After running a marathon in the Arctic last year, Richelle Turner has now set her sights on a race in the opposite climate – the Sahara Desert.
Richelle, who grew up in Scotts Head and now lives in Fiji, has travelled extensively to run marathons – she has run events on all seven continents, and one in the Arctic.
Held in one of the driest places on Earth, the ultra-marathon (250km) Marathon des Sables would present a host of unique challenges, Richelle said.
“Apart from the fact that it’s hot, and it’s sand and it’s 250km, and I’ve got to carry all my stuff, (another problem) is the food.
“There’s a bit of gym work involved this time (in training for the ultra-marathon), because I’ve got to carry all of my own food and sleeping stuff.”
The race is staged over seven days in March, with runners covering huge distances of between 20km and 80km each day.
Before allowing runners to head out onto the ultra-marathon course, officials will check that each runner carries enough food for all seven days.
“That’s about 2000 calories per day, or 14,000 calories all up.”
Richelle predicted she would be carrying a pack weighing approximately six or seven kilos when she set out.
To keep the pack weight down, runners were suggesting everything from cutting off excess ties or buckles to changing food packaging to lighter alternatives such as ziplock bags.
“So I’m trying to work out what foods have the most calories for the least amount of weight, but also with the right combination of carbohydrates, protein and fat.”
To prepare her pack for the race, Richelle said she was taking any “words of wisdom” on offer, along with internet research and talks with experienced ultra-marathon runners.
Richelle said she was a bit dubious about one ‘elite’ ultra marathon runner’s hot tip for food to take on the trip – potatoes.
“I don’t think I want to eat starchy potatoes for seven days. He said, ‘Use different spices and its like a different meal each night’... but I don’t know.”
Richelle said she was more likely to stick to freeze dried meals.
Due to the distance and physical challenge of the race, runners had to pass an ECG (heart assessment) to prove they were fit enough to run.
The Marathon Des Sables changes each year, with the distance being 240 in 2010 and 250 in 2011. The way the race was organised, runners didn’t know how far they would be going until right before the race.
“They don’t give you the roadbook or map and the exact amount of kilometres until the day before,” Richelle said.
“If it’s any more than 250 (kilometres) I’ll be disappointed – 250 is enough.”
Going off past years, Richelle said she expected to arrive at night after one of the longer 82 kilometre days.
“That requires a bit of navigation as well, which I’m not so sure about.”
Luckily for Richelle, the runners don’t have to carry seven days worth of water – race organisers staged drops at certain points and at the camps at night.
“There’s also a medical team at the camp each night, dealing predominately with blisters. From what I’ve seen, people can get massive blisters because of the heat and the sand, the friction.”
Richelle would be swapping her Arctic snow boots for ‘Gators’, material covers velcroed onto her shoes, that would hopefully keep the sand out.
“It gets down around zero at night – which is another thing you have to consider (in terms of packing), and around 40 in the day.
“We start around 9am each day, so if we’re not finishing at midday, we’ll at least be going through midday.”
Training in areas like her hometown of Scotts Head and her current home of Fiji was helpful because of the sand dunes. Two-thirds of the race in the Sahara was likely to be across sand.
“I guess there’s sandstorms, so if there’s wind, which I’m hoping there isn’t, there’s the possibility of sandstorms.”
There are expected to be 900 contestants in the Marathon des Sables.
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