The 37th Marathon des Sables will once again challenge the limits of athletes in the Sahara

From April 23 to 29, the 37th Marathon des Sables (MDS) will host more than a thousand participants from all over the world, around fifty Spanish. During the challenge, the adventurers will test themselves to face the complex conditions of the south of Morocco in being sufficient, guided only by their strength to overcome, motivation and the important company of other athletes.

Thousands of athletes have already tested themselves by facing a difficult challenge in the Marathon des Sables, an event where runners face food self-sufficiency and the extreme weather in the Moroccan desert, if where the temperature ranges from 45º during the day and 5 at night.

After the difficult 35th and 36th editions of the MDS, held in October 2021 and April 2022, a new challenge will return, which will again be a real sports investigation for the thousand registered.

He 37th Marathon des Sables It is, like the previous editions, a foot race with 6 stages to be carried out in 7 days, at a free pace, and with food self-sufficiency. Each participant must bring their own backpack with their food and other mandatory materials, including a compass, which will be very useful for them not to get lost between the dunes, even though of grades and having a tour guide delivered the day before. the beginning of the event.

The organization closely follows all its competitors from the race’s mobile camp thanks to the use of SPOT® beacons and, although the path is signposted, if the wind picks up, following the signs can be a quite a complicated task. As a matter of curiosity, it should be noted that the oldest man who will participate in this edition is 81 years old, the oldest woman is 72 years old and the youngest is just 16 years old. There is also the most faithful athlete of the event who will run in the MDS of his 35 Marathon des Sables, in which he failed only 2 times.

Spanish to stand out

Ragna’s Debates The Dutch woman living in Matadepera (Barcelona) is the winner of the 2019 edition. She returns to this 37th edition of the Marathon Des Sables, where it promises to be an amazing race for the runner. Ragna, who has a record within reach of few people, including titles such as IAAF Trail World Champion or Ultras World Cup Champion, returns to this edition in search of repeated success and thus devotes his himself in the desert. In addition, we highlight Albert Gine that MDS managed to finish second among teams in the 34th edition held in 2019.

Favorite athletes to win the 37th edition of MDS

In the men’s category, all eyes are on Rachid El Morabity, a rider who has won the race nine times in recent years and will be looking for his tenth victory in 2023. His younger brother Mohamed El Morabity, who proved to be a formidable rider with Rachid in second place on the podium year -year, Rachid’s main opponent. Besides, Aziz Yachou he proved to be an exceptional sportsman finishing third behind the El Morabity brothers in the last race and is in great form at the moment. It should be noted that this year, led by the French Mathieu Blanchard who will try to break the Moroccan male hegemony in this desert race.

Another favorite is the 37-year-old Russian Anton Samokhalov. Great performance from this runner who has been active on the trail circuit for ten years, with overall sustained and consistent speed, an advantage he will play with in the MDS. the American david kilgore He will also try to win. Originally from Florida, where he used to hunt alligators, he is now a full-time athlete since 2019. David can’t help but joke around, except when he runs. A member of the US ultra trail team, this will be his first MDS.

In the female category, the Dutch resident in Spain Ragna’s Debates he could take the title a second time, thanks to his experience and exceptional skills in ultra-distance races. We should also highlight the Japanese Tomomi Bitoh, who had a series of impressive podium finishes in ultra-distance races on several continents and finished second at MDS 2019. We should not underestimate the 38-year-old Frenchwoman Maryline Nakache. Since 2017, Maryline has won once in every two when she lines up in a race, preferably a 45-100km trail. Winner of the EcoTrail de Paris in 2022. This will be his first MDS.

Notable is the 34-year-old Belgian Olympic athlete with 2h 37′ in the marathon, Manuela Soccol. In terms of ratio, you can hardly do better, 6 wins to 6 ultra tests for Manuela in 3 years. Winner of events such as the 65km Mega Meyboom Trail Brussels or the 102km Tarawera Ultramarathon, among others. Without forgetting that the Belgian represented his country at the 2016 Olympic Games in the marathon, and stood at 10,000 meters and 20 km. This will also be your first MDS.

Another great candidate to lift the title is the Moroccan Aziza El Amrany. In her first MDS outing in 2022, Aziza finished third and could replace her compatriots Touda Didi and Aziza Raji in the coming years. Finally, the 43-year-old British Gemma Game, who was already third in the 2018 and 2019 editions of MDS, was already 4th in 2015. Gemma is back and has a good chance to enter the Top 10 again.