Marathon des Sables

Day 1: 33.8k

Day 2 38.5k

Day 3: 35.0k

Day 4: 81.5k

Day 5: 42.2k

Day 6: 15.5k

The 35th MARATHON DES SABLES is a foot race, open to runners and walkers, with several stages, free style, and with food self-sufficiency over a distance of about 250k. Each participant must carry his/her own backpack containing food, sleeping gear and other material.

In order to compete you must be over 18, any citizenship. Competitors must hold a medical certificate issued by the organisation stating their ability to participate and a resting ECG report.

Competitors stay overnight in a bivouac village, comprised of tents that sleep about 8 competitors per tent. Once you get your ‘bivvy’, your bivvy team become your family, your support team, your nursing team and invariably they become long-term friends. The most memorable sound of an evening is the rumble of weary laughter that echoes around the village. The bivouacs will be pitched each day on previously chosen sites transformed into camping grounds for the competitors; Numbered, 8-man tents attributed by country of residence. Failure to adhere to these numbers will incur a penalty. Competitors may use their free time to prepare for the night and get medical care, if necessary.

A specially chosen medical team, specialising in sports and tropical medicine will be present throughout the race with the use of assistance vehicles. It will be posted at check points and at the finish line each day and will ensure that any participants who are suffering from physical or mental exhaustion are brought back to the base camp. The medical team is allowed to remove ID plates and to eliminate any participant they feel physically unfit to continue the race and/or having received vital medical care.

Average temperature in October:

The route (approx. 250k) covers a wide variety of terrain. In the event of sand storm lowering visibility to zero, competitors must stop in their tracks and wait for instructions by the organisers.

Each entrant must provide his/her own food from 03 to 09 October included.

He/she must select the type of food best suited to his/her personal needs, health, weather conditions, weight and backpack conditions. We remind you that airlines strictly forbid the carrying of gas (for cooking) on board either as hand luggage or otherwise. Each competitor must have 14 000 k/calories, that is to say a minimum of 2,000 k/calories per day, otherwise he/she will be penalised. Any food out of its original packaging must be equipped, legibly, of the nutrition label shown on the product concerned.

The organisation takes charge of supplying water to each competitor. Water is typically distributed as follows.

12 litres per person per day

1.5 or 3 litres at check points 1 and 2,
1.5 or 3 litres at check point 3, if check point 3
6 or 7.5 litres at arrival post.

15 litres per person per day:

3 litres at check points 1, 2 and 3
6 litres at arrival post.

25.5 litres minimum per person over 2 days:

3 litres at check points 1, 2, 3 and 4,
1.5 or 3 litres at check points 5 and 6,
4.5 litres at arrival post,
6 litres at the bivouac.
At the end of the stage, each competitor is given 6 litres of water.

Be aware that the next water supply will be on the first CP of the next day's stage

Distribution times will be posted up on the bivouac the night before. Stamping of the water card is obligatory and the competitor's sole responsibility. Each participant must manage his/her daily water intake as and when water is distributed and cannot obtain further supplies at any other time.

Penalties will be given to competitors who abandon empty water containers along the route. Facilities for handing in empty containers will be available at check points.

Never leave without water. Should you get lost in the desert, water reserves could be vital.