Morocco part III - Running in Zagora

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Zagora Extreme Marathon (and half marathon)

In the last couple of years we have attended a few half marathon races abroad. We have run races in Berlin, Bratislava, Barcelona and San Jose. When we were making plans for this journey we found out that there was a race in the town Zagora in the days we were in Morocco. We decided to go to Zagora and make this race a part of our trip.

The race is called Zagora Extreme Marathon and is different from all other races we have run because it is off road or trail. We had the option of running either a full marathon or a half marathon. We decided to run the shorter distance and that was good choice because the full marathon really owns up to its name extreme marathon.

It is not a coincident that the race is a trail race rather than a road race. The race is organised by two brothers, Lahcen and Mohammed Ahansal. Each year in the Sahara Desert in Morocco an ultra marathon race called Marathon des Sables takes place. Participants in Marathon des Sables run the equivalent of six full length marathons in six days. The combination of the heat, the distance and the soft sand of the desert makes that race one of the toughest in the world. Mohammed Ahansal has won Marathon des Sables four times and Lahcen has won it 10 times. So the Ahansal brothers enjoy running in the desert and then it is no wonder that their own race is also in the desert.

Zagora was once right on the edge of the Sahara desert and a trading route went from Zagora across the Sahara desert to Timbuktu in Mali. The distance between the two cities was measured in how many days it took for a camel to walk it and that was 52.

As we have already said, the race was all trail and it was in the desert. The surface we ran on alternated between hard soil, dirt road and soft sand. Twice we also had to cross a river by jumping between rocks.

The trail passed through two or three small villages. The houses in these villages were built from clay and mud and the roads to these villages were in such bad condition that only four-wheel drive vehicles could drive on them.

Twice during the race we passed carcasses of animals that had died in the desert. We could not identify what animals they were and we have no idea how they died.

In the end of December each year there is a traditional social running event in our hometown. This event, known as the Last Long Run of the Year, is not a race it is training. Everybody who attend run together and the only aim is to run a longer than usual distance in good company. One tradition during the Last Long Run of the Year is to eat Santa Claus sweets. Since we were in Morocco in the end of December we could not attend the Last Long Run of the Year. But we brought our own Santa Claus sweets along during the race.

We are not going to tell you our results. It was never in the plans to actually race, we only wanted to participate. We took time to take photos and enjoy the scenery. We can admit that it was the slowesthalf marathon we have ever run but at 23 km it was also the longest half marathon we have run.

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Photos

Timbuktu 52 days
Zagora was once right on the edge of the Sahara desert and a trading route went from Zagora across the Sahara desert to Timbuktu in Mali. The distance between the two cities was measured in how many days it took for a camel to walk it and that was 52.

Dirt road
The race was all trail

Rocks and loose sand
Occationally we had to run where there was to track at all

Soft sand
Here the race track is on soft sand

Ake and one other competitor
There were less than 1.000 competitors in the race

Hard soil
The race was all trail. Here it is hard soil which was quite good to run on

Hard soil
The race was all trail. Here it is hard soil which was quite good to run on. We had to be careful with the rocks though. If you step on one of them and twist the ankle the race is over

River crossing
Here, near the river crossing, we had to walk. Running as out of the question because of all the rocks

River crossing
Twice we also had to cross a river by jumping between rocks.

Dirt road
The race was all trail. Here we are running on a dirt road

Village
The trail passed through two or three small villages. The houses in these villages were built from clay and mud and the roads to these villages were in such bad condition that only four-wheel drive vehicles could drive on them.

Tea break
This man stood beside the road and served tea to anyone who wanted to have a cup

Hard soil
Before going to Morocco we had been running quite a lot in soft snow. Thanks to that the hard soil we ran on here was not a problem

Carcass
Twice during the race we passed carcasses of animals that had died in the desert.

Dirt road
From here we could see the edge of Zagora.

The second river crossing
This is not the entire river.

Emma and map
Map showing where we ran.

the Ahansal brothers
Mohammed Ahansal is to the far left and Lahcen Ahansal is to the far right.

Santa Claus sweet
It is tradition to eat these during the Last Long Run of the Year at home. We could not attend that event since we were in Morocco but we brought our own sweets

Santa Claus sweet
Of course we had the sweets with us during the race

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

We love Morocco
Very cool experience. Thank you for sharing. It makes sense they measured the travel in days....wow, 52.

[Harvey F.]

Zagora
Great photos and commentary about the race. I passed through Zagora in 1994. That big Timbuctou sign was up there at that time. Instead of 52 days, it took me 14 years before I followed up with a journey to Timbuktu.

[Dancing Dave]

TIME OUT
What better way to travel in Morocco than to run...run in a half marathon in the desert...yeh...way to go. Nice to see you allowed yourself time for refreshment...a water stop with a difference. Brilliant!

[Svante Kellner]

Nu är det dags
Nu är det dags åke att skriva en bok tycker jag. Det finns så många människor, framförallt de som seglar eller gör någon annan stor bedrift genom att typ segla jorden runt. Med alla de resor och bilder som du och Emma har tagit så borde det väl räcka till en diger resehandbok. Snart är det Påsk. Glad Påsk och Påsklov hälsar. Svante Kellner

[D MJ Binkley]

Great job
Bravo on the marathon. A tea break is a good idea.