23h57: Nicholas Kennell has just reached check point 5. The night is clear and starry; a godsend for this young Englishman aged 27, whose front lamp isn’t working. A lesson in self-sufficiency, Nicholas will thus be forced to cover the last 25 kilometres by the light of his... mobile phone. Very fortunately, a luminous laser is projected into the sky in order to guide stray runners. A surreal sight in the middle of the Sahara... “What time is it”, asks Nicholas, “it’s my birthday tomorrow” – “three minutes past midnight!” – a hearty embrace and generous laughter is enough to warm up an already relaxed atmosphere: “happy birthday Nicholas!!”. For this last step, the weather seems to have lost any meaning and importance for these extreme runners; from now on, only the satisfaction of crossing the finish line motivates the most foolhardy...