Out of Time - Above and Beyond

Photo - Ian Corless

I hope you play ‘Out of Time’ as you read today’s blog, and then again in the future if it grabs you, it will give you a sense of how I feel right now with just 10 days to go until my 15th Marathon des Sables (aka The World’s Toughest Footrace’).

You see I’m not worried, frightened or scared - I'm excited and I’m just feeling privileged to be able once again to go and be part of the annual self-sufficiency phenomenon in the Western Sahara that lures folk from all over the world. Will it be tough? Well of course it will be - that’s the attraction isn’t it? 

One big thing for me is the amount of Sunlight. April in Cardiff and April in Ouarzazate are simply poles apart aren't they - the sheer bloody heat will be a most welcome relief. Once again I'll be enjoying the pure camaraderie amongst the 1000 or so competitors and the seven special people whom I will share the experience with, some for the second and third times (what fools and what endurance) - unless you’ve been there and had the ‘Out of Lifetime’ experience I’m describing you won't understand - maybe you should go next year and find out for yourself. Don’t get me wrong, it sure ain’t easy and it’s not everyone’s cup of 'Sultan Tea' but the itch and lure of the desert has again been far too much for me to miss out on this year.

Who wins and where you finish doesn’t matter, as long as you do - Living the dream in the isolation you’ve spent part of your children’s inheritance on is the name of the game. It's simply life changing, well it has been for me. The positivity it delivers is the value for money your better half will no doubt have questioned about, telling her only half the cost still didn't work did it?

Then again the isolation is worth every penny...

I mean, where in this modern day world of ours do you go to escape. Escape the daily demands that we have all laid upon ourselves. A world without Google - going cold turkey from the internet is a proper killer.

Anyway, each year folk make life-changing decisions in the sand and for a few weeks live life with a fresher, less complicated view. And if I’m being honest it’s probably the part of the MdS that draws me back each year. I love to drink from the races ‘Cup of Simplicity’. It lasts me exactly a year before another pilgrimage to Ouarzazate puts me back on the right path again I've found.

At this stage we are all ‘Out of Time’ when it comes to training and preparation but ‘In Time’ for one of the most ‘Life-Defining’ weeks of our lives, where you will find out where your limit of human endurance really is and how much you value those you love around you.

Make sure you enjoy the whole ‘MdS Experience’ - enjoy it too much and in a few months time you'll be saying 'Again, again, again'.

See you at Gatwick folks :-)

1,014 Marathons - 245 Ultras - 14 Marathon des Sables - 9 Guinness World Records