MARATHON DES SABLES PERU 250km (NOV28-DEC4): BIVOUAC ZERO BY GEDIMINAS GRINIUS

 

Marathon des Sables Peru will kick off tomorrow its inaugural edition. After the prerace report with favorites and race data publishd yesterday, follow us on here with the program, favorites and a personal insight from our very own inside the race correspondent, Ultra Trail World Tour 2016 Champion Gediminas Grinius. Tday we share into the first bivouac feelings, anticipating the race to come much like every popular runner.

 

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Bivouac Zero, by Gediminas Grinius. 

Usually for me race starts much earlier than H-hour or gunshot announcing the beginning of the stage and MDS wasn’t the exception at all. It has started way back in Lithuania when I started to put all necessary food and mandatory equipment into Camelbak Octane 16 pack. Sounds silly, but preplanning for 6 days self-sufficiency in the desert requires a lot of effort, even with great pro shared tips on the internet from the past MDS races, as it is so individual that definitely one size hat doesn’t fit all. Moreover, traveling itself is already the race and I was hardly involved in competition with time and jet lag, as spend numerous hours on the planes and busses till managed to reach campsite zero.

In the Zero is easy to notice and distinguish first time entries like me and regular MDS participants like Rashid & Mohamed El Morabities, two brothers famous for their wins at MDS Morocco. Everybody is alike and different at the same time with his or her own agendas and various reasons being in complete wilderness.
Life is simple in the newly established campsite and nothing-similar compare to civilization, which I left few hours ago in Lima. Being here is just coincidence and pure luck, the offer, which I could not resist, in order to discover undiscovered and becoming better version of me.

MDS race road-book is clearly my new bible, as contains all necessary information which structures my daily life for upcoming week. Moreover, it contains first insights on the race course, which was secret up till now and has more than 10 commandments, what I shall and shall not do. Trail religion is strict and cruel, but guess super necessary one to protect the lives of runners and make us as one to survive. However, it punishes runners with time penalties even for the smallest faults, so being absent minded I am already waiting for the first nail on my cross.

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MDS PERU PROGRAMME – 26 NOVEMBER TO 06 DECEMBER 2017

  • 26 NOVEMBER: 10.00 Meeting point at Lima airport. Airport reception from 24 to 26 November: MDS PERU Team – spoken languages: French, English, Spanish, Italian and Chinese. Bus transfer to the 1st bivouac on the legendary Pan-American Highway.
  • 27 NOVEMBER: Technical and medical checks.
  • 28 NOVEMBER to 03 DECEMBER: The race – food self-sufficiency
  • 04 DECEMBER: “Solidarity” stage, timed and qualifying with food self-sufficiency
  • 05 DECEMBER: Free day
  • 06 DECEMBER: Bus transfer to Lima

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Info by Mayayo Oxígeno for Trailrunningspain