Stage 5 - 42 km - What about a marathon to finish in beauty?

I would usually feel anxious the night before a marathon, especially if I am not in perfect shape and if everything is not going according to the plan. But everything feels so relative after the long stage of the day before. I know that I will finish today, but I also know it is not going to be easy. I am tired and hungry and my body is hurting everywhere. Today's stage promises to have a challenging ascent (650m d+ ~ 2000 feet up) and lots of sand (10k in the dunes ~ 6 miles). The other extreme difficulty today will be the head wind blowing at 80 km/h (50 miles/h). The good news is that the sand storm announced for the night never came so we all had a rather okay night of sleep. The bad news is that the sand storm is finally coming this morning.

We start a bit earlier than usual around 7am on the start line. My bag is lighter today (about 6 kg ~ 13 pounds) as we only have 2 days left of food and it makes a real difference. The wind is so strong that we cannot even hear the brief before the departure. The start of the race is flat but extremely technical in the rocks and dried oueds. I reach the first check point at 13km in 1h15min, which is probably the fastest pace at which I have been progressing since the beginning of the race.

We now change direction and head towards check point 2 we have an extremely strong head wind - and we are going uphill! The top 200 runners left 1 hours 30 min after the rest of us so I have the pleasure to see the elite runners pass me. Mohamed and Rachid El Morabity (2 brothers that will finish in top and second position) pass me or should I say fly over me. They seem to ignore the wind, the sand and to not feel the weight of their bag. Their pace is impressive.

After check point 2, we start to run in sandy parts and get in some big dunes for 5k (3 miles). Check point 3 is on the top of a hill and I give my last bit of energy running up. Only 10km (6 miles) to go until the end.

We cross a village in ruin and there is only 9k (5 miles) left to run now. I accelerate. I feel good. It is tough but  for unexplained reasons I feel like I could continue like that for hours. I start think about my grand mother who passed away recently and I tell myself I don't have the right to complain given how much she suffered and that I should be blessed to be healthy and in good shape. I accelerate despite the track going up hill and pass many runners. 4km to go and I can now see the finish line. It is a similar rocky and stony field than at the end of last stage, but this time I have wings. We are almost there. I can hear the music of the finish line and I start crying of joy as I run the last 2 km (1.5 mile). It is probably the lack of sleep and the hunger that put me in this emotional state but I feel so blessed to be here and to have completed this amazing challenge. I gave everything on that stage, closing the marathon in 6 hours exactly and in position 410. 

Here we go. The director of the race, the legendary Patrick Bauer, gives me my medal like all other runners as I cross the finish line. My general classification is way above my expectations as I finish in position 415 out of 1100 runners registered. I ran for 40 hours 45 minutes in total whereas the winner Rachid El'Morabity finished everything in 19 hours 15 minutes. More than twice faster than me. There is always room to improve!

The marathon stage in video: