The eye of the expert
Patrick Bauer, founder and director of MDS, shares his thoughts on the evolution of the course.
«It’s been a very unusual day. When you look at the statistics over the last few years, you see it’s the first time we’ve had this situation: 21 IVs and 8 retirements on the first day. We’ve never seen that before. It was 41°C today but with 18% hygrometry Last year it was hotter (47°C) but the hygrometry level was only 6%. Competitors had trouble hydrating themselves adequately today. I saw very experienced runners, people that have done several MDS, in a real state. The strong winds also meant some competitors got dehydrated. So in view of the situation, we decided to give an extra 1.5 litres of water. We’ll do the same thing again if necessary. Today has shown us that the hygrometry is an important factor in managing your water intake… perhaps as important as the temperature itself.
Tomorrow’s stage is longer (35km) and the organisation will be even more vigilant in checking competitors’ health. The weather forecast is similar to today’s and I hope that runners have understood the importance of managing their water intake . The stage starts off with a good old climb and towards the end they’ll cross a dune section. If the wind blows in the dunes like it did today, we’ll all have our work cut out.