Road to
Marathon
des Sables.
250km across the Sahara Desert. Six stages. Self-sufficient. Often called the toughest foot race on earth. April 2028.
The Ultimate Test.
The Marathon des Sables isn’t a race you just turn up to. It’s roughly 250 kilometres across the Sahara Desert, spread over six stages and nine days. You carry everything you need on your back. Food, kit, sleeping gear. The only thing they give you is water and a tent to share with strangers.
Temperatures push past 50 degrees. Sandstorms can wipe out visibility in seconds. The terrain shifts from rocky desert plains to sand dunes to dried-up river beds. It’s been running since 1986 and the reputation hasn’t softened it any.
This is the one I’ve been drawn to for a long time. Not because it’s glamorous. It’s the opposite. Because it strips everything back. No phone, no emails, no distractions. Just you, the desert, and however many kilometres you’ve got left.
Why This.
I’ve met a lot of founders who’ve done the Marathon des Sables. Every single one of them says the same thing. It changes how you think about what you’re capable of. That’s the part that interests me. Not the medal, not the bragging rights. The moment somewhere around day four when your body is telling you to stop and you find out what’s actually underneath.
The hardest things to build are usually internal.
As a founder, you spend years building things externally. Companies, teams, products. The Marathon des Sables is the opposite. There’s nothing to build out there. It’s just about finding out what you’re made of when everything else is stripped away.
The Journey.
April 2028. That’s the target. The MdS Legendary. The original format that’s been running since 1986. Between now and then, there’s a lot of training, preparation, and learning to do. I’ll be documenting the journey here as it unfolds.
If you’ve done the MdS or you’re thinking about it, I’d love to hear from you. Get in touch.
If you’re interested in how endurance challenges shape your thinking, you might also want to read about training for the English Channel or what a 10-day silent Vipassana retreat did to me. I also write about the books that have influenced my approach to challenges like these.