The sand is settling, the 2025 and 39th edition of Marathon des Sables The Legendary is over.
Quite simply, a hugely successful edition with 95% completion rate and good time vibes felt throughout the Sahara and beyond.
OVERVIEW
The transition from 2023 to 2024 was not an easy one. The take over of MDS from Patrick Bauer and into the hands of Cyril and Olivier had created some concern and anxiety. Most certainly, the build up to the 2024 (38th) MDS had many concerns for participants that were vocalised on social media. However, after the 2024 event, all these worries and concerns were extinguished with an incredibly successful event and high finish rate. You Can read Marathon des Sables – The Legendary : 2024 Summary HERE should you wish.
From May 2024 to April 2025 the build up to the 39th Legendary edition was seamless. The successful running and completion of MDS (3-stages over 4-days at 70/100 or 120km) events in Cappadocia, Fuerteventura, Jordan, Morocco, Atlantic Coast and the introduction of Trek and Handi only confirmed the growth, development, upward learning curve and the MDS team bonding and progression.
All of the concerns and worries for the 38th edition of Legendary played out on social media were not present for the 39th edition. There is a couple of reasons for this I believe:
- The 38th edition had been a huge success and therefore worries and concerns were answered.
- The pro-active communication from the MDS team improved considerably.
- Runner testimonies from the 2024 event confirmed that the ‘new’ MDS team and the changes made were all positive.
- Evolution, not revolution was the quote that Cyril Gauthier had used in 2023 this was played out in 2024 and then consolidated upon in 2025.
THE 2025 EVENT
Post-race questionnaires are extremely important for the MDS team. Cyril and Olivier very much take all the comments, absorb them, digest them and then move forward with new plans. If a new plan does not work and the participants confirm this, then it is changed. If a new plan works, it is retained. There are no one-stop easy solutions, MDS is an ever-growing and ever-changing event that must constantly be a chameleon to the ever-changing demands and needs of participants.
TRAVEL
A key change for 2025 was in transportation. Two key points:
- The core MDS team, based mostly in Paris, travelled to Morocco via train, boat and coach, taking 3-days and not using airplane travel. For 2025, this was a one way journey, a test, to see how feasible and practical this form of travel is. The general consensus from those who did it is/ was extremely positive. General comments were around this being an adventure in its own right, a brilliant opportunity to share more time with colleagues, a great opportunity to work while travelling and so on… I think we may well see this grow into something bigger for 2026!
- In 2024, plane travel arranged by the MDS organisation was reduced to a minimum. For 2025 it was eradicated all together. Therefore, participants could no longer take the option of a MDS charter plane but had to arrange flights themselves. This is no big deal with so many flight options available, especially with MDS offering a free transfer coach service from Marrakech to Ouarzazate and post-race, a free transfer service back to Marrakech.
SELF-SUFFICIENCY
Catering by the MDS organisation once in the Sahara was removed in 2024, this was reasoned for 2025. To clarify, when the buses leave Ouarzazate for the desert, self-sufficiency begins for the travel day, the fist night in bivouac, the following day (admin day), the evening and then, the following day, the race starts and ‘race’ self-sufficiency begins. There is a difference between the two forms of self-sufficiency as the travel day and admin day you can bring as much or as little as you like. Quite simply, it’s not part of the mandatory race minimum requirement of 2000 cal minimum per day. You can bring tinned food, drinks, wine, beer, caviar…. Whatever you wish! It’s a no brainer to be able to look after your own food requirements and quite simply it greatly reduces the possibility of food related health issues that could potentially ruin a race.
ADMIN DAY
The procedures for admin day were changed for the 2024 edition and they were a huge success. This system was retained for 2025 making the process seamless, fast and considerably less painful than the procedures that had gone before.
BIVOUAC
In principle, it may well look the same, however, there are changes for the very observant. Firstly, the circles that make bivouac are smaller and tighter making the camp much more of a community. In 2025 there were new ‘women only’ tents for those who would prefer this option. On some days, in the middle of bivouac, yoga/ stretching was possible, circle of legend talks and yes, even a big fire.
WATER
The provision of water was drastically changed in 2024 and this was retained for 2025. During the race there is no rationing of water. As you arrive at a CP, water is decanted into your bottles via MDS blue jackets who pour the water from jugs. This water comes from large 5ltr bottles. Quite simply, you can have 2x 750ml bottles filled, you can then drink one and it will be refilled if required – a game changer.
Post-race you are provided with 1 large 5ltr bottle, the is rationed. So, this water must provide hydration post-race, be used for dinner/ breakfast and it must be used to fill your bottles to take you to CP1 the following day.
ICED WATER
CP’s have MDS orange or blue jackets who will pour iced water over your head to enable cooling. It’s a small simple step that makes a huge change that ultimately helps facilitate completion of the Legendary.
ORANGE AND BLUE JACKETS
The MDS would not happen without this amazing team of people. The energy, the enthusiasm, the constant good vibes make the runner the number one priority and YES, these people make the difference between finishing and not finishing. They are 100% switched on with the sole purpose to get every runner across the line. You can get a feeling of how important the blue and oranges are by taking a look HERE on Facebook.
Orange jackets are the medical team who make sure that participants are looked after 100%. They are there for you, no matter what the issue. You will see them on the course at CP’s, in fast response vehicles, in 4×4’s and of course in the medical tents in bivouac.
SAFETY
Any MDS event has risks associated with it. We are often in harsh environments, in challenging conditions, we have varying climate conditions and of course, we have runner’s and staff pushing the limit of what is humanly possible. Safety is taken very seriously and how safety is managed is an ever-changing and developing process.
Legendary had more fast response vehicles, more medical professionals on course, there were 10 medical professional runner’s who did the course and there was a new mobile medical unit for 2025 which is state of the art. There was also the inclusion of the ‘Orange Squad’ – a medical team who do the course the opposite way so that they are able to see runner’s coming toward them and should there be a problem, they can help immediately.
Each runner is issued with a Spot Tracker and this allows the MDS team to monitor each runner on the course and importantly, they have an SOS button which if pressed, will receive a medical response vehicle in minutes.
Feet are always an issue and of course, the medical tent is there to facilitate foot repair in bivouac. It’s important to be self-sufficient and look after your feet yourself, however, as and when necessary, a medical professional is always there to help.
RACE BRIEFINGS
Race start times are very important and pre 2024, the race start time was somewhat unpredictable. This changed in 2024 and was upped to another level in 2025 with every stage starting exactly on time! It may sound like a small thing, but knowing you will be underway as scheduled makes planning so much easier. If it says 0600 start, you know it starts at 0600.
Another change was the addition of an English speaking announcer – yes, it was me! This was the idea of Cyril and we instigated and tested this at Atlantic Coast in January, it worked. So, for Legendary and moving forward, an English briefing will take place and then be translated into French and not the other way around. Stage 6 race briefing may well go down in history as the best. Mood was already high with the final stage ahead, nut hen we had participant, Reujen Lista join us on stage for a ‘live’ version of Highway to Hell – it was epic!
WEATHER
As always, weather plays a key part in any MDS event. However, we are most definitely feeling the impacts of ever changing climatic conditions. It was always assumed that MDS will be hot and unbearable, history is showing that is not the case. Recently, particularly in Morocco, we have experienced difficult weather: MDS Morocco in October had torrential rain and flooding, the recent MDS Atlantic Coast in January had cooler temperatures, some rain and the last day had full-on sand storms. The 2025 Legendary started calmly and tranquil, it was looking to be a classic race, it was sunny, hot, but not too hot and the winds were relatively calm. That all changed come stage 4 (the long day) with cloudy skies and cooler temperatures in the day. During the night the winds increased, rain came and without doubt, from 2100 hrs the conditions were difficult and challenging. Especially for those who were moving through the night looking to get the long day done. CP’s had cold participants taking shelter looking to get warm and continue the journey. This weather continued through the rest day. Stage 5 had a mix of everything but the heat never came and stage 6 was cloudy, cool and with intermittent rain. There is a very big lesson that needs to be learned, I did say this before Legendary, but now, post-race, I can only say it more, you need to be prepared for bad weather! A good jacket is now essential, so much so, I do think that it should be added to mandatory kit. I also think it wise to make sure that you are able to keep key items, such as sleeping bag, dry during bad weather. Many had wet sleeping bags during the long day which can effectively make them useless, depending on what filling is inside.
THE ROUTE
Legendary is now 6-stages over 7-days and this is a huge difference. Pre 2024, the race was 5-stages and stage 6 was a non-times ‘solidarity’ stage for charity. It’s hard to argue against the charity side of this, however, a non-timed 6th stage was pointless.
The race is now 6-stages timed and raced.
For 2024, the ‘long day’ was moved to stage 3. For 2025, it was moved back to stage 4. The main reason for this was due to the course and the start/ finish point.
2024 participants, as always, tried to stress that the 2024 edition was/ would be harder than 2025. Of course it’s nonsense. Comments like, ‘Argh, but here was more vertical gain in 2024!’ were unfounded as the people who made these comments had obviously not done due diligence, the reality is the 2024 Legendary was 252.9km’s and the 2025 event was 250km. Vertical gain was almost identical, 2024 was 2788m+ and 2025 was 2710m+
In many respects, the 2025 edition was more ‘classic MDS’ with a marathon after the rest day.
The route was notably different for some key reasons. The Sahara is vast and of course, needs to be explored more. Due to runner demand and logistical reasons, certain features have become almost ‘essential’ when running Legendary. However, Cyril and the team wanted to change that and therefore, there was no Jebel El Otfal in 2025, there was a return to Merzouga Dunes and while the route travelled in similar areas of the Sahara, the track was approximately 80% new. There were some great ‘new’ additions such as the huge dune on stage 4 and the stage 5 route was very special.
THE RACE
Rachid El Morabity once again took victory securing his 11th and in the process he set a record for the most victories. It’s an incredible achievement to have this level of consistency over so many years. It’s fair to say, the level of competition at the front end of the race was less in 2025. The only real person who could upset Rachid was Hamid Yachou, he unfortunately withdrew mid-race with injury. We could argue all day if Mohamed El Morabity could beat Rachid, the simple fact is, it would not happen. However, as we look ahead to 2026, will Mohamed take over the Rl Morabity reigns? Mohamed is 10-years younger than Rachid and therefore, he has great potential ahead. Also, the inclusion of the 3rd and younger El Morabity, Mbark, should not be looked over.
For the women, 2023 Legendary champion, Maryline Nakache returned and she was on fire. No, she was untouchable. For perspective, Maryline finished 3rd on GC for the long day and at the end of the race, was 4th on GC with the closest time to Rachid, by a woman, in the history of the race. Quite incredible. Aziza El Amrany won the race in 2024 and for 2025 she was 2nd, she looked great throughout, despite an arm injury, however, she was no match for Maryline. Tomomi Bitoh placed 3rd, she has placed 3rd before. However, Annelies Brak would have placed 3rd had she not received a 2-hour time penalty for non-compliance of mandatory kit.
Rachid completed the race in 20:55:47 and Maryline in 23:57:20. A total of 847 participants crossed the finish line, the last male Tomohito Hirai in 75:49:27 and the last woman, Nemoto Yuzuki in 74:31:01.
POST RACE
Transfer back to Ouarzazate was easy and seamless with coaches filling with participants and leaving asap. Of course, a hotel, many showers, buffet food and a nice clean bed always feels amazing after the Sahara. The awards dinner turned into an impromptu rock concert with a participant, Reujen Lista, singing 3 songs on stage, the last, of course, was Highway to Hell. It was a fantastic way to end what was a legendary LEGENDARY.
DAILY 2025 SUMMARIES
MDS The Legendary Stage 1 HERE
MDS The Legendary Stage 2 HERE
MDS The Legendary Stage 3 HERE
MDS The Legendary Stage 4 HERE
MDS The Legendary Stage 5 HERE
MDS The Legendary Stage 6 HERE
Marathon des Sables Website HERE
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IAN CORLESS 