The Marathon des Sables, one of the longest and toughest races in the world, held in the Moroccan Sahara, will reach its final stage this Friday. After 6 stages and a day of rest on the completion of 250 km. In this 36th edition, of the more than 2,000 registered participants in the race, there are many success stories, but Karim El Hayan stands out among them all.
The young 27-year-old athlete, who won some of the world’s most important ultramarathons barefoot, now wants to be the first runner to reach the finish line of the African race by completing 6 stages without shoes.
On the 30th, Karim was the last rider to cross the finish line on the queen stage of the race. This Friday, if he completes the last 42 km of the sixth stage, he will achieve the record of being the first athlete to finish the Marathon des Sables barefoot for the first time since 1986, when the race began.
Karim’s story began in 1994, when he saw Spain on the horizon from Tangier when he was just 12 years old. At that age he imagined getting under a truck and crossing Algeciras threatening his life. He was accepted by Aldeas Infantiles SOS in San Lorenzo de El Escorial and there he began to become interested in athletics. He started winning competitions until he won the Junior Spanish Cup. Since then Hayani has never stopped running.
In 2015 he ran and won the 100km of the Javelina Jundred, one of the most popular ultra-distance races in the world, in Arizona, with a time of 9:29:14 and in 2017. He also competed in the 50km Coldwater Rumble, in same state in North American, which ended at 4h30: 14. Last year in Québec (Canada) he set the world record for the half marathon running barefoot on ice and snow (1h37: 54) and with a wind chill of 13 degrees below zero.
Now Karim proposed something more difficult because of the extreme brutality of the Saharan trial. He had to prepare thoroughly by doing strength workouts using gym weights and trained with a biomechanist to improve the technique. The sand and rocks in the desert are the hardest but worth the sacrifice if this Friday the young athlete is able to finish the last stage of this difficult journey.
Source: La Verdad
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
