Three weeks to go until Sahara Race 2017

One of the longest and most arduous ultra-marathons in the world, the Sahara Race 2017, is set to start on 30 April and will take place in the Skeleton Coast National Park.The course traverses through the harsh Namib Desert terrain across a 250 kilometre course, which is divided into six stages held over 7 days. This includes running along the beach through seal colonies, salt pans, across the infamous dunes of the Namib Desert, into dry riverbeds, past deserted oil and diamond mines and across vast open red desert plains and hills.The organisers of the 4 Deserts event had to obtain special permissions to be able to access the Torra Bay area in April and May when it is normally closed to visitors and also to hold the race inside the National Park. Checkpoints are spaced at approximately 10 kilometre intervals with the final checkpoint of the day being the finish line and campsite. At each checkpoint, competitors are supplied with 1,5 litres of water as well as shade and a place to rest. Once all competitors have passed through the checkpoint, it is dismantled. No trace of the checkpoint is left in the desert.A course team works around the clock to mark all 250 kilometres of the course using mostly small pink flags to make the route as visible as possible. At dawn and dusk, when the visibility decreases, glowsticks are used to mark the course. The glowsticks guide the way for competitors offering maximum light while withstanding the heat and other harsh elements of the desert.Catering to the needs of more than 200 people in the Namib Desert and making sure to leave no trace of their presence is an important part of putting on the Sahara Race. Fortunately, the competitors are overwhelmingly attentive to this matter and make this task as easy for the organisers as possible. Competitors are self-supporting and they have to carry all their own equipment and food over the course of the race. Only water and a place in a tent is provided as well as medical and operational support. According to the 4 Deserts website, a system of time penalties is instituted for any competitor seen littering. Sweepers also follow behind the final competitors removing course markers and remaining litter from the ground.The home of the Sahara Race is Egypt, but the organisers of the 4 Deserts event have moved this edition of the race due to the instability and safety concerns in North Africa and the Middle East.Over 40 nationalities are represented in the event and to welcome each competitor, the flag of every competitor's nation is flown at the start and finish lines of each stage. These flags are handmade by a traditional sailmaker, Mr Poon, who lives and works in Hong Kong. He is a master in his trade, having originally been trained to make sails for junks that used to ply the South China Seas.The youngest competitor will be the 21-year-old Munho Cheon from South Korea. The Sahara Race is his first race with the 4 Deserts.The oldest competitor is 69 year-old Tadashi Murakami from Japan. Tadashi is a 4 Deserts club member and he also participated in the Sahara Race in Namibia in 2016.Only two men, Tobias Verwey and Hannes Smit, are representing Namibia at the race. Smit also took on last year's race. The winner is determined by the overall time taken to complete the six stages.

Three weeks to go until Sahara Race 2017

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Three weeks to go until Sahara Race 2017

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