Gaël Couturier

European males have dominated Ultra Trail du Mont-Blanc since day one. Ex-Arizonian, HOKA athlete, and now French resident Jim Walmsley has been trying to change the game since his first attempt at UTMB in 2017, where he finished fifth (he didn’t finish in 2018 or 2021). What can Jim Walmsley do to win UTMB?

Marathon Des Sables (MDS) never shows mercy. I have taken that race for granted a few times and suffered the consequences. There’s always something new to learn. Some of the new things I tried went unexpectedly sideways this year. But hey, it’s all good: I survived and finished. Here is my humble take on a few items.

Instead of gathering in Hong Kong, Vibram Hong Kong 100 runners from across the world were offered an alternative: run it anywhere, on their own course. The rules were straightforward: run the course in Hong Kong without any official support from the race organizers, only if you were a local resident. Or, run and match the distance and elevation from wherever you live. That’s the brilliant part. 

At first, Escape from the Jungle, which will take place in the deep jungle of Belize during February 24–March 7, appeared to be an insanely dangerous event. The first week is called “Jungle Survival Training,” and local guides will follow each runner during the actual race, making sure participants will not…die.

The long stage is the most feared stage of the race. This year, for the 34th anniversary, it was sandy and hot. Not really a day at the beach. 

This is my seventh Marathon des Sables, and it took me three days to write this story. Three days of heat, sand, wind and miles of stony plateau. Three days of acclimatization, digestion really, of what the desert had in store.

The Marathon Des Sables is long (6 stages, 7 days) and exhausting: 155 miles on average each year, with temperatures always in the 90s. The only thing race management gives you is water, more or less, every six miles. All the rest you must carry in your 14-33 pound backpack. Here are my last-minute tips regarding gear for the 34th Marathon Des Sables.

We met with Marie Sammons, the director of the Ultra-Trail® World Tour, to ask her about the present and future of her organization.

This is the last text from the Sahara, my friends, after three days of cruel intensity. Magdalena Boulet won the race easy. She still looks amazing. Most of us survived it, struggling.

The sandstorm happened last night at midnight and was awful. But it also gave birth to the best day we’ve had so far. The Sahara… go figure. 

Gaël Couturier, five-time Marathon Des Sables finisher, reports while running the 2018 Marathon Des Sables in the Sahara desert in Morocco.