It must stop you in your tracks (or finish frying your brain) to be running through the desert when Berber nomads suddenly appear and say, “Very happy tomorrow!”. I imagine it must be even more surprising for Berbers walking their usual deserted routes suddenly to encounter 850 people. So surprising that they try to communicate using the first three – perhaps the only – English words they know, as though meeting aliens.
Meanwhile, among the contestants stand out above all companionship and, rather than competing, the runners encourage and support each other as they cross one of the most hostile natural environments on the planet. Luckily, yesterday was a bit cloudy, which made the race easier for everyone.
Pere tells us this in the email he managed to send from camp yesterday after a first stage of no less than 33 km, including 13 km across Erg Chebbi’s high dunes. He completed it in just 4 hours, 51 minutes and 3 seconds. Madness! Though I suspect his hardest challenge was writing to us on a computer with a “sandproof” keyboard.
The race continues today. At 9 in the morning (11:00 Spanish time), the 38 km second stage began, slightly longer but with fewer dunes. You can follow Pere’s progress on RaceTraker. I cannot take my eyes off the screen!