Written by Matt Snow - https://mattsnowblog.wordpress.com
Thursday 7 April.
So after a frantic last minute visit to the physio for some treatment on my knee, I went home to have a going away meal with my parents and sister’s family. After they left I decided I needed to defuzz my whole body. Not only does it make you look a little more muscular, I thought it would help with keeping clean and applying sun lotion. After this I tried to sleep for an hour or so, but it was too exciting so I just lay in bed until about 2300, when I got up and dressed. The last words from Freddy were “don’t die Dad”.
I left the house just before midnight, and drove to Oundle to pick up Ricky. I think I was in trouble with Louise for being a few minutes late as she wanted to get to bed. But then we were off. We stopped off at South Mimms for a latte, and then arrived at Gatwick about 0230 or so. We had a walkaround and it was empty. We did wonder if we’d come to the right airport, but decided we had and went to buy our second latte of the night. Soon after this Sandy and Lauren from Hope for Children, our chosen charity, turned up, and shortly after this Luke, another Hope runner.
Friday 8 April.
We then decided we’d better go to check in. When we walked around the corner we were met by hundreds of runners! All looking fit, lean and healthy. We joined the queue to check our bags in and were joined by Jinx, Luke’s friend. We got four seats together on the plane, and went straight through to security, which took an age to get through. It didn’t help that my bag got pulled for having my titanium mug, with batteries, head torch, and charging leads inside in, making it look like a home-made bomb. After a quick look around duty free we bumped into James who we thought would be joining our tent, however as he was on a later flight this turned out to be too difficult. After a visit to the shop to buy some sweets, we went straight through to departures and more or less straight onto the plane.
After a delay in taking off we landed in Ouarzazate at about 1100, and after getting through immigration we were met by a group of MDS volunteers including the legendary organiser, Patrick Bauer, who gave each of us a hug, before we were ushered on to a coach. We left soon after to start our six hour journey to the bivouac. After several stops for the best packed lunch ever and a couple of wee’s (boys to the right, girls to the left), we arrived. We had to wait maybe half an hour or so before our coach was allowed to drive the last mile or so. And then it could be seen in the fading light. A camp of large white tents and black open sided tents for us.
We went through reception and was assigned a tent, number 124. We had initially agreed to meet up with two other chaps, James and Lee, so we went off to our tent to “unpack”, which was basically to put my sleeping mat on the floor. My own personal space of around 6 foot by 3 foot. We went back to reception to try to find James and Lee, but somehow missed them, however we did find Ewan, who was another member of our group, and we then went off to eat. Food for the next 36 hours or so was being provided by the MDS. Friday’s meal was some sort of meat (goat?), rice, couscous, and some veggies which was not particularly appertising, so afterwards I filled up on some additional food I brought with me. Whilst eating we found James and Lee, and headed off back to the tent.
When we got back to tent 124 we found three additional sleeping bags, who the organiser’s had put in with us. A few minutes later Chris, Jonny and Matt turned up. They explained they had been placed in our tent just for that evening, so James and Lee went back to their original tent. In the end these three stayed with us the whole week as that just ended up being easier, and all three were a great bunch.
By now it was probably about 2030 or so, and was completely pitch black, so all we could do was crawl into our sleeping bags and go to sleep. During the night I woke up numerous times, and suddenly at around 0300 it went absolutely freezing. I ended up shivering, and had to put my buff on my head and wear some gloves. The wind had picked up and was howling through our open sided tent. Loads of tents collapsed in the night, luckily ours didn’t.
Saturday 9 April.
We awoke at first light, around 0530, which started to become the norm over the week. I could hear my tentmates talking, and the 1200 or so other competitors. I remained in my sleeping bag, shivering, wondering what on earth I’d got myself into. An hour or so later one of the MDS volunteers stopped by the tent to inform us that MDS camp time had got back one hour, in other words to GMT. No idea why as BST and Morrocan time was the same. We were also told that we were to collect our water between 0630 and 0730, and after that to go and get breakfast.
Good God breakfast wasn’t up to much; some bread, butter and marmalade, and then inexplicably loads of biscuits, which we had loads of. There was also some strong French coffee which was half decent.
I’d now realised that I was in the first wave of competitors to hand in their luggage for the hotel. I’d got it in to my head I wouldn’t have to do this until the afternoon as I (wrongly) assumed it would be in surname alphabetical order. So this ended up being a bit of a rush. I walked to the baggage area with a couple of the lads, Jinx and Jonny I think, and when I got there realised that I’d forgotten my water. I’d read somewhere that people often got dehydrated whilst waiting in these queues, so I trudged back to the tent to collect a bottle, before returning to the queue. After queuing for 30 minutes or so I handed my suitcase in, and then went to wait in more queues to collect my race numbers, SOS tracker, and salt tablets, and for my medical form and ECG to be looked at. After this I had my photo taken, and then returned to my tent. In all, this probably took two hours or so. Queuing was to become a bit part of the MDS experience.
By now it was almost lunchtime so we went back over to the canteen area. Lunch was as appertising as breakfast, but at least it filled me up. The afternoon was spent packing and unpacking my rucksack. Luckily I’d managed to get a large front pouch off another competitor, otherwise I really don’t know how I’d have packed it all in. This also came in really handy for storing a bottle of water, as I needed more than the 1.5 litres of water that my two water bottles on my rucksack could hold.
Dinner was just as bad as the previous evening. We got a can of coke with one of the dinners, although already I can’t remember which day! We then went back to our tent, and quickly got ready for bed, in anticipation of day one. A day I’d been waiting for nearly two years!
Sunday 10 April.
Day 1, 34 km, 7 hours 17 mins 25 secs.
We woke up early, probably about 5am, however it was so cold I refused to move and stayed snuggled up in my sleeping bag. The rest of my tent was up, making breakfasts (why so early!?), taping up shoulders, getting ready for the first big day. I eventually crawled out of my bag about 6.30am or so, as I had to go to the lorry to get my water. The rules are if you don’t collect it there would be a time penalty. It was windy, really windy, and sand was everywhere. In my sleeping bag, all in my rucksack, and worst of all in my mouth. I had a really gritty mouth.
I made my breakfast, from my own supplies, which was home-made porridge oats, flaked almonds and sultanas, along with skimmed milk powder and sugar. When I added water to it, it made a lovely porridge. Much nicer that the bought dehydrated breakfasts, and more or less the same calories. It probably cost me 50p a day, opposed to £7 or so, although it was probably getting on for twice the weight.
I taped up both of my knees, really as a precaution, but I was worried about them. I also taped my shoulders to help stop my rucksack rubbing them, and sun creamed myself up. Put some vasoline on my nipples, cream between my legs. I filled my water bottles up, and then that was it. We started to walk towards the start line. You could feel the anticipation in the air. A mixture of nervous excitement, and generally everyone just desperate to start. We’d only been in the desert for 36 hours or so, but already normal life seemed such a long way away. We knew today would be hard. Apparently the first two days were going to be the hardest in MDS history and 60 or 70 people would be dropping out. Today was basically 21 miles of sand dunes. Lots of energy sapping soft sand.
We had to be at the start line for 8.30am or so, and were sheppered into a number “31” for a helicopter to take some video and photographs of us. I then had a last minute wee (to set a precedent for the next week) and then it was 9am. The start line. Patrick was stood on top of a Land Rover, talking a lot in French, and then comically an English translator not saying much. A few happy birthdays were sung, and then we saw the helicopter flying towards us again. A countdown from 10, and the ACDC’s Highway to Hell was blaring out. And within a few seconds we were off. Jogging slowly. Number 1158 had 160 miles to go!
Within a mile or so we were straight into dunes. Really soft sandy dunes. Some of these were really high, and literally sapped all of your energy. Apparently the temperature was around the mid 30’s, however it didn’t seem anywhere near this hot because of a really strong wind. This wind stayed with us off and on during the week, and invariably it was a head wind!
Although hard, I was really enjoying myself. I made sure that I was regularly drinking water, and taking my salt tablets. We’d been told to take 2 salt tablets every time we opened a new bottle of water. I changed this slightly, and decided to take 2 every hour. I changed this amount a couple of days later (more on this on day 3), however this would give me something to focus on as the week progressed.
I spent most of this day just a few minutes ahead of my tent mates. I would run on a bit, and then stop to take some photo’s and they would catch me up. So, these dunes went on for around 6 miles or so until the first check point. At each check point my water card was stamped, and I would be given either one or two 1.5 litre bottles of water. I would then go through the checkpoint, and fill my water bottles on my vest, and then if I had a second bottle I would strap it on my front pack. I would then have a handful of mixed nuts and banana chips, and then be off. I tried not to spend any longer than 5 minutes or so in each checkpoint as it really is wasted time. I can’t really remember much more about this stage, however from the roadbook we were given we then entered more rocky and stony ground. These stones would come to absolutely murder the soles of my feet, making them really tender. As I approached checkpoint 2 the wind really picked up, and near to a mine I got caught in a huge sandstorm. I put my buff up around my mouth and nose, and squinted through my eyes. Luckily it didn’t last too long, however because the sand here was red I got absolutely covered in it, making me look like I had a fantastic suntan on the webcam at the end of the day! After the next checkpoint we entered more sand, which continued to the end of the stage. At the end I crossed over the line, and immediately went to the webcam and waved at it, hoping I would be seen back at home, and I was! This stage had taken me 7 hours and 17 minutes. I’d found it hard, because of the heat and constant head wind. Looking back now this was the day I found the toughest out of the whole week, and to some extent at this time I was crapping myself a little, really wondering what I’d got myself in to!However, I think I adapted quickly to the heat, and soon settled into a routine for the week.
I got the obligatory sweet Moroccan tea, which all runners get at the end of each day, and was then given my 3 bottles of water which needed to last me until the following morning. I went back to my tent and a couple of the quicker lads were back, and these were soon followed by the others. After a protein shake, I went to the Doc Trotters tent to have my knees strapped up as both were a little sore. I then went to find the email tent so I could send one home. I found this a bit surreal, I think I was a little bit dehydrated, and I couldn’t think straight! I hadn’t taken any water with me, so then went back to the tent to get a drink, and make my food, a dehydrated meal. I took a few painkillers, and soon began to feel a lot better. The week consisted of around 6 paracetamol during the day, and then 4 ibuprofin in the evening. Who said running’s good for you!!
With not much else to do we chatted and joked in the tent, although I think we were all in a bit of shock. I think around 20 people had dropped out on day one due to how tough it was. We were then in our sleeping bags as it started to get dark, and were asleep soon after 8pm. Although as per the previous night the wind really picked up, and I woke up numerous times during the night; probably 30 or so times! In fact my fitbit which I’d got just before going out to the Sahara didn’t record me sleeping at all for the first half of the week!
Monday 11 April.
Day 2, 41.3 km, 7 hours 42 mins 01 sec.
8.30 am, at the start line, more words from Patrick, more happy birthday’s, and then we were off. Almost a marathon on day 2. The hardest start to a MDS in years, and by the end of the day 70 or so runners would be out. I left my tent buddies behind today, and set off running. When I say running, I mean more of a jog. And a slow jog at that. However it’s faster than walking, about 3 mph or so.
I don’t recall a huge amount about this day, however I do remember that I knew from now on I’d complete the MDS. My knee was feeling much better, and I found myself overtaking lots of runners. The day consisted of sandy dunes (although not as many as the first day) and hard rocky dried up river beds. These would have numerous small stones on them that continued to batter the soles of my feet. The wind was still strong, which masked the high temperature, which we were told was in the low 40’s.
So, 7 hours and 42 mins later and I’d finished the second day. I went up to the webcam and waved, and took a photo. Unbeknown to me my wife was watching at the time, and managed to get a photo of me taking a photo of her taking a photo of me
The rest of the day had already started to fall into a pattern. Protein shake, water, cook meal, send an email, read emails from family and friends, chat, and go to sleep.
Tuesday 12 April.
Day 3, 37.5 km, 6 hours 5 mins 19 secs.
Another 8.30 am start with the usual pre-race rituals. And we were off. And I ran, and ran, and ran. I seemed to have so much energy today. I had quickly acclimatised to the heat, maybe due to spending some time in a gym sauna in the lead up, and today was a much flatter course. Also, apart from a couple of miles of small sandy dunes in the middle, it was quite hard ground. I really was like Forest Gump, and I finished in 6 hours and 5 mins. This was my best placing of the week, somewhere in the 200’s.
Wednesday 13 April.
Day 4, 84.3 km, 17 hours 03 mins 37 secs.
To me, day 4 is what the MDS is all about. 52 miles or so would be the furthest I’d ever ran by some distance, and considerable more than the 20 miles I’d completed whilst training for the event. Due to some long distance triathlons over the year, and the 40 mile Grimreaper I had completed the previous summer I knew I had it in me, however there were still some nerves. We all woke at our usual early time, and as usual I stayed wrapped up in my sleeping bag for as long as I could. We had an 8.15 am start time, so as soon as we were ready we headed for the start line.
I was really excited to push myself, and also to have a good view of the leading runners, as the top 50 men and 5 women start this stage 3 hours later than us, so they’d all be running past me at some point.
We’d had some discussions as a tent as to the best way to run this stage. I had decided I would start off running, as just after the first checkpoint was El Otfal jebel, which is legendary in MDS history. This is the biggest sanddune ever, with an average gradient of 12%, and an incredible 30% at the top, which required you holding on to a rope to assist you up!
I went off at a decent pace, and after about 6 miles got to the first checkpoint pretty quickly (for me anyway). As I left the checkpoint we beared off to the left, and the jebel could be seen, with little ants (people) already up it. Once I got the bottom there was a small queue of runners waiting to ascend it. My tentmates who got here later on said this queue got quite bad, and they had to wait 45 minutes or so before they could get going on it. Frustrating when there’s still 45 miles or so to go!!
I’m not sure how long it took to climb, probably 30 minutes or so. It was slow as you couldn’t pass one another. At places you were having to literally pull yourself up on the rocks. Some morons couldn’t wait and tried to take different lines up it, which was higher than us. This meant that at times some stones and rocks were falling down on us. Not fun! I’m not sure why the organiser doesn’t get us to climb this later on somehow, so that we’re more spread apart to stop the traffic jams.
Once at the top the views were breathtaking. I ate nuts and started the descent. This was almost as hard as going up. It was really rocky, and there were lots of places where a twisted ankle or fall could easily put you out of the race. I got down without any issues, and felt proud at what I’d just accomplished. I managed to get back into my jogging pace as the terrain had become much flatter with less sand. However in true Patrick Bauer style, the sand soon reappeared as we entered more dunes. This went on for a few miles until I got to checkpoint 2. A quick water refill and some food, and I was off again.
The next few miles are now all hazy, however I do recall a constant change from sand to gravel to hard dried up river beds. This makes it so hard to get into a routine, as you’re constantly running, jogging, walking. By about 2pm it was really hot, probably the hottest I’d been all week. I was jogging very slowly through a dried up river bed, when the first male runner overtook me. I’d been going for 6 hours, and he’d been going for 3!
I’d been making sure that I kept taking my salt tablets, and by maybe 4 or 5pm I started to get an uncomfortable feeling that I needed a wee, so I tried but couldn’t. I decided that I’d taken too many and that the salt was causing the issues, so I carried on drinking lots of water, but stopped taking my salt for a couple of hours, and then only had a few more during the early evening, and then none at all for the rest of the night. This seemed to sort me out and I had a couple of wee’s and I felt much better.
I got to checkpoint 5 about 7pm. It had just started to get dark, and I got my headtorch out. This checkpoint was bizarre, as there were loads of deckchairs set up, with people in various states of distress! They were giving cups of Moroccan sweet tea out so I had one, and sat down. I had intended to eat a meal here, however I decided I didn’t want to lose too much time, and wasn’t too hungry. I had a powerball energy food snack, and cracked open the fluorescent glowstick I’d been given that needed to go on my back. And then after about 10 minutes I was up and off out. By now it was completely pitch black, however I could see a load of runners with glowsticks going up the hill away from the checkpoint, so I started to follow them. I was a little concerned about navigating in the dark, so I thought safety in numbers would be good. However, after a few minutes it dawned on me that these weren’t runners, but were glowsticks showing the route! I carried on going for about 10 minutes until I got to the top of the hill, and suddenly it was absolutely pitch black, no glowsticks, nothing! I turned my headtorch up a little and carried on walking for a minute or so. I was a little concerned, however suddenly I was right at the top, and the dune I was walking on dropped away. In the distance I could see more glowsticks and now runners! Phew! With this my confidence grew, and I enjoyed running in the dark the most. It was now much more runnable, with flatter surfaces, and obviously being much cooler. Although I did at one point run headfirst straight into a thorny bush causing a few cuts! Checkpoint 6 came and went; I had been hoping there would be more tea at this checkpoint however there wasn’t. I put my ipod on for the first time in the week, and the music gave me a real boost. As I approached the last checkpoint, number 7, my energy levels suddenly started to drop. I’d now been going 15 hours or so, and hadn’t eaten any proper food in any of that time. All I’d had were nuts, dried banana chips, some shotbloc sweets, a powerball, and some extra strong mints, not much! For the last mile I was staggering around and was struggling to run in a straight line. I got to the checkpoint, answered all their questions with a huge smile, hoping to fool them into thinking I was fine, took my water, and staggered straight to a tent. I took my backpack off, and found some porridge which was supposed to be day 7’s breakfast. I somehow managed to force it down me, and packed everything away. I stood up and got my backpack back on, all wrapped up in my ipod’s wires so had to start again! With that I literally staggered my way away from the checkpoint; less than 6 miles to go!
After a few minutes the porridge really kicked in, and that along with some shotblocs gave me the boost I needed. I saw some runner’s lights ahead of me, so I started to run, and run, and run. I could also see the finish line lights, although it took an age for this to get any closer! I couldn’t stop running and I overtook about 25 runners. I absolutely sprinted towards the finish line, and finished the day in 17 hours and 3 minutes.
I had my sweet tea, collected my water, and walked towards my tent. I got to the tent and saw three tentmates; Jonny who as usual had smashed it, Ricky who’d beaten me by 15 minutes or so, and Luke who unfortunately had to drop out at the first checkpoint.
I started laughing and couldn’t stop. I feel over and couldn’t get back up. I tried to open my backpack but couldn’t find the zipper. I was desperately trying not to laugh but I couldn’t help it. I was absolutely off my head. I somehow managed to open my backpack and find my sleeping bag. I crawled into it and laid there. I didn’t sleep, just laid there. I think Ewan came in next, followed by Jinx, Chris and little Matt. They’d been going for nearly 24 hours. Epic.
Thursday 14 April.
Day 5.
No miles, a day off, lovely. And a can of coke provided
Friday 15 April.
Day 6, 42.2 km, 6 hours 24 mins 11 secs.
Just a marathon today. After the high of the long day I felt kind of low. I felt that I had completed the MDS but knew that things could still go wrong. I knew I had the capability to complete it, however a twisted ankle or similar could still put me out. We are due to set off at 7am, and the early start really threw me. I ended up being really rushed, and before I know it we were off. Almost immediately we entered some dunes, and I took the wrong line in them, and soon saw lots of people about 200 or 300 metres to my right running much faster on harder ground. This is really the only time I didn’t follow the course properly. Luckily the dunes only went on for a couple of miles and I was soon out of them. After the first check point we were into some more sandy jebels, but from recollection these didn’t go on too long, and soon the ground was much firmer. Two more checkpoints came and went and I had completed the MDS. Or had I, as in theory there was still the charity timed last stage to go!
I came 343rd with a total time of 44 hours, 32 minutes and 33 seconds of running.
That evening we had an awards ceremony. We really only went as it was initially sold as the last person completing the day, and then the promise of another can of coke. We eventually got in to bed about 10pm or so.
The seven finishers of Tent 124… Chris, Ricky, Jonny, Jinx, Ewan, Little Matt, Big Matt.
Saturday 16 April.
Day 7, 17.7 km.
So, after 20 months or so of anticipation, and a fantastic week of running, my Saharan adventure was about to come to an end. There was a bit of bitterness from some for this stage. It wasn’t going to count towards our time, but we still had to complete it before getting our medals, and it was fairly long. To be honest all we really wanted to do was to get on the coach and get to the hotel.
We decided to walk this stage as a tent. All united. And we did initially, although we lost Chris almost from the start. We managed to all get back together and after about two hours or so we were hardly half way. It was going to take a long time, so myself, Ricky and Jinx decided to run. Little Matt joined us at some point as well, although we’d lost him by the end again. We kept running, and started to overtake a lot of people. This felt much better. Suddenly we were only a kilometre from the finish. The three of us ran faster, however this kilometre came and went and there was no finish. I’d miscalculated and wasn’t aware the stage was actually 17.7 km, so we still had another three quarters of a kilometre to go. Not much usually, however you’re not usually running in 40 odd degrees heat on the sand. We kept going, and after a few twists and turns we eventually saw the finish line. The three of us joined hands, and crossed the line. We’d done it. We’d completed one of the hardest ultramarathons in the world, and I was chuffed to bits.
However, to be honest I’d been more chuffed after the long day. This was all a bit of an anti-climax. I was given my medal, and then went over to Patrick and got one of his legendary hugs. He also said something to me in French. Goodness knows what.
I had one last Morrocan tea, got a bottle of water and headed to the coach. We were given another fantastic packed lunch as we boarded the coach to head to the hotel.
After a couple of relaxing nights at the hotel we headed back home.
So, overall my thoughts and feelings on the race. It was by far the most organised event I’ve ever entered. If you get the opportunity to enter it, do it. The volunteers were fantastic. The infrastructure was second to none. The Discovery Channel claim it’s the toughest footrace around. I’m not sure that’s true any longer. It certainly was tough, but if I’m honest I thought it would be harder. I think I acclimatised to the heat pretty quickly which helped.
I didn’t really have any low points at all during my week out there. My food went down really well. Home-made porridge oats for breakfast was nice and simple. Nuts and banana chips, along with the occasional sweet or shotbloc, during the day was enough calories. Mountain House dehydrated food for my dinner was (in my opinion anyway) really quite tasty.
The only thing I’d take if I returned would be a pair of flipflops to put on in the evening and more importantly for wees in the night! I was convinced I’d step on some creepy crawly; luckily I didn’t. I did have a pair but was struggling to get them in my rucksack. Talking of rucksacks I used the MDS specific one. Mainly because it had been given out free at the expo. A lot of runners seemed to slate it (particularly the bottles), however I had no issues with it, and actually think it’s pretty good.
It’s important to get good tent mates. Our tent was really good, and we all got on really well. I knew half of the guys before we went out, and the other half we met out there were great. In fact so great four of us have entered the Dragon’s Back race in Wales next year.
For training you need to spend as much time as you can on your feet. I’ve done quite a few long distance triathlons and ultra runs which really helps. You’d be amazed by the amount of people out there who hadn’t gone further than a half marathon before. I don’t think you need to run hugely long distances in training. I would suggest 20 miles is the maximum distance. I would then say to try to do a significant distance multiple days in a row, say 15 miles on 3 or 4 consecutive days. Also do not underestimate the amount of time you’ll be walking. I reckon I walked 50% of the time. It just isn’t possible to run in soft sanddunes!
And lastly I’d like to thank all of you who sponsored me. To date I am a few pounds short of £15,500, which has all gone to Hope for Children. I would also like to thank those of you who took the time to email me whilst I was out there. It really was great to get them and gave me a huge boost each evening. And lastly thanks to my long suffering wife, Andrea, and family who put up with my mad antics; I love you all long time
