A force of nature; a Jupiterian man blessed with a royal bearing, with a black turban on his head, Volker Voss, 67 years of age, is at his seventh Marathon des Sables, since 2003, all of which he has completed.
Contrary to his appearance, Volker had serious back problems at a young age:  at 22, he was immobilised in a plaster cast going around his whole lower back. The doctors prescribed him all kinds of treatments of lesser or greater intensity, but nothing worked. One day, Volker decided to take things into his own hands and cure himself through sport. An outcry from the medical bodies, but no matter, Volker went for it and actually ceased having problems from that time onwards.
Know thyself, as the proverb says...
As regards running, Volker has only been doing this since the age of 50, but he is discovering a real passion: he has run 100 marathons and 60 ultra marathons.
This year, it’s been a testing start: after three days in a hotel, with no time to adapt to the desert, he suffered on the first stage, which was much longer than normal. He recovered afterwards, and on the evening of the 2nd day is in fine form and things are on the up.
What does he like about the MDS? That feeling of belonging to a family, and the fascination that comes over him each time as he sees to what extent men can achieve things with so little – marvelling at the body and mind’s capacity to perform in extreme situations.
The MDS has also changed his life: Volker, upon his retirement, bought a house near Stuttgart. On his land he is cultivating 150 apple trees which he uses to produce cider and 5 cherry trees for schnapps. He also grows his own vegetables, looks for wood in the forest for fuel... in short, he is really advocating self sufficiency as a way of life. Everything he can do himself, he does, whilst at the same time loving books and the theatre. A simple, but rich life.
He finishes the interview by giving his friendly greeting to all those he has met at the MDS and who, for him, represent a big family.