Press release as at 18h on bivouac
Stage 5:
Jebel el Mraïer/Kourci
Dial Zaïd
Distance : 42.2km – 4
check-points
Friday 13 April 2006
Temperature : 28.1°C at 12h
Hygrometry : 20% at 12h
Laser to guide runners from CP3 to
CP4 once night falls
Maximum time allowed: 12 hours
585 runners
at start of this stage, i.e. 146 retirements
Total retirements for this stage à 16h00
: 0
PROVISORY STAGE RANKINGS
Men
1. Lahcen Ahansal (1, Morocco) 3h16m01
2. Salameh Al Aqra (D164, Jordan) 3h26m30
3. Mohamed Redouan (D18, Morocco) 3h30m30
4. Lhoucine Akhdar (369 Morocco) 3h30m47
5. Samir Akhdar (20 Morocco) 3h31m34
Women
1. Touda Didi (D3 Morocco) 4h18m02
2. Géraldine Courdesses (153,
France) 4h34m24
3. Lorena Di Vito (728, Italy) 4h47m02
PROVISORY
GENERAL RANKINGS
Men
1. Lahcen Ahansal (1, Morocco) 16H30m26
2. Salameh Al Aqra (D164, Jordan) at
33m29
3. Abderrahmane Maliki (12 Morocco)
at 1h08m40
4. Mohamad Ahansal (2, Morocco) at
1h26m05
Women
1. Geraldine Couderesses (153, France)
25h24m39
2. Lorena Di Vito (728, Italy) at 1h02m02
3. Alessia Bertolini (714, Italy) at
1h48m00
4. Touda Didi (3, Morocco) at 2h27m25
Teams
1. Comanav 1 (D 1,2,3,745, Morocco)
21h05m51
2. Team Lorans Salomon (D184,185,186,
France) at 3m59
3. Legendre Bretagne 1 (D351,352,353,354
France) at 30m10
Spirits were high and
the pace fast as 585 competitors set
out on the mythic
marathon stage. According to race director
Patrick Bauer « it should
make the experienced marathon runners
happy… with
2 x 10km sections on flat plateau where
they can really express themselves”..
Competitors attacked the 42.2km at
9h05, having clearly benefited from
at least half a day’s rest yesterday:
the result of a shortened stage 4 for
security reasons. Even the weather
was favourable, with temperatures a
good ten degrees cooler than previous
days, and a cool wind rather than sandstorm.
The start of the race was nonetheless
challenging: runners had to cross a
very uneven wadi with tricky passages
over crevasses. At CP1 (km 10.5) Zaid
Abdessadek (29, Morocco) was first
through followed by Salameh Al Aqra
(164 Jordan) and Lhoucine Akhdar (D369,
Morocco) just one minute later. Reigning
champion Lahcen Ahansal (1, Morocco)
was holding back at this stage and
came in fourth. But at CP2 (22.5km)
the flat stoney ground allowed the
champion to take the lead alongside
Al Aqra. They carried on neck and neck
up to the big dune section of Erg Znagui
(km28.5). Ahansal began to break ahead
during those 3kms of dunes and finally
shook off Al Aqra during the plateau
section at km 35.8. Carried by a tail
wind, Ahansal crossed the finish line
in 3h16, 10 minutes ahead of his Jordanian
rival. His brother, Mohamad Ahansal
(one MDS victory) finished in 6th place
in 3h35m. He’s visibly moved
when he says: “I’m paying
the price of poor preparation this
year. Since the Zagora marathon in
February I’ve been so busy working
as a guide, I’ve had no time
to train”.
On the women’s race, Moroccan
Touda Didi (D3) led from start to finish
and carried off the stage in 4h18m.
An excellent performance in which this
experienced marathon runner really
found her stride on her favourite distance,
after a rather disappointing show so
far. The leading female Géraldine
Courdesses conserved her energy and
finished second at 16 minutes; she
keeps over an hour’s lead in
the general and barring accidents is
set to carry off the title.
Not just for the leaders, but right
down the line the pace was faster than
previous days and the vast majority
of competitors have actually run this
stage… By 16h some 340 competitors
had got in and were taking great delight
in doing sprint finishes, dancing,
screaming with relief or shedding a
tear. “It’s done” shouts
Carl Vine (758 GB) as he’s swamped
with hugs and kisses from his tent-mates.
Having got this far, it’ll certainly
take a catastrophe to stop the competitors
from finishing tomorrow’s 11km
stroll in Morocco’s highest dunes!
N.B.:
competitors were allowed double water
rations at check-points.
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