 |
|
|
|
| 06/04/06 | Phil is on his way to Morocco. His race number is 492 the link to the site on which you will be able to track him is www.darbaroud.com/uk/index_uk.php Morocco time is =GMT (BST -1 hour). |
||||||||||||
| 08/04/06 | The race starts tomorrow Sunday 9th. Saraha News has some good information on the race. There will be a route map, press coverage and photos of the race, rankings, weather and other info all on the official site. If you can get the TV channel RTM (Morocco) they are broadcasting two reports per day from 9th to 15th April. If anyone reading this can get the channel can you record any coverage and let me know, thanks. |
||||||||||||
09/04/06 |
Temperature : 41°C (106°F) at 15h - Hygrometry : 14 % at 15h. Weather: Dry and sunny, windstorm early afternoon.
|
||||||||||||
Patrick Bauer, founder and director of MDS, shares his thoughts on the evolution of the course. "It's been a very unusual day. When you look at the statistics over the last few years, you see it's the first time we've had this situation: 21 IVs and 8 retirements on the first day. We've never seen that before. It was 41°C today but with 18% hygrometry Last year it was hotter (47°C) but the hygrometry level was only 6%. Competitors had trouble hydrating themselves adequately today. I saw very experienced runners, people that have done several MDS, in a real state. The strong winds also meant some competitors got dehydrated. So in view of the situation, we decided to give an extra 1.5 litres of water. We'll do the same thing again if necessary. Today has shown us that the hygrometry is an important factor in managing your water intake… perhaps as important as the temperature itself. Tomorrow's stage is longer (35km) and the organisation will be even more vigilant in checking competitors' health. The weather forecast is similar to today's and I hope that runners have understood the importance of managing their water intake . The stage starts off with a good old climb and towards the end they'll cross a dune section. If the wind blows in the dunes like it did today, we'll all have our work cut out." |
|||||||||||||
10/04/06 Monday |
STAGE N°2 Temperature : 42°C (108°F) at 13h - Hygrometry : 15 % at 13h. Of the 719 runners at the start of today's stage, 12 had retired, making 27 retirements over 2 days, at 13h today.
|
||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
11/04/06 Tuesday |
STAGE N°3 Temperature : 39.4°C (103°F) at 13h Phil was 598th out of 719 at the start of today.
|
||||||||||||
Le email |
Hi, Hope qllok with you day one of the race done I have finished , walked qll the way Very hot have hqd to q foir ages to try to send trhis having a night mare with french keyboard Two days of sandstorms so far All the q letters above are a in real life not going too badly i can not say i am really enjoying it : this is going to bemy last email till the end as it takes too long to get in the tent One blister Legs achz very hard in the sand dunes Temp is over forty A lot of people have droped out so far Take care all LOL Dad Philip | ||||||||||||
12/04/06 Wednesday 13/04/06 Thursday |
STAGE N°4 (2 days) MAHARCH / JEBEL EL MRAÏER : 72 Km (44.8 miles), shortened to 57 km (35.4 miles) with 5 check-points. Click on Roadbook4 for details. This is the 'big-one' with two days available to complete it. Temperature : 33°C (91.4°F) at 12h Temperature : 39°C (102°F) at 18h 607 competitors at the start of this stage. Number of retirements during this stage : 24. Total retirements so far: 147
In view of the severe weather conditions which have taken a heavy toll on competitors, the organisation decided to reduce this long stage by 15km. The decision was also made to double the water rations at the first 3 check-points. Note that the vast majority of the race so far is being run in terrible conditions : sandstorms, low visibility, high humidity levels and very high temperatures.Founder and director of MDS, Patrick Bauer, gives his daily impression of how the race is going.« … At the end of the first three days the competitors are exhausted. There's a record number of retirements : 122 for the first three days [less thanb 50 for the whole course last year]. It's due to a combination of high temperatures, strong winds and unusually high hygrometry levels (20% compared to the usual 6%). I also think the competitors are less well prepared this year compared to last. As a result of these factors we reduced the length of today's stage and the level of difficulty involved by scratching the parts with very steep hill climbs and crossing of ergs. |
||||||||||||
| Further email from Phil | Hi all, Hope all is well. Thanks for the e mails, I still can not get this keyboard to work! Well I am still in it had a fright on day three couldn't cope with the heat at all and ended up with having iv at one of the check points but recovered and carried on!! Got in just before the time limit as they would not let me leave the medical tent for a long time: took it very very steady yesterday but completed it in one hit finished approx 0300 they shortened the distance as the weather is apparently bad even for here: I think it is not good and i will never live in a place this hot. The others are all doing well all have blisters and walking in some discomfort but not really bad. Two days to go then should be at hotel, Phil. | ||||||||||||
| 14/04/06 Friday | STAGE N°5
|
||||||||||||
| 15/04/06 Saturday | STAGE N°6 KOURCI DIAL ZAÏD / MERZOUGA : 11,8 km (7.32 miles) 0 checkpoints Click on Roadbook6 for details. Temperature : 34.3C (93.7°F) at 12h
|
||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
| Total race time: | Cumulative times and position (out of 585 finishers) for the six stages ...
|
||||||||||||
For the first time in its 21 year history the MDS ended at the Merzouga dunes – the highest in Morocco. An amazing decor for this final short stage which began with stretch of flat stoney ground and finished with a 3km crossing of beautiful ochre dunes. The 585 competitors set off at 9h05 with clear skies, pleasant temperatures ( 23°C) and a tail wind. Whereas the top runners quickly imposed a rapid pace (15km/h) the vast majority of the runners lived up to their name today and went full out to run the stage. The Moroccan champion Lahcen Ahansal, 9 times winner of MDS, managed to defend his title despite genuine competition, and crossed the finish line in just 43'35". Proudly sporting the Moroccan flag he acknowledged with a smile. « I found the race harder this year…. there was more competition. That put the pressure on and meant I had to manage my efforts more. But it was a good thing. I'm as happy as ever ! » |
|||||||||||||
| 16/04/06 Sunday |
Back home for tea and medals! |
||||||||||||
| 17/04/06 Monday | Arrival back in Bodmin. |
||||||||||||
