Last updated: 25-Jun-18
It was stage 3 of the Marathon des Sables 2018 in Morocco on Tuesday which means the runners are already half way through this year’s race. The stage was 31.6 km long with a maximum allotted time of 10h30.
Reports from the course say that the weather has been relatively kind over the past few days although the wind has been a bit capricious. For stage 3, the organisers described the run as going “from mountain to mountain”, and the views were certainly spectacular.
In terms of the elite race, the results were consistent with no changes in the top three for either men or women.
Top men and women
- Rachid El Morabity 03:04:01
- Mohamed El Morabity 03:14:36
- Abdelkader El Mouaziz 03:15:16
- Natalia Sedykh 03:28:27
- Magdalena Boulet 03:33:45
- Bouchra Eriksen 03:39:13
But in the women’s competition, two British competitors have been storming forward with Anna Marie Watson and Gemma Game coming in 4th and 5th place.
Natalia Sedykh had this to say after yesterday’s stage:
“The stage was beautiful, with sand, stones, rocks, and a mountain: the true MDS – thank you to the organisers! I climbed the mountain like a monkey, on my four limbs – a rather interesting experience… What about competition? My toughest competitor is myself. I’ll have to surpass myself until the very end.”
The two Morabity brothers are dominating the competition as expected, and watching the finish line today, Rachid rolled up looking as relaxed as if he had just done a quick 5km and then waited for his little brother, Mohammed, who came over the line, knelt down to give thanks and then got up to embrace his brother.
Wednesday, of course, is the start of the long stage – a double marathon that is hated and loved in equal measure. For many, it is the experience of a life time as they run through the night under a desert moon.
Good luck, all!
