The Ultimate Desert Stage Race: Marathon des Sables

Marathon des Sables, French for Marathon of Sands (or MdS for short), is known as the “Toughest Footrace on Earth.” Why? Because it is roughly a 250-kilometer journey in seven days run in the hot sands of the Saharan desert. It is fully self-supported meaning there are no race crews, and you have to carry … Read more

Filippo Rossi: the Globetrotting Ultrarunner

Filippo Rossi is a globetrotting journalist originally from the Swiss-Italian town of Lugano. In the last few years, Filippo has thrown himself around the world, running some of the most prestigious and challenging ultras and stage races in far-flung locales. His medal collection includes Marathon des Sables, Transgrancanaria, Endurance Life Dorset, Ultrabericus, Vulcano Trail and every … Read more

Runner Profile – Sarah Sawyer, Stage Race Extraordinaire

Sarah Sawyer makes no secret of the fact that she loves multi-day races, primarily because they combine two of her favourite pastimes – running and travel. She has completed a number of multi-day stage races around the world, including the Racing the Planet 250km Patagonia in 2017 (1st female), Racing the Planet 250km Ecuador (1st female) … Read more

Meet Tony Brammer, Stage Race Guru and 4 Deserts Checkpoint Captain

Tony Brammer is one of the best-known figures in the world of stage races, particularly the 4 Deserts series, organised by RacingThePlanet. Tony set out to complete a single 4 Deserts race back in 2005, then went on to complete each of the races in the series.  He joined the 4 Deserts Club in 2008. Since … Read more

How To Train For A Stage Race (+ Training Plan)

Stage races (also called multi-stage races) are completely different animals from regular, one-day races.  Be it the Marathon des Sables, a 4 Deserts race or any of the other stage races popping up, you have to be able to run well over several days – which takes a lot of training and conditioning.   Here, … Read more

Marathon Des Sables – An Honest Account From An Under-Prepared Runner

The Marathon Des Sables is a 250km self-supported race across the Sahara desert.

Now with over 1200 entrants each year, the event is the biggest of it’s kind on the planet.

Participants usually train for months to condition their bodies and prepare for the race – but often other commitments and time limitations mean many runners turn up at the start line under-prepared.  James Bowkett gives his first hand account of participating in the Marathon Des Sables, his first ever ultra-marathon, with less preparation than he would’ve liked . . .

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