SIX DAYS IN THE SAHARA: THE HISTORY OF THE MARATHON DES SABLES
In 1984, Patrick Bauer crossed 350 kilometers of Moroccan Sahara alone and unsupported. It took 12 days. He carried a 35-kilogram pack and had no outside contact. By the time he emerged from the desert, he had an idea.
Two years later, Bauer organized the first Marathon des Sables. He brought 23 runners to southern Morocco in April 1986 and sent them across approximately 250 kilometers of sand, dunes, and rock over six stages. Bernard Gaudin won the men's race. Christiane Plumere won the women's.
The Marathon des Sables has run every year since, expanding to over 1,000 starters from more than 50 countries. The 2026 edition, the 40th, is scheduled for April 3 through 13 in the region around Ouarzazate, Morocco.
The Format
The MdS runs six stages over approximately seven days, covering a total distance of around 250 kilometers. Stages vary in length from roughly 30 to 40 kilometers for shorter legs to a single "long stage" of 80 to 90 kilometers that runners typically complete across a full day and night. The 2024 edition featured the longest total distance in the race's history at 252 kilometers.
Runners are self-sufficient for food. Each participant must carry a mandatory minimum of 14,000 calories in their pack along with required survival gear including a compass, anti-venom pump, and signaling mirror. The minimum pack weight is 6.5 kilograms before water. Checkpoint water is provided; everything else comes from the pack.
At night, runners sleep in open Berber tents with their tent group, typically eight runners assigned together at the start of the race. No beds, no insulation beyond what participants carry. Morning temperatures can drop to near-freezing; afternoon highs can exceed 50°C (122°F).
The Ahansal Dynasty
No family has shaped the Marathon des Sables more than the Ahansals of Morocco.
Mohamad Ahansal won the race for the first time in 1995 and accumulated six total victories. His younger brother Lahcen Ahansal won 10 times, including nine consecutive editions from 1997 through 2007. Their combined 16 wins across 12 years constituted the dominant era of the MdS, making the race a near-annual demonstration of Moroccan running capacity on home terrain.
Lahcen's record stood as the most wins by any individual until the 2020s. He was known for using local geographic knowledge to take shortcuts the course permitted — not by cheating the route but by understanding the terrain at a level most competitors did not.
Rachid El Morabity and the Modern Record
Rachid El Morabity, also Moroccan, has surpassed even the Ahansal dynasty. He won his first MdS in 2011 and has accumulated 11 total victories, including in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2024, and 2025. His 2025 winning time was 20:55:47.
El Morabity's record of 11 wins makes him the most successful athlete in Marathon des Sables history. His dominance has spanned 15 years and continues; he is the defending champion entering the 2026 edition.
The women's race has seen more turnover at the top. Simone Kayser won three times (2002, 2004, 2005), Laurence Klein won three times (2007, 2011, 2012), and Elisabet Barnes of Sweden won in 2015 and 2017. In 2024, Aziza El Amrany of Morocco won the women's race. In 2025, Maryline Nakache of France won in 23:57:20, finishing third overall.
The Long Stage
The race's defining feature is the long stage, typically the fourth or fifth of the six legs. At 80 to 90 kilometers, it is longer than two standard marathon distances run back-to-back, across desert terrain in heat, with a loaded pack, after three or four days of prior racing.
Elite runners complete the long stage in roughly eight to ten hours. Mid-pack runners spend 12 to 16 hours on course. Runners who fall too far behind the time cutoffs are pulled from the stage. The long stage produces the highest DNF concentration of any single leg in the race.
The stage is also where the MdS separates itself from stage races that use the term "ultra" loosely. A 90-kilometer day in the Sahara with overnight running, minimal sleep, and a pack that has been on your body for four days is a different thing from most events that carry the same label.
Mauro Prosperi and the 1994 Ordeal
The Marathon des Sables' most famous non-race story belongs to Mauro Prosperi, an Italian pentathlete who entered the 1994 edition and was caught in a sandstorm during stage four.
Prosperi ran off-course in zero-visibility conditions. When the storm cleared, he was alone in the desert with no way to determine his location. He survived by drinking the blood and urine of bats he found in an abandoned mosque, eating scorpions and snakes, and walking in a direction he hoped would lead to civilization.
Nine days after going missing, Prosperi was found by a family of Tuareg nomads in Algeria, approximately 291 kilometers off-course from where he had lost his way. He had lost 15 kilograms of body weight and required 16 liters of intravenous fluid upon rescue. His liver had begun to fail.
Prosperi returned to the Marathon des Sables and eventually finished it. He has described his 1994 ordeal as a "beautiful adventure" in subsequent interviews, a characterization that says something about both the man and the event.
DNF Rates and the Heat Variable
Normal MdS years produce DNF rates of 5 to 10 percent. The race that runs in October 2021, delayed from its traditional April timing by the COVID-19 pandemic, produced a 50 percent DNF rate and one cardiac death. October in the Sahara is hotter than April. The 2023 April edition saw 30 percent of starters fail to finish, driven by an unusual heat spike. The 2024 edition, with temperatures in the mild range of 30 to 33°C, still produced 60 DNFs from 867 starters.
Heat management is the race's primary challenge for most participants. The mandatory gear list includes a distress signal and anti-venom pump. Water allocation at checkpoints is calculated per the expected heat load of each day. Runners who ration incorrectly can run short between checkpoints, which in extreme heat has consequences beyond a bad day.
The Course Terrain
The route changes each year but consistently covers the principal terrain types of the Moroccan Sahara south of the High Atlas. Rocky hamadas (plateaus), erg dunes, dry riverbeds, and small mountain passes appear in varying combinations depending on the edition.
Erg Chebbi, the great sand sea near Merzouga in southeastern Morocco, is one of the most recognizable sections when the course passes through it. Dunes reach 150 meters in height. Running through loose sand at altitude slows pace dramatically and destroys lower legs over multi-day events.
The 2026 route departs from the Ouarzazate region and has not been published in detail at the time of writing, which is standard practice for the race.
Entry and the Global Field
The MdS entry fee in 2025 was approximately €3,190 for European applicants and €3,540 for North American ones. This does not include flights, accommodation, mandatory gear, or food. A realistic total cost for a European entrant runs to €5,000 to €7,000. North American and Asian participants typically spend more.
The cost has not suppressed demand. The race typically fills its quota of approximately 1,000 starters. Participants come from more than 50 countries, with strong representation from the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, and the United States.
The MdS Foundation supports education and sports programs for underprivileged women and children in the Ouarzazate region. Over 30,000 runners have completed the Marathon des Sables across its 39 editions.
The 40th Edition
The 2026 Marathon des Sables runs April 3 through 13. It is the 40th edition of a race that began with 23 starters and one man's desert crossing. Patrick Bauer still directs it.
El Morabity arrives as the defending champion with 11 wins. The field will run the same format: six stages, self-sufficient, 250 kilometers, heat. The long stage will again be the deciding day. The desert will not cooperate with anyone's plan entirely.
The 40th edition marks four decades of racing across the Sahara. See the Marathon des Sables 2026 preview for this year's field.