The Course

The route is not actually known until the the first day of the race, and a great effort is made to keep this a secret. But to give you an idea of the course, the 2003 route followed this structure:

Day 1 - 25 kms

Day 2 - 34 kms

Day 3 - 38 kms

Day 4 - 82 kms

Day 5 - 42 kms

Day 6 - 22 kms

Day 3 is called the 'Dune Day' for obvious reasons and it is notorious for its difficulty. It's 38 kms as the crow flies however when incorporating the dunes, some say it's more like 50 kms.

Day 4 is called the 'Long Day' since most people have to run it over a day and a half, running through the night in order to complete it and will be the most challenging part of the race I imagine.

In most races, you finish when you finish but in the MdS, there is actually a time limit for each leg of the race. This time limit is based on two camels which hold the rear. They stroll along through the course and if you fall behind them, you are disqualified, so there's no slacking!