I am sure you will all wish to join me in congratulating club member Karen Ash on her amazing achievement which I must say is not for the faint hearted, as she took on and conquered the Marathon Des Sables…
Karen has shared her experience with us by writing this wonderful report for us to read.
Taking part in the ‘Toughest Footrace on Earth,’ The 40th Edition of the Marathon des Sables Legendary April 2026, across the Sahara for 270km (with a 100km long day thrown in on day 4!) the longest and biggest event they have ever done! 9 days of self sufficiency in an open sided bivouac tent with 7 others.
What a privilege to be part of such an incredible challenge. I was on the reserve list but when I heard back in October 2025 I had a place, the planning started. 14,000 calories over the 7 race days was the minimum to carry, 2,000 each day, bagged up freeze dried expedition foods & snacks. My rucksack weight was 9kg without water and I ran with it attached to me for 6 weeks prior to the event to get used to the weight on the dunes at Sandwich and Camber, and make adjustments. Somehow its weight went to 10kg, then I added 1and half litres of water on the technical check day…..and we were off, carrying all we needed to survive for 7 days of running in the desert, our ‘Roadbooks,’ and daily maps given to us on the 6hr journey into the desert to get to the bivouac….music thumping from the stage to ACDC ‘Highway to Hell’ every morning before sunrise with 1,500 of us in the start gate ready….and wow what a journey; I stuck to my plan of running as hard as I could in the cool before the sun started to cook us then slowed as the heat ramped up and managed to get back to the bivouac before the real heat in the mid afternoon started each day (apart from 100k day). My prize….cold water poured into instant porridge which I cooked with sand around it before consuming, some salty snacks and the odd Milky Bar button. Each day played out like this with mileage changing and the desert landscape stunning with sunrise; the terrain varied from deep sand dune after sand dune in huge ‘Erg’ fields, to rocky desert, to wadis, and to escarpments to scramble up and down. Not everyone in my tent finished, in fact most tents were down in numbers as the days went on, and there were many walking wounded with blisters and other ailments. We were roared into every check point by incredible volunteers and blasting tunes, and every finish line by amazing people. My favourite day was actually the 100km day just focused on the task ahead, taking 15minutes in heat of the day to cool and carry on, coming in just after midnight 19hours after I started in a sandstorm. Two sandstorms made life very tough, and the marathon day after the 100km long day was really hard. Finishing the event in yet another 100kph sandstorm with rain on yet another ‘erg’ field was challenging, and just when I thought I can’t get up another dune, or even see where I was going with the fine reddish dune sand in my eyes, another appears in front. But I did it. Total time 48 hours 58 minutes and 26 seconds of running over the Sahara, finishing top 10 in my age group, 88th lady and overall 566th from 1500 starters
