Desert legend, Rachid El Morabity from Morocco, and super-strong Nathalie Mauclair of France, are the winners of the first MDS to take place in Peru. The Marathon des Sables Peru (26 November to 6 December 2017) replicates the original, which takes part in the Moroccan Sahara. It is a 250km race across the Ica desert, 300 km south of Lima, divided into 6 stages. It is semi self-sufficient.
The Ica desert is one of the world’s driest regions with huge dunes and sandy plateau between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes cordillera.
The race for the men’s title had its fair share of drama. During stage 4, Remigio Huaman Quispe (D003-PER), who was second in the general classification failed his bag check. He could not show his compulsory minimum food supplies. He thus received a two-hour penalty, as stipulated in the regulations, relegating him to sixth place in the general classification.
This was a hugely bitter blow for him but sportsmanship reigned supreme and he and Rachid ran the final stage together and crossed the line together holding aloft both the Moroccan and Peruvian flags.
Nathalie Mauclair dominated the women’s race with a huge lead of three and a half hours over Melanie Rousset. She said she found stage 5 hard, “The boys took a fast start. I knew it was going to be difficult, so I held on tight and thought about positive things while watching the birds fly – with the wind blowing in my back, I was almost flying like them.”
After a great week’s racing, this was the final podium.
Men
- Rachid El Morabity (Morocco) – 21:35:55
- Aldo Ramirez (Peru) – 23:39:56
- Erik Clavery (France) – 23:50:45
Women
- Nathalie Mauclair (France) – 25:55:26
- Melanie Rousset (France) – 29:29:59
- Rocio Carrion (Peru) – 32:17:16
