The Marathon des Sables
The Marathon des Sables, such an amazing race! This race is really special and I feel fortunate to have been able to participate. A sport adventure but above all a human adventure rich in emotions.
The first emotions begin at your arrival when you jump into the coach and receive your roadbook with the description of your itinerary, description of the stages and kilometres. This year, it was 237 km in 6 stages: 30, 38, 32, 87, 42, 8 km. For now, these are just words on a piece of paper but day after day we discover the desert and its various and beautiful landscapes (dunes, djebels, dry lakes) but also its dark side…. A sand storm on the 2nd day made the stage really difficult. I hated this stage, I did not feel in my environment. Nearly a hundred people dropped out that day.
The long stage was also really special for me. I was very excited to discover the desert at night but an inflammation of the extensor of the foot made this stage difficult. I hardly finished the stage at 4 am with pain. I finally did not enjoy the stars as I was only focused on the beam of my head torch on my feet…
For the next stage of 42 km, the pain was still there and I hardly made it to the end but what a relief when you cross the finish line!
More than a running race, this is a race where you have to manage many things. Manage your food, your hydration, salt tablets and your small hurts. You must also cope with the lack of privacy, sharing a tent with seven people, and hygiene reduced to the strict minimum. You must learn to be patient; this is a long race, stages are long, even very long… cope with the changing weather, cold at night and warm at day, sand storm, strong wind... However, the hard work was all worth it.
It was also very special to have raised money for our scholarships and I would like to thank you all for supporting this amazing project!
Geneviève Kohli
Senior Finance Officer (Travel Services)