Running the sahara how many miles

Each runner brought his own unique story and motivations, but all unite around a love for Africa and a profound desire to prove that the impossible is possible. The film is an up-close, character-driven documentary that delves deep into the culture of the Sahara through the eyes of three individuals undergoing a life-altering experience.

Through the eyes of our runners, we come to understand the realities of Africa - the beauty and the tragedy inherent in everyday life. This reality is underscored by the recurring theme of water - a daily necessity for our runners and a daily struggle for many of the people they encounter. The cast encountered many locals who spend two and half hours per day, every day, finding and cleaning their water for that day.

Sprawling over 3. At the same time, it may well be the most unforgiving place on earth -- the daytime heat and the freezing temperatures at night can suck the life from a body in an instant.

The team accomplished running for days and over miles. This is the story of what happened along the way. Did you know Edit. Connections Edited into Fino alla fine del mondo: Running the Sahara User reviews 6 Review. In pictures: Marathon des Sables — Runners also have to brave the freezing nights in Sahara, a sharp contrast to the sweltering daytime temperatures. In pictures: Marathon des Sables — Competitors receive feet treatment at the end of a long stage.

Putting the race together requires a plethora of resources, including , liters of mineral water, 6. In pictures: Marathon des Sables — The race was first held in with the participation of 23 pioneering runners. Today, it has grown into a major endurance event with fans worldwide.

Story highlights The 28th edition of the Marathon des Sables began Sunday 1, runners will cover more than kilometers in six stages The epic race is billed as the toughest footrace on Earth It has to be entered several years in advance. It may sound like insanity, but it's exactly what daring men and women of all ages have chosen to do by taking part in this year's iconic Marathon des Sables MDS.

Over the next few days, the grueling adventure will challenge participants -- the oldest aged 76 -- to test their bodies and minds as they take on whipping sandstorms and blazing temperatures of up to 50C in their epic journey across the desert. To toughen the ordeal, competitors are required to carry all their equipment for the duration of the ultra-marathon -- from food and sleeping gear to an anti-venom pump and glow sticks.

Three runners have died in the 28 years the race has been taking place. Read More. There is even a spiritual dimension, a quest for answers to what are at times very personal questions," he adds. It weighed almost nothing, but it would help me sleep. I may only have clip-on gaiters, but I had a pillow. There were only about 75 runners in total and the field soon began to spread out. For the first hour we made our way along a flat, sandy plain until, after the first water stop, the route headed up into the sand dunes.

Here the sand was soft, sloping, wind-blown. It was difficult to walk through it, let alone run. These were the dunes of Tintin books, made of the fine sand that finds its way into your shoes no matter how tight your gaiters are fixed.

And mine were not tightly fixed at all. I struggled on, sinking with each heavy step, getting slower and slower. I kept expecting the more experienced runners to come by me, but no one appeared. They must have been having similar difficulties. With relief, after a few hours of trudging and cursing, we rolled down one long final dune and on to a flat section to the finish. But it had been a tougher first day than I had expected. I somehow convinced myself, sitting in the Berber-style tents in the camp that afternoon, that they had sent us through the dunes on the first day to give us a sample of what it was like, to get things off to a crazy start, but that the rest of the race would be mostly on the promised hard-baked earth that ran here and there between the dunes.

It must have been what everyone else was thinking too, because at about 4 pm a cry went up around the camp. What was it? People were pointing, coming out of their tents, shaking their heads. On top of the highest dune opposite, sat the first course marker for the next stage. We were going to have to start Day Two by running straight up there. And so it went. Each day I was sure that was it, that the next day we would get some respite.

But each day was harder than the last; the endless sand, the heat squeezing the life out of me. I got moments of energy, of inspiration. On Day Four I realized I was ranked in the top 20 and, suddenly inspired to compete, I decided to try to do the whole stage without walking. It almost worked. Rather than walk, when the sand got really soft I just slowed to a pitter-patter shuffle.

It was slow, but easier and quicker than walking. Less sinking in. As the dunes rolled, I rolled with them. I was getting this. I finished Day Four with a fist pump and went to sit among the fastest runners, waiting for the others to complete their weary way.

The good thing about running faster was that you spent less time out in the stranglehold of the heat. It was, in some ways, easier to go faster. And the next day, the organizers told us, the course would be flatter and the sand would be firmer. I could even picture it in my head, a firm road to the finish. I was going to cruise this. Day Five was the longest stage of the race—exactly a marathon—and was to be run mostly at night.

The top 20 runners were to start two hours after everyone else. That afternoon we all gathered around and they did a roll call, reading out the names of the top I was on it, number Tough guy Finn. I tried not to look too chuffed with myself as we went back to our tents. A film crew followed them, chronicling the desert journey for actor Matt Damon's production company, LivePlanet. Damon plans to narrate the "Running the Sahara" documentary.

The trek is one of extremes. The relentless sun can push temperatures above degrees Fahrenheit during the day, but at night it sometimes dips below freezing. Strong winds can abruptly send sand swooping in every direction, making it difficult to see and breathe. Running through turbulent conditions is nothing new for these athletes who have traveled the world competing in adventure races.