16. March 2026

Journey to Marathon Des Sables 2026 - Deferred until 2027

This is the first, and kind of late post on the new ultrarunner.life website. The plan originally was to detail my training journey, time and sponsorship drop out has led to a different plan. I'm going to create a post for each of the different elements of the training that make up a normal week in preparation for Marathon des Sables. I'm also going to do separate posts about equipment, heat training, nutrition, and the admin required to arrive at the start line.

I was meant to be doing MDS 40th anniversary next week, due to work commitments, family stress, and some health questions (not concerns(, I decided to defer to 2027. This was a two year build, but I'm comfortable with my decision, and my decision alone. I have always been fairly selfish in my pursuits, I hate to admit it, but we need to grow, family and other priorities have come second place....not this time. I made the right decision, I knew it as soon as I received the transfer email, a weight lifted off my shoulders.

The best thing about MDS, other than the sunshine, is the ability to disconnect from work and other life pressures, As soon as you get dropped off by the coach, it is just you, the food and equipment in your pack, and the desert. The company in camp and on course are all like minded, same goal, you live and breath community, running, survival, pain, joy, bodily fluids, it really is life at its purist. To be able to switch off you do need to have a clear mind, being grounded and present in the moment, and comfortable that home is good and will take care of itself, distractions and a busy mind will only lead to a bad experience, and potentially a DNF, something I was not willing to accept.

As horrible as it was, the decision has provided opportunities, work, other races, sponsorship, fundraising, and many other things, a silver lining. MDS as an event allow free transfers up to a week before, my flights could be transferred to a longer holiday with the children in a climate perfect for heat training, and my hotel was free to cancel, all in all, I lost about £400 which I can swallow (literally because a lot of that was on nutrition).

I can use this year to fully document my training process, review my equipment choices, and test my nutrition further, something I had little time to do leading up to this years race.

I hope you find the posts useful and please take a look at the rest of the website to see what services we offer to ultra runners and the surrounding community.