This blog aims to have you marching through a checkpoint like a boss while all around you is chaos and people sitting in the shade looking beaten.  There are also a few other hints and tips that I think all Marathon des Sables runners should find useful. This blog was originally written for the MdS Facebook group when I was the admin for it.

This subject will also get you thinking about exactly how to configure your bag for the minimum effort when out on the course. Something you can start testing in Feb and March before you get out there .

It will start with a sharpie pen at camp which you will have brought with you.  Once you get the roadbook mark out on one of your water bottles where all the CPs are in distance each day. You will have spent the last 6 weeks in the UK having switched your GPS watch to Kms from miles so you get used to judging distance that way .

Also mark your water bottle in 100ml sections on one side so its easy to judge the different levels of water you need for your rehydrated meals in the evenings.

If you don’t mark your water bottle with the CP distances in Km each day then you can write them on the inside of your cap visor so all you have to do is look up to see how far to next CP. You can even add bearings through dunes and plains as well if you wish .

I use the Mnemonic WERBSS.  You can write this down on your kit as a reminder too.

The idea of WERBSS is to get you quickly efficiently and properly through a CP without forgetting anything.  It is my belief that unless you are having a major problem with tiredness or heat and need to cool down as a matter of urgency, you should aim to spend 5 mins at a CP and blast through . With an efficient CP regime you can leapfrog 30 competitors at a time who spend long periods of time pfaffing around while you calmly cruise past . I strongly suspect that the average MdS competitor spends more than 20 mins at a CP but thinks they are there for 3 mins.

So you are now 200m in sight of the Checkpoint. You will be funnelled according to your race number. As you approach your 2 front water bottles should now be empty having just finished them. As you get close to the CP drop your salt tablets in them ready for the water.  You will now get one or two bottles of 1.5L . If one bottle simply fill your water bottles on your chest and its job done. If its two 1.5L bottles then fill your chest bottles with the first bottle  and pop salt tabs in the second 1.5L bottle. They will also stamp your water card. make sure it is handy and attached by the cord so you don’t lose it. I found two runners water cards in the desert. Losing it can cost you a race disqualification.

There is a tendency for people to front mount that extra 1.5L bottle and strap to your body. For a plodder this is possible, but for a runner it’ll be a major pain in the arse.  I suggest never doing this. Instead keep that 1.5L bottle in your hand . It’ll drive you mad .It’ll annoy you massively to carry it, and the only way it wont annoy you is to drink the damn thing,  crush it and put it in your mesh part of your bag as rubbish. And that’s the point. Its forced you to drink it.

I witnessed people ARRIVING at CPs with whole 1.5kg bottles of undrunk water. Thats 1.5kgs of weight that served no purpose for that part of the race. There is a fantastic Bedouin phrase I learnt in Egypt ‘ Water is best carried inside you’ .

You have now covered the W part of WERBSS. W is for Water . quick mental check , have you put your salt in , how far to the next CP , how long will that take so roughly how much should I be drink. You’ve now sorted your water. Often forgotten but well worth remembering in an emergency … you can take an extra bottle of water once for a 2 hour time penalty .

E is for energy . You may want to snack something , I ate mainly on the move during the day , you may want to get something out of your pack to eat . Its actually very easy to forget to eat when you are out there, especially if you feel unwell.  Think about your bag configuration while training in the UK. where will my daytime snacks be ? can I reach them without taking the bag off etc etc . If you can munch while you walk through the CP and beyond that’s better than stopping.

R is for rubbish . Think about where you will be storing your food wrappers ( I put mine in my tshirt pocket on my raidlight t shirt) and also where you will store your crunched up used water bottles ( I could reach round and put in the rear mesh of my bag without taking it off). At each CP dump your rubbish . There is a time penalty for littering the course  and there is no point carrying stuff you don’t need. People who have 14kg packs tend to dump unused food at checkpoints, if you are low on food here is the perfect place for some dumpster diving. Look in the bins and around the bins at CPs. People will have discarded unused food to save weight. If you need calories help yourself. Dont be shy.

B is for blisters. Have a mental poke around and ask yourself if you have any hotspots. If you do deal with them immediately BEFORE they become a blister. Tape where necessary and you must must must tape up your feet pre emptively on the day before the race. Prevention is easier than cure.

S is for salt .  Have you taken enough salt? I’m not a fan of the tablets you get given by the organisers. I have NO IDEA what concentration they are . Instead I brought my own dissolveable ones with me from Precision Hydration. That way I know exactly how much salt I’ve taken . DO NOT swallow two salts tabs and take a quick chug of water . You are effectively swallowing high concentration sea water and shocking your kidneys 20 mins later. Instead ALWAYS dissolve ALL salt in your water and take it on steadily.  Make sure your salt tabs are in reach on your bag . Dehydration in the Sahara is due to low salt levels, drinking lots of water will help but not solve the issue.  Once you appreciate its a balance of water AND salt you will be fine. In a zero humidity environment you wont ever feel sweaty BUT YOU WILL BE SWEATING, its simply evaporating very fast. Tunnel vision and dropping blood pressure are signs of low salt , swollen hands can be a sign of taking too much .

The take home message here is that in training you have the time to configure your bag exactly how you want it . Where will your rubbish go ? where will an empty 1.5L bottle go ? where is your food going to be . Taking you bag off for anything out there on the course  is a giant pain in the arse , You should have trekking poles mounted within reach , not in the flare bit at the back where you cant reach them. Kit you cant reach is useless kit. Where are your spare batteries for your torch ? can you change batteries in the dark on your headtorch while walking ?

If you get everything configured right now in Feb and March  there should be almost no need to remove you bag during the day and although these things feel minor I can assure you if you add headwind , sandstorm , dunes , tiredness , darkness and  then  an issue with your kit or something forgotten at a CP it  can make or break you.