10 things I learned while running the Marathon des Sables (at the age of 75)
Earlier this month, David Exell became the oldest Briton to ever complete the Marathon des Sables, a six-day, 156 mile ultra-marathon in the Sahara Desert. Here, the 75-year-old from Somerset recalls everything he learned on the way
The Marathon des Sables combines an alarming degree of hardship, living conditions that are far worse than even the most rudimentary camping trip, and brutal routes with ridiculously steep jebels. It's an event that deserves the utmost respect – but the message I came away with is that despite its infamous reputation (Sir Ranulph Fiennes called it "more hellish than hell"), the Marathon des Sables is not impossible to complete.
1. Age is no barrier
I have come to the conclusion that the older you are, the greater the benefit from taking part in this type of event. And a big part of that is down to the attitude of the people around you.
I was overwhelmed by the line taken by my middle-aged tent mates, all four of whom I'd never met before. At the end of each stage, when I traipsed in well behind any of them, they'd swoop onto the finish line, remove my rucksack, prop me up against a tent pole, take off my shoes, blow up my sleeping bag, sort out my supper, and generally do just about everything for me except read me an Enid Blyton story as I drifted off to sleep. Then, the next morning, starting from about 6am they would reverse the procedure, collect my water supply, and point me in the general direction of the start-line.
For me, an accountant from Bristol who has spent the last 60 years trying to make enough money to keep up with my friends and never realising that there is a selfless side to my fellow men and women, it was both eye-opening and humbling.
2. It's easy to over-train
When you reach my age, you must let your body dictate the amount of training that you do. Looking back, I believe that I did rather too much, starting eight months ago in August and increasing my distances each month until I was running about 30 miles a week, with an increasingly heavy rucksack on my back.
With three weeks to go I fell over my four-legged training companion and badly sprained an ankle. I may well have pulled out of the race entirely, were it not for the help of a very competent ex-football club physio.
Training should be enjoyable; vary the terrain, and try to include yomping in the Brecon Beacons or somewhere similar for eight hours non-stop, followed by a day’s rest to recover.
And don’t forget: even the faster finishers tend to do more walking than running.
3. A charitable purpose will keep you motivated
This is a must – it will involve far more time and effort than the physical training, but the reward is massive, and it is so important to give something back to society. My chosen charities were Mountain Rescue and Bristol Area Stroke Foundation; you can still donate on my Just Giving page.
4. You spend the day with thoughts of steak
As you have to carry all of your food with you, tasteless dried grub is the order of every day. Although porridge with sultanas and rice pudding were acceptable, I couldn't derive any pleasure from any of the main courses that I tried. I spent a lot of time dreaming about steak and chips, which in reality could easily have been taken as we all had cooking facilities for a decent fry-up.
I got away with consuming far less calories than I was ordered to take, although I did get through quite a lot of energy bars during the day.
5. There's nothing glamorous about the campsite
Conditions in the campsites are worse than basic. No need to take slippers as your running shoes will do, but the mat you lay down on is as coarse as you can get, under a filthy black wool bivouac.
Beware tent mates who have succumbed to sand-fever, which causes all night continuous coughing due to sand in the lungs. Sleepless nights are inevitable – they don't really matter, so long as you get some rest.
6. A runner is only as good as his equipment
Pity the runner who turns up without poles. They're essential for climbing the dunes and the jebels (a bit like climbing Tryfan at 50 degrees)
In terms of clothing, this should be kept to a minimum. I did take a spare T-shirt to change into at night, in case of cold, and I had my favourite old shorts so that I could change out of my compression shorts when in camp.
That being said, your feet can't get too much attention. I wore socks with toes under ordinary socks, and my shoes were one size over normal to allow for a bit of free movement which allayed blisters. I was also liberal with sticky tape, which covered most of my feet other than my toes, and my ankles were protected by gaiters (although at the end of the race every part of me was full of sand).
7. Make friends with the medicine cabinet
Immodium is essential; with the limited amount of clothes in your bag, you don’t want to deal with soiled shorts.
Other medicine depends on personal choice. As it happens I had no need for the quantities of paracetamol nor co-codamol that I carried with me. Bandages and plasters are important, and I was glad to have soap and a towel for a minimum of clean living. Disinfectant wipes were also extremely useful at all times.
9. Approach the Expo with caution
Ahead of the event, runners are invited to an Exposition in London, where stalls are set out and speakers talk on a variety of relevant topics. For the trouble of going along, you get a ‘free’ Ultra rucksack and hundreds of mostly contradictory tips on what to take and what training to do. Nonetheless, the occasion is very beneficial and leads me to advise visiting a specialist retailer who can help you to sort out your rucksack. Likeys in Brecon were saviours for me.
10. The race is only a stepping stone
I personally will refuse to let the grass grow under my feet and ignore the life-enhancing lessons learnt from this experience. Next, I would dearly like to do something either connected to the two charities for which I ran, or simply to try to motivate lethargic people of my generation to rise up and help both themselves and others to greater fulfilment of their lives
