Stage
n°5: OUEST DU KFIROUN/ERG CHEBBI – 42.2
km
Communiqué n°7 : 30/03/07 at 15h
Stage
n°5 : OUEST DU KFIROUN/ERG CHEBBI – 42.2
km
Number of competitors at start of this stage
: 727
Terrain : 2 crossings of very uneven oued, flat
stony plateau, 3km crossing of erg
Temperature : 42° at 15h
Hygrometry: 13% at 15h
CP (check-points) : 3
Sunny and hot, light winds
STAGE RANKINGS :
Men :
1- Aziz EL AKAD (MOR D26) 3h10’50’’
2- Mohamed AHANSAL (MOR D 3) 3h12’11’’
3- Lahcen AHANSAL (MOR D1) 3h12’35’’
4- Jorge AUBESO MARTINEZ (SP D551) 3h12’36’’
5- Samir AKHDAR (MOR D2) 3h17’15’’
Women:
1- Touda DIDI (MOR D6) 3h 41’30’’
2- Laurence FRICOTTEAUX (FR D347) 3h52’56’’
3- Véronique Matur (FR) 4h05’37’’
Stage
5, the classic marathon stage of 42,2km. Marathon-runners
favourite, allowing them to
mesure their performance and get a good time.
Race begins at 09h15 for the 727 competitors
at the start.
Today’s stage is dedicated to Bernard Julé (D53)
who died on the bivouac yesterday morning. Many
competitors have placed stones where his tent
was. Others have made makeshift black arm-bands
out of plastic bags. At the morning briefing
just before the start, race director Patrick
Bauer asks Bernard’s tent-mates to come
to the front and lead the pack of runners. The
human values at the heart of MARATHON DES SABLES
could not possibly be better represented than
on this day.
A challenging stage with 3kms of dunes
but where the major part is stony piste, allowing
the fast
runners to set a fierce pace. 9 runners lead
the pack, the majority Moroccan: (D4, 26, 5,
3, 314, 1, 2, 551, 505). They go through CP1
(km10, 5) together after 1h 5 minutes. They do
the next 10.5kms on the stony flat plateau between
CP1 and CP2 (KM21) in less than 40 minutes. But
coming out of the magnificent dune zone of erg
Znaïgui (km25) the group has splintered
!
5km before the finish line, on an undulating
valley, Jorge Aubeso (SP D551) goes on the attack.
He imposes a heady pace of 13 to 15 km/h. Champion
Lahcen Ahansal (MOR D1) is content to observe
the fight for first place between Aubeso and
the young Moroccan Aziz EL AKAD (D36).
EL AKAD wins the final sprint with a truly remarkable
performance.. one of very few occasions where
any runner has taken a stage off Lahcen Ahansal.
On the women’s race, Touda DIDI (MOR D6)
is equally remarkable, finishing more than 11
minutes before Laurence Fricotteaux (FR D347),
currently in first place in the general.
Note that Frenchmen Philippe Rémond (D314),
twice French marathon champion, and Lionel Eveno
(D266) got lost after CP3. They mistook a tourist
camp for the bivouac. They finish in 17th and
18th place respectively. Rémond nevertheless
hangs on to his 5th position in the general suggesting
he could have considerably improved his position.
Note also the impressive performance of veteran
MDS competitor Marco Olmo (D400 IT). The 58-year
old finished in 8th place in 3h29’31’’.
Further
down the course, the competitors are crossing the
finish line thick and fast. 300
were through at 15h. Spirits are very high ;
they know the course is as good as finished.
Tomorrow should just be a formality. Some scream
with joy, others shed a tear. Edward Johnson
(D698, GB) speeds over the finish line and is
clearly over the moon, screaming simply “Yes,
yes” before adding on that this is his
first EVER marathon. It probably won’t
be his last. Riadh Chouannine (Tunisia D160)
crumbles in the arms of his partner, who’s
arived on the bivouac today along with sponsors
and competitors’ family and friends. The
bivouac is now peppered with sweet-smelling well-dressed
figures: a reminder that our caravan will be
leaving the desert tomorrow for Ouazarzate.
The competitors have until 21h15 to finish this
stage. The Opera de Paris will be enchanting
all the bivouac this evening with a classical
music concert under the stars… set against
the Merzouga dune. The last magical night in
the desert. |
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