21st Marathon des Sables 2006

We made the 21st Marathon des Sables!

We made all 212km of the 2006 Marathon des Sables over the Sahara Desert in Africa.

Both of us would like to give a massive THANK YOU to all who have given so generously to CLIC Sargent - we have so far raised £13,893.29 which is awesome, especially as our target was £10,000.

You can see our sponsorship page which shows peoples donations and their supporting comments on the Just Giving web site by visiting: www.justgiving.com/jameselson.

We would also like to thank all our sponsors for all the help and support they have given us.

Marathon des Sables lives up to its reputation: the most difficult race in the world
During the press conference with journalists from all over the world and the champion of this edition Lahcen Ahansal, race director Patrick Bauer looked back on this great but very difficult edition.

With 731 at the start, from 32 countries, 585 finished the race i.e. 146 pulled out. Bauer explained that this unusually high level was due largely to extreme weather conditions as from day one: high temperatures (up to 42°C), sandstorms and very high hygrometry levels (up to 35%).

"Nature took over. you realise how small you are compared to the elements. In these conditions what counts is having good mental and physical preparation. We saw that some competitors weren't as well prepared as other years. The majority however did manage their course well and I take my hat off to them." - Patrick Bauer.