04/05/2026
This year our very own Liss legend Paul Hawes took on the MARATHON DES SABLES. Here's his story:
The Marathon des Sables 2026 was celebrating its 40th edition so they decided to increase the distance by 20 km’s and cover 270 km, the event not a race in my case is in the Sahara desert over six stages and you are totally self sufficient by carrying all your own food and sleeping kit with you in a back pack.
So one night after I’d retired from work whilst not being under the influence of any alcohol, and after something like a 10 year obsession should I or shouldn’t I, I pressed the button and entered. The following morning I said to my wife, guess what? She said “you’ve entered the Marathon des Sables".
So that started a 10 month journey of research on training, nutrition, heat acclamation, foot care and kit.
Firstly I went to https://i-thrive.uk/ to find out a bit more about how my body would cope and had a Dexa body scan,V2o max and sweat test, hopefully with a bit more information I could begin to understand some of the science behind what I needed in nutrition and hydration.
The Training wasn’t difficult to research it basically meant swapping running for trudging with a weighted back pack of 8kgs covering lots of miles, and nutrition wise I needed to carry about 2700 calories a day in a mix of dried expedition food, macadamia nuts, biltong, flapjacks and my luscious haribos ! Plus 1 and a half litres of Electrolytes and water to be topped up at every check point.
So a couple of weeks before I flew our to Morocco I spent 10 days at Chichester University in there heat acclamation centre an hour every day at 40 plus degree’s, run walking on a tread mill to measure how my body would respond and how much I needed to hydrate and replace the sodium I would lose, it was very interesting to collect the data that I would have other wised guessed and would hopefully help me complete the desert challenge.
So on the 1st April what a fool ! I flew out to Quarzazate via Casablanca to the pick up point where 2 days later, I was bused out on a 6 hour journey to meet my bivouac mates that I would share my next 9 nights with in tent 176. The first night was simply that, then the following day you had to supply an ESG and show you had all the kit that was in the regulation rules and have your back weighed to show you weren’t under a weight advantage and were carrying enough calories a minimum of 2000 to last the 7 days.
The following morning we were woken up by the glow of head lamps, packed up all our kit and walked to the start with all the other 1500 participants from 60 different countries the atmosphere was electric it was still pitch black and then the anthem of a HIGHWAY to HELL blasts out and of you go into the mix of soft sand and rocky terrain.
Each stage distance changes.
Stages 1: 32km 2: 40km 2: 32.5 4&5 100km you have 48 hours to complete. 6: 42.2 7:12.1 km.
So as a Tsunami of yawning ripples over the county! I completed not competed it and as my pack got lighter my energy increased, I didn’t experience any lows just the wonderful experience of having the opportunity of achieving my ten year of should I or shouldn’t I goal. My greatest achievement and my biggest fear was protecting my feet, so I learnt to tape my toes and under strict instructions I didn’t remove the tape unless it needed replacing and also no tummy issues which was another wet wipe triumph.
The six hour bus journey was a fragrant trip with all the competitors lacking a shower over the last 9 days, but the reward of a warm shower and cold beer was worth it.
So thats it another box ticked, so what’s next, OH yes a trip to Tesco’s.
Love Paul
