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MDS2006 /© Pierre-Emmanuel
Rastoin |
Antonio Mazzei (62),
France
Just a country boy
It’s all a bit of a revelation
for Antonio, living life at 100 miles
an hour for the last few days. He went
to Paris for the first time in his
life last week. There, he took the
plane for the first time and landed
in a foreign country… for the
first time. He discovered a bivouac
with 730 competitors, in other words
five times as many as the inhabitants
in his village. Antonio lives in Boyer,
in the Loire region of France where
he earns his living painting cranes.
He defines himself as a “country
boy” living an extraordinary
adventure. His tent-mates tease him
constantly but he just responds with
a smile. He used to be fat and his
good humour is contagious. But he was
nevertheless a bit nervous when having
his photo taken : « you know
my wife isn’t aware I’ve
shaved my head. She’ll be surprised.
The rest of the village too, in fact ».
Will the village be surprised or not
? Who knows. But it has every reason
to be proud of Antonio. |
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MDS2006 /© Pierre-Emmanuel
Rastoin |
Kira Matukaitis (301),
United States
A touch of glamour on the pistes
There’s no doubt Kira is the
star of tent 64 and quite possibly
further afield. Understandable perhaps
given her winning smile and constant
good humour, not to mention make-up.
Her tent-mates explain how she breaks
hearts each evening with her seductive
dance number, not to mention the one
where she does her lap-dancing around
the tent poles. Of course it’s
all a joke. And she takes it well.
Only when she talks about what is really
motivating her course does she get
serious: « I used to be fat,
I got teased a lot at school. In particular
Jonathan White … he was really
mean. Remember his name. I started
running to get my own back on him.
I was determined not to be an ordinary
girl”. Rest assured, this is
no ordinary woman for sure…
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| A
family affair - Stage 2 |
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MDS2006
/© Pierre-Emmanuel Rastoin |
The whole Kayser
family is running together. There’s
Mum and Dad Kayser plus the two
girls Anne et Lis. They’ll
be sharing their experience of
the race with us every day.
Simone Kayser (5 participations,
3 times winner of women’s
race) : « I had a hypoglycemia
attack after CP2. I fainted and
waited 45 minutes for the doctors
to arrive. It was Patrick that
arrived first. Then they gave me
an IV drip and I was able to take
off again. As from tomorrow I’m
going to walk with my daughters,
I’ll forget about the rankings… but
continue nonetheless.”
Mark Kayser (5 participations) : «I sensed my wife was going to faint.
She didn’t eat last night, she can no longer stand freeze-dried food.
I stayed with her until help arrived. You don’t abandon your wife in
the middle of the desert.. I mean what would they say back in Luxembourg? …”
Ann (age 24, 1st MDS) : « It’s the first time ever we’ve
had to wait for mum rather than the other way around. I feel fine apart from
one horrible blister”
Lis (age 23, 1st MDS) : “It was very hard, with the heat, but beautiful
at the same time. In fact it’s rather extra-terrestrial. I really paid
attention to make sure I didn’t dehydrate… we saw so many cases
on the race today. I drank precisely every five minutes.” |
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Results 6 are available
(last update 15/04/06 - 22h50
french time)
number of dropping out (stage 6) : 0 |
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June 2005 : opening date for application.
31 july 2005 : application deadline.
28 february 2006 : closing date for fees.
07 april 2006 : departure* France/Morocco, transfer to first bivouac.
08 april 2006 : technical and administrative checks,
acclimatisation day.
09 - 15 april 2006 : the event.
16 april 2006 : transfer, dinner and night at hotel, relaxation,
lunch (at participants’expense), awards, entertainment,
dinner, night at hotel.
18 april 2006 : return* to France.
* those not taking the charter flight to and from France are required to book
their own flight arrangements. Contact your country representative for further
details.
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