Marathon Des Sables 2021 - Desert Dad Diary Day 2

Preparation for the start of the race

I awake having had a very uncomfortable night on a threadbare piece of foam, which is apparently designed as a mattress.  I lost count of how many times I woke up during the night chasing my blowup pillow around the tent.

A very bizarre awakening at silly o’clock in the morning, firstly by an unknown man coming into the tent in pitch darkness and removing all the electrical plugs, lights etc.  The lights in the tents only work until Midnight and then all power is cut and you find yourself immersed in complete darkness.

Mistake number one of many, remember, or try to remember where you have packed everything in your bag, as believe me, trying to find anything in the pitch black is extremely tricky!

Today the competitors must register for their race numbers and to have their bags checked and weighed. Various statutory items must be carried such as 200 Euros (which will become apparent at the end of the race), rucksacks must be a minimum of 6.5kg etc etc.

So the day is basically spent in meetings and briefings, most of which is completely irrelevant to how things will unfold in the coming days.  Almost 45 minutes was spent by the Race Director, Patrick Bauer, introducing every single person in the tent.  I suspect as I’m not a regular and am trying to keep myself ‘under the radar’, that I wasn't invited to get up and introduce myself, thank god. Runners are also briefed.

The food has been excellent and everything appears to be working like clockwork so far. Briefings over, it is definitely time for another uncomfortable nights’ sleep, maybe try and have a ‘nature break’ as I have been avoiding this moment for as long as possible. Teeth brushed, onto the mattress and shut eye.