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The
21st Marathon des Sables 2006 –
"The toughest footrace on earth".
The Marathon des Sables is a 150 mile self sufficiency
race across the Sahara desert.
In 2006 Ben not only took part in but
'competed' in the 21st
edition of the Marathon des Sables,
the year that the race organisers have said was the toughest
on record – so that's the toughest ever, 'toughest footrace
on earth'!!
In an international field of elite athletes,
where the largest contingent was from the UK, Ben
finished in the top ten Britons.
The Race Director Patrick Bauer said
of the Marathon des Sables in 2006,
"We still remember the five days of non-stop windstorm
that shook our caravan during the 17th MARATHON DES SABLES.
Some thought we’d never relive such difficult
weather conditions again! And
yet four years later, runners and
organisers endured far worse with the 2006
edition. Day after day, the
heat and sandstorms, along with an unusually high hygrometry
levels, meant a record number of 146 competitors
pulled out! When Mother Nature
hands out a warning to humans trying to defy her, you scarcely
need a metaphysics manual to understand mankind’s place
in the universe".
This edition of the Marathon des Sables
saw a record number (62) of emergency IV's administered, as
a result of extremely high hygrometry levels, and the marathon's
first ever case of hyperthermia.
Most of the 104 runners who finished in front of Ben were
experienced in the race and came from countries such as Morocco
and Algeria where they are used to the conditions.
Ben ran the 150 mile race in 30 hours 25 minutes 56
seconds.
(Full results at http://www.saharamarathon.co.uk/mds_results_2006.html)
This Race is run in six stages.
Ben’s best stage position was 87th
on Stage Four (The Long Day).
“I tend to do comparatively better the longer
the distance is. I think it’s as much to do with mental
endurance as anything else”.
Ben completed this race with a rucksack
on his back containing his sleeping bag, clothing, food for
the whole week and emergency supplies.
The first day on a 28km stage temperatures
rose to 41C. Eight experienced
runners who had completed the event before were forced to
retire.
The second day saw Ben face a
35km stretch in temperatures of 42C. The
high hygrometry levels on this day saw another 27 competitors
quit the race. Towards the end of this stage in a dune section
a windstorm blew up and some got lost in the dunes, but Ben
pushed through and finished strongly.
The third stage of 38 km found the temperature
a little cooler at 39.4C and the runners were down to 663
with 68 retirements. The terrain was uneven with a long series
of ridges and dunes. The checkpoint was inaccessible by vehicle
and had to be installed by helicopter.
Stage Four, Ben’s best stage was a long stage scheduled
over two days. Because of the severe conditions it was cut
down from 72km to 56 km and competitors had their water rations
increased. Ben finished this, the toughest of stages, in just
8 hours, 29 minutes, 55 seconds.
The fifth stage of 42km was run in much lower temperatures
of 28.1C. Stage 6 of 11.8km in 34.3C was over flat, stony
terrain in the main. It did however include 3km
of the highest sand dunes in Morocco.
“When I charged in over the finish line
on the last day, I was satisfied that I had fulfilled one
of my ambitions in competing in the Marathon des Sables, and
I was elated to have finished so high in the rankings, but
I have to admit, there was a part of me that knew that I hadn’t
been pushed to my limit yet and I needed to look towards my
next challenge.”
See slide show here 
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