS count
Kevin truly is a force of nature and his presentation was inspirational. In 2014, he was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer and given just two years to live. Instead of using the diagnosis to wallow in self pity, he started to run and he hasn’t stopped.
Soon after starting treatment, he ran both the Brighton and London Marathons (two weeks apart) on weeks 13 and 15 of an invasive and intensive chemotherapy block. Kevin has defied expectations and is still going strong nine years later; running ultra-marathons around the world.
In 2016, he ran in the Arctic battling temperatures of -50°C; then one month later he competed in the MdS and raced in temperatures of +50°C in the Sahara desert. He has achieved unimaginable feats and raised public awareness and thousands of pounds for Prostate Cancer UK.
His mental and physical resilience as well as his ‘can do’ attitude is motivating, uplifting and even emotional at times. If he can run 250 km in scorching desert whilst battling cancer, anyone can. His book ‘Dead Man Running’ (which I have subsequently read and would highly recommend) is one man’s account of running to stay alive. If that won’t inspire you to never give up in the face of extreme adversity then I don’t know what will. For more information, check out his website: https://makethemostofit.org/
Shane Benzie – Get your running right – guide to less pain and faster pace
Shane is a running coach, movement specialist, researcher and the founder of the Running Reborn coaching platform. His book ‘The Lost Art of Running: A Journey to Rediscover the Forgotten Essence of Human Movement’ details his journey across five continents where he trained with and analysed the running style of some of the most gifted athletes on the planet. In his presentation, Shane discussed his research into human movement and how to use it to optimise race performance.
Pierre Meslet – Can you stay injury free whilst training from the MdS
Pierre is an osteopath with over 10 years of experience specialising in sports injuries. Pierre is also an avid ultra runner and has run the MdS multiple times (finishing an impressive 9th overall in 2021 and winning the team award for France in 2023). He discussed being both mentally and physically prepared for the MdS (including demonstrating exercises and injury prevention). Listening to your body and hearing its whispers before they become a scream is key to crossing the finish line.
25 years ago Ted was an alcoholic, smoker; obese and idle (by his own admission). He decided to turn his life around and is now 25 years sober. He completed 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days in the first ever World Marathon Challenge. He has also raced the MdS multiple times, the most recent being in 2022 where he took his youngest son who became the youngest Brit ever to complete the race, at 16 years of age.
In the MdS, communal bivouacs (berber tents) and water are provided by the organisers which are carried along the route by a small caravan of camels. The camels are always at the back of the pack and there’s an adage ‘if you’re caught by the camels then you’re out of the race’ (although this isn’t technically true).
When Ted competed at the MdS he remained at the back of the pack (hence the name of his presentation). His talk on being a “completer rather than a competer” was refreshing. He finished last in the Ironman UK and ran the North Pole Marathon (where he jokingly stated that he led the race for a mere 17 seconds).
It’s easy to compare and despair when measuring yourself against other runners. In the MdS, Ted was not chasing positions or accolades, he simply wanted to get round in one piece. Regardless, the experience pushed him to his absolute limit. He now is a life coach and supports individuals to overcome barriers and improve their lives mentally, physically and emotionally.
Stalls
There were many stalls at the expo selling a range of essential gear: shoes, backpacks, running tops, socks, camping stoves, first aid kits etc. Runners must carry all their equipment in the MdS so the products for sale were the smallest and/or lightest possible.
Precision Fuel and Hydration had a stall selling electrolyte and rehydration products and were also offering on-site sweat tests, costing £125. Sweat tests measure the quantity of salt in sweat. The results are used to create bespoke personalised hydration plans for runners (when, what and how many electrolytes to take before, during and after exercising). Curiosity got the better of me and I took the opportunity to take a sweat test (I will write a separate blog post on this in due course, so watch this space!).
There were a range of charities who had stalls at the expo. One of the charities in attendance was Hope for Children, which supports vulnerable, overlooked and exploited children, living in extreme poverty. It currently works in five countries: Uganda, Sri Lanka, India, Kenya and the UK.
Following a discussion with some of their representatives and seeing their good track record in supporting runners at the MdS helped to sway my decision to fundraise for them (please see my ‘Hope for Children’ blog post: https://www.chrisrunsultras.uk/2023/11/hope-for-children-and-marathon-des.html).
As a father, I am acutely aware that my daughter will have access to opportunities that girls in developing countries aren’t afforded.
I would be most grateful if you would support this very worthy cause and my MdS journey. To donate please visit my JustGiving page here:
Chris runs ultras 
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