Cormac conquers 'Marathon des Sables' in epic adventure
Earlier this year, Cormac Killeen, a member of Athlone Triathlon Club, travelled to Morocco to begin his most incredible challenge to date, the 'Marathon des Sables'.
A 252km run over six days in the Sahara Desert. A legendary race, where every participant is completely self-sufficient, must carry their food, sleeping gear and items for survival, and battle sandstorms, searing heat, time barriers and various different terrains. With big drop-out rates year on year, this is easily one of the toughest challenges on earth! Here, Cormac from Ballinasloe talks about the adventure of a lifetime.
Q: Massive congratulations on becoming a MDS finisher! So why this challenge?
A: It was a big birthday present to myself. And everyone that knows me, knows I love the hardship.
Q: Can you give us an insight into the training involved?
A: Training didn't go to plan. In late January, a horse came down on my foot and broke my toe. I had to change the training from high volume running to more strength and cross training. I averaged 11-15 hours per week for four months in the lead up the race. I included a lot of walking with a backpack weighing up to 9kgs - it's too hard to run with that sort of weight so fast walking is more efficient and easier on the joints. I also did three days back to back of 20-25k runs with a lighter pack to simulate the race.
Q: Talk to us about race day prep
A: I must have packed, unpacked and repacked my bag 20 times to make sure I had everything in it that I needed, and that it wasn't digging in or causing rubbing anywhere. Everything you need to live on for seven days had to fit into that bag, with no luxuries. I brought a second pair of socks and shorts, an inflatable mat and pillow as I knew from testing, I wouldn't be able to sleep on the ground otherwise. And I didn’t bring a phone, or stove which saved about 250 grams!
Q: Can you tell us about what’s happening as you’re going through the event - a snapshot of that environment
A: The desert is hot, barren and beautiful. Amazing sunrises and sunsets. Temperatures got up to 46 degrees (so we were told), but it’s a different kind of heat. It is so dry. You don’t sweat, you’re dehydrated the whole time, always drinking water and rarely having to go to the bathroom. It got cold the first couple of nights. So cold it would wake you up. I would put on my down jacket and get back into my sleeping bag and get another hour or two of sleep.
Q: What was the biggest challenge you came up against in the event?
A: The long day was the hottest. It took me 17 hours to do 85k. It was the day with the highest DNF rate. My whole body was swelling up dealing with the heat. My legs were getting so sore I had to take off my compression socks to allow my legs to swell. I asked a medic and they said 'that is just your body dealing with the heat'. You just got on with it like everyone else.
Q: What was your inspiration - the driver to keep going when it got tough?
A: “Callus the mind!”. The harder races you do, the more you know that you can do hard things. You’ve done them before! I also thought of people that are no longer with us and how lucky I am to have these experiences.
Q: Tell us something funny that happened in the lead up or during the event
A: I think it was day 5, one of my tent mates disappeared for quite a time! On his return he was quizzed on where he was. He told us that he had got so sick of sitting on the ground the whole time that he had gone down to the toilets just to sit down on a seat for a while. It was a reminder of just how rudimentary our lives had become.
Q: Did you have moments of real doubt and how did you get through them?
A: When I saw the results of the x-ray, realising my second toe was badly broken, and I was two and a half months away from the toughest footrace on earth. I had to give myself a day to absorb the news. I was told no running for 4-6 weeks, but I could still train. So my coach did up a new plan - rowing, cross trainer, bike, and gym work (something I rarely do), and we got to work. I did my first run a month later on a treadmill in Club La Santa and I was surprised to learn I hadn’t lost too much fitness. Though I was slower, I ran 20k two days later, which was a great morale boost.
Q: You’re in close proximity with so many others - with injuries, dropouts, their moments of doubt, their competitiveness, how does that affect the mindset?
A: Those thoughts are never far away! Every day eight of us left our Bivouac (a temporary camp) and every evening there was always the worry that someone wouldn't make it back. This was the second attempt for one lad we shared with. It made for a very special bond among us - and all eight of us made it to the finish line.
Q: In terms of nutrition, what were the go-to items? What worked and what didn’t? And how did you prepare for it?
A: The challenge is to get as many calories into as light a pack as possible.. I got 20,000 calories into 5kgs, and I had one of the lightest packs in my tent at 7.5kg. A lot of nuts, peanut butter, macadamias, cashews, dried mango, cranberries, Clif bars and Clif blocks and Tailwind products made up my race nutrition. I was very happy with my choices, I enjoyed the mix, which kept me eating.
Q: Can you sum up those feelings at the finish?
A: It’s a truly epic adventure. The camaraderie with tent mates was very special, probably similar to those that come back from war. Life was so simple over there; eat, run, sleep, repeat - and yet you had everything you needed.
Q: What’s the next challenge?
A: There is talk of a bunch of us going doing another multi day race in 2026, we'll see. For this year back to triathlon. I have 'The Lost Sheep' (a triathlon event in Kenmare) coming up in September, and am enjoying getting back into training and racing with the club.