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.
Author
Gaël Couturier
Gaël Couturier
Born in France, raised in Mexico, Gaël Couturier has been a sports journalist for over 20 years, traveling mostly in Asia and in the Middle-East. He lived in Venezia, Italy for 4-years and in India for 3-years, where he worked as an editor for an adventure magazine and directed an ultra by the Pakistan border, making friends with young paramilitary and 6-foot cobras. A 4-time UTMB, 7-time Marathon Des Sables, and 17-time Ironman distance triathlon finisher, he now lives in Southern California with his very lazy English bulldogs, Key Lime Pie.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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We met with Marie Sammons, the director of the Ultra-Trail® World Tour, to ask her about the present and future of her organization.
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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.
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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.
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Gaël Couturier, five-time Marathon Des Sables finisher, reports while running the 2018 Marathon Des Sables in the Sahara desert in Morocco.