Temperature at 12h00 : 41.8°c – 9% d’hygrometrie
6 checkpoints (CP) (km 9.5 - 22 - 33 – 44 -55 - 65).
749 competitors at the start

General rankings at the end of stage 3
Men
1. Lahcen Ahansal (Morocco 1) 08h18m58 – average 12.93 km/h
2. Mohammed Ahansal (Morocco 2) at 2m43 – average 12.86 km/h
3. Lhoucine Akhdar (Morocco 5) at 54m23 – average 11.66 km/h
4. Mustapha Ait Amar (Morocco – 4) at 1h12m11 – average 11. 29 km/h
5. Marco Gozzano (Italy – 489) at 1h17m10 – average 11. 20 km/h
Women
1. Simone Keyser Diederich (Luxembourg - 785) 12h38m12 – average 8.51 km/h
2. Virginie Thevenot (France - 190) à 17m – average 8.31 km/h
3. Sophie Satrin (France – 9) 1h38 – average 7.53 km/h
4. Emiko Maeda (Japan – 435) 1h42 – average 7.49km/h
5. Chantal Langlace (France – 269) 1h56 – average 7.38km/h

Stage 4 rankings not yet available , light sticks distributed at CP3
Cut-off time for reaching CP4 – 1 a.m. (16 hours)
Time limit for the stage : 34 hours
At 13h, first 5 runners from second group (starting time 12h00) catch up with last ones of the first group (starting time 9h15).

The ultimate test on the Marathon des Sables. The 76 kms pose a challenge for both runners and organisation alike. As usual, the competitors are separated into two groups for this stage : the top 50 men in the general rankings plus the top 5 women (group 2) set off around 3 hours after all the others (group 1). This allows all the competitors to discover the joys of running at night as well as limiting the time difference between the strongest and the slowest. Some group 1 runners like Didier Gache (N°335) get the thrilling and unique experience of leading the race, at least for a few kilometres. « It’s fantastic to be able to run at the front like that. But I think I went a bit too far.. I’m an hour ahead of my timing. I’ll have to calm down from now on ».
Just 15kms into the race and the leaders of the second group overtake the last ones of the first group. For many runners this will be their one and only chance of admiring the stunning pace of these top performers.
The time limit for completing this long stage is 34 hours during which time runners have to pace themselves well over such a long distance. They have to reach CP4 before one in the morning and can then either sleep over in one of two check-points or continue straight through. At CP3 they’ll be given light sticks so they can be easily spotted and followed by the organisation during the night. A laser will be projected from CP 4 back to CP5 to guide them. This concerns the vast majority of the runners for whom this will be a long long night with all the complexity and magic you’d expect.