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In a nutshell
A former taekwondo fighter who hated running as a kid describes his road to the Marathon des Sables, a 240 km stage race across the Moroccan Sahara. The best part is the race told day by day, which the author finished in 235th place.
Who it's for: Anyone drawn to the desert and multi-stage ultras.
One of the great things about Amazon is that every now and then interesting books pop up as free downloads. This was one of them, and it caught my eye with its title. From the cover photo it’s probably clear that this will be about running and walking misery somewhere in a desert. Where? And what does that number mean? Head off on the road to the Marathon des Sables.
I’ve read the book, but I still have no idea what the number means. I searched the reviews and found out I’m not alone. Judging by the story, I’d guess it’s the number of days the preparation for the Big Challenge took. And that challenge was nothing less than the Marathon des Sables, a 240 km stage race across the Moroccan part of the Sahara.
The author got into running more or less by accident. He had hated running since he was little, but he wasn’t completely without a sporting past. He even earned a black belt in taekwondo, and running was only a supplement to that sport. Over the years he moved from club to club (depending on where he lived). When his last club closed down, he gradually started running. The reason was clear: not to get lazy.
Little by little he started eating up his first kilometres around home. He took the same path as many others. The first milestone was a half marathon. He ran his first race in Reading, England, not far from London. That’s where the book won me over. Ten years later I made my own very amateur debut there. My first race among 17,000 other runners was a truly unforgettable experience. So was finishing in a packed football stadium.
The half was followed by the full marathon. After failing in the London Marathon ballot, he had a guaranteed place at the marathon in Edinburgh, Scotland. And that’s where he won me over a second time. Once again I could travel back in my memories to my own marathon battle in that beautiful city. Back then it was a marathon in drops of rain. Or whisky?
That’s where our similarities end for good. At least as far as the races go. The author wasn’t afraid (I was) of a big challenge. Almost three years in advance he signed up for the Marathon des Sables. The book then describes his preparation for the race. Logically, his first ultras came next. First one-day, then multi-day runs through the English countryside. You couldn’t help but feel for his suffering. It didn’t take long (a few dozen pages) and D-Day was here.
The flight to Morocco fell on April Fools’ Day 2011. He didn’t fly alone. Nine other British runners were on the plane with him. This is where the most interesting part of the book begins. Day by day we go through the author’s expectations and the harsh reality. In the book those six days fly by. In reality, though, the kilometres drag on endlessly. Robbins finally finishes the race in 235th place in 40 hours and 40 minutes. That year’s winner ran a time almost half as long. Still, the author left another 576 runners behind him…
What the race roughly involves is best seen in the video below. And if the Sahara has tempted you, at least on paper, read Running to the Edge by Charlie Engle. He ran across the whole Sahara. An incredible 7,000 km…
