Back in the Sahara for the third time!
Having completed the Marathon des Sables 250km in 2024, and returned earlier this year as a Blue Jacket volunteer, October 2026 saw me back again, this time for the MDS Morocco 120.
The event offers three distances - 70km, 100km and 120km (allegedly!) across three stages, with the only difference being the length of Stage 2. There's also an MDS Handi event, where wheelchair athletes tackle adapted routes with support teams. Other participants can help using the 'Hope Ropes' attached to the specially designed Handi buggies.
I'd entered the 120km race option (obviously!), which actually turned out to be 109km with 1,462 metres of ascent. Not a huge amount of elevation but it was concentrated into short distances which made it more challenging.
Race Kit
This is a self-sufficient event where you need to carry everything you need for the event on your back including food, water, mandatory kit, any spare clothing and sleeping equipment. The only things you are given by the event are water and a tent to sleep in.
I was fairly ruthless and my pack weighed in at 5.2kg. I used the inov8 racepac 20 litre as although it is a bit unwieldy when full, it sits closer to the body, and more like a race vest than the MDS race pack. That hung off my shoulders causing pain in 2024 though it was holding much more weight (7.5kg plus water). Overall I found this pack a good choice with plenty of pockets so I could access nutrition on the move.
My Klymit Inertia X Lite sleeping mat was super-light at 173g given the fact it barely exists! It's taken me over a year to find mats like this as they were discontinued some time ago. A few weeks ago I found two for sale by the same chap on eBay. No, they are not luxurious but I suffer from back as well as knee issues so a lack of comfort is the trade off for a low pack weight. I did have a sore back from sleeping flat on the floor but I have had this in other races with much thicker mats.
My one luxury item was my very lightweight (310g) Haglofs down jacket. I can get very cold at night, even in the desert but in the event, I didn't need to wear it at all during the race however I did use it as a pillow. The jacket also came in handy on the coach ride back to the hotel after the event when we were hit with cold, rain and flash floods, our 6-hour bus journey turned into about 10 hours.
Nutrition & Hydration
I spent many hours working out my nutrition and hydration strategy before leaving home. I opted for a simple but rather dull diet instead of traditional, freeze-dried expedition meals.
I knew I would only have cold water as I didn't want to carry a stove. Initially I was going to have a dinner of some comfort food of instant mash with cheese powder, biltong and the mandatory bouillon (OXO cubes), plus instant oats for breakfast, but I figured I just couldn't be bothered when I was tired to prepare anything at all so they got ditched. Not before I drew my intended dinner though!
My daily diet consisted of one 550 kcal flapjack for breakfast, High5 carbohydrate drink and Haribo during the race, an additional flapjack for dinner, a pack of Mini Cheddars (2 on the long stage) and a pack of Biltong (2 on the long stage). I also had Dextro energy gums with caffeine for each stage. I alternated half a pack of these and one mini Haribo pack every 5km.
The combined total kcals I was carrying for the three stages and the rest day were around 10,000.
I must be acclimatising to these hot races as I used to have to carry 1.5 litres between checkpoints but I managed to get away with 1 litre roughly every 10km on the whole for this event, aside from a tricky and extremely hilly section where I had to eke it out (as did most people) despite upping this to 1.5 litres.
The High5 worked really well for me, adding valuable calories along with around a third of my electrolytes. The remaining electrolytes I needed were provided by Precision Hydration capsules.
I miscalculated the High5 and ran out about 75% of the way through the long stage leaving me surviving on Haribo and Dextro for the last stage (flapjack for breakfast). I would take more in future now I know I can cope with it.
Feet
I employed a high-risk strategy during this event of not using 'proper' desert gaiters with stitched on velcro. I had my faithful Topo Ultraventure 4 shoes from the Al Andalus Trail which 'only' had 200km on them so I wanted to use them for this race also.
I trained in my old Ultraventures using standard trail gaiters up in Southport, including spending time in the soft, sandy dunes and very little sand got in. Of course when I got to the Sahara they decided to let ALL the sand in!
I had known this might happen but I figured the worst-case scenario was my having to tip it out at checkpoints which I did. I did suffer a little from sand abrasion but really the main downside of this was the added time it took. I think I probably lost one to one and a half hours across the race due to my gaiter choice. This translated into my potentially being around 35 places lower in the rankings. Lesson learned!
Stage 1 - 25.9km | 366m ascent
A relatively gentle introduction to the race, at least in terms of distance. Three checkpoints and our first taste of what the Sahara had in store for this event. Heatwise, my Garmin showed a 38°C max with 32°C average for this stage though 43°C was reported in the afternoon once we had completed the miles.
It's generally wise to use the first stage in a multi-day event as a discovery day. Learn how you are reacting to the miles, food, temp, terrain, plus how you are managing to carry your pack.
I took it steady with some running early on then fast hiking. A couple of hundred metres from the finish I saw a Handi team who looked like they were struggling so I grabbed the spare Hope Rope and helped pull the buggy along. About 100 metres out from the finish they decided to run in. Boy oh boy it was a struggle to keep up with them! I do not know where they get their incredible strength and resilience. Hats off to all the Handi teams. They are truly remarkable.
The biggest bonus for me on this stage was that after the event I FELT TOTALLY FINE!
In the MDS 250km back in 2024 I had a very rough ride with getting extremely sick after the first stage which continued through the stages. I was extremely relieved to have zero issues of this type for the whole of this race.
Stage time: 4:36:11
Stage 2 - 58km | 930m ascent
The big one! At 58km with 930 metres of climbing, this was the toughest stage on paper and accounted for more than half the total race distance.
Another hot day with similar temperatures to stage one. We had a 5.30am start to reduce the amount of time spent out in the blazing sun. There was a real mixed bag of terrain with soft dunes, stones, dried-up lake beds and some killer hills.
I ran walked to about 25km then mainly fast hiked. The main hills started about 44km in and cheese and rice they were EVIL! I was swearing like a sailor and thankful there was no one in earshot.
At one point the route took us along a ridge with a sheer drop on one side which is out of my comfort zone. We did a sharp left turn and were taken straight down the front of it down a very steep, loose sandy dune. I had to turn backwards to get off the top as I would have ended up on my face otherwise.
You could see the finish line about 3km out and as per the other stages, it never seemed to get any closer. The sense of relief at seeing it was always tinged with 'what the hell...'
Stage time: 12:25:39
Rest Day
After each stage we would retire to the black, open sided tents for the remainder of the day to escape the extreme heat of the desert and our individual tents which were like furnaces.
The rest day was an extended version of this with lots of time to get to know fellow participants. We had some good banter in our English speaking quarter.
The highlight of the day was our 'surprise'. I think most of us were dreaming of a can of Coca Cola which can literally pull you back from the brink in an environment like this. We were actually given an orange and a banana each which was initially disappointing but really was much better for us. A few additional calories with the bonus of vitamins and minerals our bodies were craving.
I did a brief interview on this day with the MDS media team and appeared on the MDS Instagram and race movie with my 'The plan for today is no plan' comment. Fame at last!
My brief appearance is from around 14:25 in the film above.
Stage 3 - 25.1km | 166m ascent
The final 25.1km and with almost 84km already in the legs, there was still work to do.
The MDS were kind to us on this last stage I think. They could have thrown lots of soft sand or hills at us but they wanted a stage where all competitors, including the Handi teams covered the same distance over the same terrain.
On the whole it was very flat and stony aside from one short hill. Despite this I was feeling a little flat having run out of carb drink so I ran a little then death marched the rest. I was feeling the heat despite this being a cooler day than the previous two. We even had a few spots of rain towards the end of the stage.
I had a little wobble coming into the last checkpoint as my body ran out of energy. I had one tiny Haribo pack left out of all my food which just about brought me back to life for the final few kms.
Stage time: 4:17.34
Total race time: 21:19:24
40th lady of 128 starters
153rd overall of 305 starters
Very happy with myself!!
Full race results can be found here (thank you dot watchers!!)
People, it's always about the people....
I repeat myself when talking about events like this because, for me, it really is mostly about the people. They are what bring the most magic, even above the environment, the challenge and the sense of achievement.
I deliberately left my phone at the hotel. Partly to save weight, but more importantly because I wanted to be 100% engaged and present in the experience, without any distractions. For me, it's all about human connection.
What I love most is spending time with like-minded and probably slightly bonkers individuals who get satisfaction from taking themselves outside their comfort zone. This includes fellow competitors plus the staff and volunteers who make endurance events possible.
Special shout outs to Rory Coleman, Hev, Stuart, Paul, Marie (3rd lady!!), David, Marenco, Jason, Craig, Keeley, Emyr, Geoffrey, Keith plus anyone I swapped stories with.
You are the people that made it special.