FREDDIE MAHER
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upon arriving at the hotel and washing properly for the first time in nine days. Although I still had sand in my ears and hair a week on... There were celebrations for all participants across 60 different countries that night and these went on into the following morning. How long did it take you to recover physically? Physically, I wasn't too bad – quite a few of the lads in the tent fell quite ill a week or so after, I think the malnutrition, extreme exhaustion and lack of water and sleep clearly crept up on us – but luckily, I felt okay all things considered. I spoke to my physio, and he told me not to run for two weeks after the race. However the day I got back, I decided to take the day off work. By lunchtime, I was going stir-crazy sitting at home and couldn’t resist the urge to get out. Before I knew it, I was running 5km, which in hindsight was utterly ridiculous. Mentally though it took longer; there was a real sense of post- race blues and adjusting back to ‘real life’. Everything about the race is stripped back to basics, and there is a wonderful sense of liberation when all you have to worry about is running, drinking, fuelling and sleeping! None of the stress of ‘real life’, no worries about work, and no phones or social media. Having had an opportunity to reflect over the summer, I think the race has given me a real resilience mentally. What are you planning to do next? I certainly want to have another go at the London Marathon and preferably get round without the pit stop in an ambulance! After that? I am definitely looking at running an ultra-marathon of 100 miles or so, and there is always the appeal of an Ironman at some point. I haven’t discounted rowing the Atlantic… That’s for the future, but for now, I'm just trying to enjoy having a few holidays without having running on my mind every second of the day!
handed out ice-cold cans of Coca-Cola for everyone to enjoy. I had been carrying two mini bottles of Johnny Walker whiskey throughout the race, and I shared them with my tent mates by mixing them into our Coke cans. It was a truly special moment that brought us all together. Stage 4 Stage 4 was another brutal day, testing our endurance over another marathon distance route. It began like every other stage – we would wake up at about 5am, eat our breakfast, which had been rehydrating overnight, and then treat our blisters and strap up our feet for the day ahead. I found this day incredibly tough (maybe it was the whiskey); the terrain made it anything but straightforward and because I was in a top 150 position I started an hour later, which meant it was even hotter when I was running. This stage featured a punishing climb over the rocky Jebel Tafeguenat, a steep mountain where the footing was slippery, and the wind whipped fiercely near the summit. It was a gruelling climb, but the sweeping desert views from the top were unforgettable. After the Jebel, the terrain transitioned into endless dunes, where every step felt like pushing against quicksand. By this point, the cumulative fatigue was evident in all the competitors. You meet some amazing people with incredible stories along the way, and this helps the time go slightly quicker and the pain dissipate At 31km, Stage 5 was another typical day in the Marathon des Sables. While it wasn’t the longest stage, it was still challenging due to its steep dunes and technical sections. The dunes were relentless, requiring bursts of power to climb each crest, followed by the exhilarating descent on the other side, where you could almost ‘ski’ down the shifting sand. I embraced the opportunity to push myself on, feeling stronger with each stage. My strategy of conserving energy early on seemed to be paying off, and I managed to finish in 39th place overall. Stage 6: The final stage Whatever everyone was feeling physically – the aches, blisters, and exhaustion – mentally they were in a happy place. The finishing line was within touching distance with a mere 21km to go. I ran it with John the Scotsman who was sharing my tent; he really pushed me on that day and I finished in just under two hours. Crossing the finishing line was an unbelievable experience. It was the culmination of months of hard work for everyone; there were a lot of tears and people were getting very emotional. In the end, I finished 37th out of the 900 starters. I was so pleased – after all it was an event I had at one point simply wanted to finish. The six-hour journey back to Ouarzazate was horrible and I mean horrible (we joked it was the 7th and hardest stage). Your body is already in pieces and then the coach throws you around like a rag doll. However, all is forgotten a little. Stage 5
rocky plains, with sharp underfoot conditions testing every step. The midday sun was unforgiving, soaring above 40°C, and the heat radiating off the rocks made the atmosphere feel even more oppressive. The dunes we encountered were steeper and longer than in Stage 1, requiring both mental and physical endurance to conquer. Apart from the sheer difficulty of running on shifting sand, you learn to be pragmatic in how to approach each obstacle in the desert, you start to be able to ‘read the sand’, knowing which bits to run on and which bits might swallow your foot. By the time I crossed the finishing line after nearly six hours, I was exhausted but thrilled to have climbed up the leaderboard, sitting in 77th place overall. Stage 3: The Long Stage The third ‘long’ stage was a mighty 85km and while the better runners managed to finish in daylight there were many who were still running through the night. This stage was incredibly challenging; it took me 12 and a half hours, which I was delighted with. Although, to put my effort into context, the fastest man ran it in an incredible time of 7hrs 37min and the quickest woman was 10hrs 46min! These are elite Moroccan runners, who take part (and win!) almost every year. Most of them have grown up in the desert, so they are acclimatized to the heat and the way the sand feels under their feet. Watching them run up the dunes without a struggle was a remarkable thing to witness. I managed to run with two of the guys from my tent for the first 50km who were both in the top 50. They really helped push me on and although they pulled away later in the day, I was only half an hour behind them at the finish. Once they moved away, I soon realised that I couldn't see anyone or anything in front or behind me. I was completely on my own. At one point I was singing to myself and if I am honest going slightly mad! I had made a conscious decision not to use headphones because I wanted to take in everything around me, I had trained in London with no music too, but I found it easier to reach a meditative state in the desert, just focusing on my heart rate and breathing. Every stage’s finish is like a party – there is music playing and everyone has their name called out as they cross the line. For this long stage, people were finishing throughout the night so the bivouac ‘enjoyed’ cheesy hits all night. Our tent was right next to the finishing line, and I probably got about three hours of sleep (I think they turned the music down from about 3am to 5am!). Rest day While many found themselves still reaching the finishing line of the long stage deep into the second day, I effectively had an extra rest day before Stage 4 began. This gave me a good opportunity to give my legs a rest. The most memorable moment of the day was when the final competitor crossed the finishing line after approximately 30 hours. To celebrate, the organisers
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