The picture above at the start line from my GoPro moments before we set off! My water bottle (admittedly, untried and tested, mistake number one!), started leaking immediately, but fortunately there weren’t too many more kit malfunctions to come! The starter horn went and we all trotted off on day 1. All bar one of us had very little race experience of any description! There was one competitor who clearly stood out from the rest of us amateurs namely the fantastic and legendary Jordanian ultra runner Salameh El Aqra, whose Marathon des Sables accolades include coming runner up in the 8 times, and winning it in 2012!! It was a real privilege lining up with him on the start line, albeit it did make us feel pretty inadequate and ill prepared! We lined up on the start line on a rather chilly Monday morning at 5am, the beginnings of dawn happening. The longest day was a gruelling 70km stage through soft sand, taking around 10 hours to complete with temperatures reaching around 40 degrees celsius – the stage was set for an unforgettable week!! There were just 7 competitors in total taking part, so it was a really intimate and friendly race, and this for me was without doubt one of the best aspects. It is a 5 day event through the most stunning but unforgiving backdrop. The race is set in the Wadi Rum Desert, a 278 sq mile sun scorched expanse situated in the south-western corner of Jordan, around a 4 hour drive from the capital city Amman. Here is a short video I put together to give you a flavour: After 29 hours and 36 minutes of running over 5 days, I crossed the finish line in second place with the most enormous smile on my face having had one of the best experiences of my life!! It was so totally worth the training, pain, expense, time and commitment. I was lucky enough to take part in the first ever 242 km Wadi Rum Ultra-marathon in September 2016.
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