Marathon des Sables anyone?

Blueskye

I'm tentatively considering doing MDS in 2012 or 2013, a long way off I know but that's how it is. A friend is also probably going to join me. Anyone else interested in the madness?

Iron Enthusiast

Its something i've always been interested in doing but it has a loooong waiting list.
Would you consider the Gobi Challenge or another stage race that you could enter sooner (or is MdS the goal for you?)

Highway_To_Hell

The Marathon des Sables is a step too far for me but I hope to do the Sahara Marathon in 2011.

Rantan

Blueskye wrote: »

I'm tentatively considering doing MDS in 2012 or 2013, a long way off I know but that's how it is. A friend is also probably going to join me. Anyone else interested in the madness?

its something thats has held a secret appeal to me for years, and only now that I have completed my first marathon (Dublin 09) am I allowing myself to actually consider it as a reality. What level experience/acheivement do you realistically need to consider it can anyone say?

Blueskye

Iron Enthusiast wrote: »

Its something i've always been interested in doing but it has a loooong waiting list.
Would you consider the Gobi Challenge or another stage race that you could enter sooner (or is MdS the goal for you?)

No, it's definitely MDS for me. Looks like I can enter through Korea for 2012 otherwise it means waiting til 2013. I'm happy enough to wait ti 2012 though as it means I can get some decent training in.

Blueskye

Rantan wrote: »

its something thats has held a secret appeal to me for years, and only now that I have completed my first marathon (Dublin 09) am I allowing myself to actually consider it as a reality. What level experience/acheivement do you realistically need to consider it can anyone say?

Might be worth looking at http://www.themds.co.uk/forums. Plenty of MDS veterans there and training info/equipment info etc.

--amadeus--

It's on my list, but not for a while yet. Might be worth having a read of this as well.

hunnymonster

Rantan wrote: »

What level experience/acheivement do you realistically need to consider it can anyone say?

It's not so much the level you need to be at, more a question of how you will handle the various elements of the event. Most people from the outside looking in see the MDS as a running race but it's much much more. It's an exercise in ultra running/walking but also living in a biovac, carrying your entire world on your back for a week, dealing with the sand, the dunes, the stones, managing feet injuries, living on rations, navigating yourself, dealing without any kind of hygiene for a week, watching for snakes, camelspiders etc..... None of these elements are that tough in themselves but put them all together and you've a descent challenge. You also need to be a flexible kind of person, no point complaining when the sahara floods and they have to completely re-route the race or when the nomads think it is fun to move the checkpoint markers to send you off in the wrong direction in the middle of the night, you just have to get on with it.

Rantan

Blueskye wrote: »

Might be worth looking at http://www.themds.co.uk/forums. Plenty of MDS veterans there and training info/equipment info etc.

thanks, I'll have a look at that

RacoonQueen

I would LOVE to do it. I'd need a friend though, not one I'd want to do alone.

ultraman1

RacoonQueen wrote: »

I would LOVE to do it. I'd need a friend though, not one I'd want to do alone.

check out www.fitness-singles.com

RacoonQueen

ultraman1 wrote: »

check out www.fitness-singles.com

Ha, I joined that once, out of curiosity. It was very disappointing. :pac:

Blueskye

RacoonQueen wrote: »

I would LOVE to do it. I'd need a friend though, not one I'd want to do alone.

I agree, best to have a group doing it. Recruit a friend and join us. Would be great to get a gang together.

hunnymonster

RQ, don't wait until you con a friend into a little beach holiday. You'll make life long friends with the people you share your tent with. You can't smell that bad and be in such close proximity to people and not bond. At the hotel before the race start, you'll be assigned a room mate so there is instantly someone else to get to know.

RacoonQueen

Blueskye wrote: »

I agree, best to have a group doing it. Recruit a friend and join us. Would be great to get a gang together.

I'm actually going to start looking into it now, I'd be 2013 at the earliest though.

Blueskye

RacoonQueen wrote: »

I'm actually going to start looking into it now, I'd be 2013 at the earliest though.

Ok, well it's looking likely that we'll do it in 2012. It'd be great to have another girl around as I'm going to be surrounded by men so you'd be very welcome to join us if you were able. But if not, no worries.

TFBubendorfer

My wife is perfectly happy for me to be doing all sorts of marathons and ultras, she's looking forward to a promised trip to South Africa next year and she's tentatively okayed an IM, but she did threaten to divorce me if I signed up for MdS.

I guess that's the one I'm going to give a miss.

hunnymonster

lol, you're not doing too bad there T. We've not yet found our "I'll divorce you if...." point

dario28

I'd love to do it and briefly looked into it , is it really a couple of grand ?

hunnymonster

yes. between kit, medical stuff, travel and the race itself I think (ZL correct me if I'm wrong) it worked out about €6k. Sterling is worse against the euro now than when we did it though which works to our advantage. Easy to see where the money goes in terms of logistics and medical care. It's essentially a military operation in the desert without the fighting.