multi-day race | IAN CORLESS

Female participation at MDS Cappadocia at 60%

The 2024 first edition of MDS Cappadocia got underway today, three stages with a potential longest distance of 120km’s and options to run 71.9km/ 92.8km and 110.5km based on the desired distance of stage 2.

Stage 1 25km

Stage 2 20.9km/ 41.8km/ 59.5km

Stage 3 26km

Many participants arrived in Turkey on Friday or Saturday with admin taking place on Saturday afternoon ahead of a relaxed dinner followed by a comfortable night in Suhan Cappadocia Hotel in Avanos.

Suhan Hotel, some luxury before self-sufficiency

Stage 1 began with a relaxed breakfast and 0800 departure to the start of the race and the beginning of self-sufficiency.

At 0900 briefing began and at 0930, the runners departed for 25km and 678m of elevation gain.

In contrast to MDS The Legendary and other MDS races, Cappadocia is not a desert race. Although the landscape has a desert feel, the route is much more single-track, mountain paths, grassland and of course it is all encompassed within the unique landscape of this area.

Troglodyte Caves a unique feature of Cappadocia

The Göreme valley is captivating, especially if never seen before.

For the participants, it was the start of a journey of discovery and at each point throughout stage, the beauty and experience was one that was passed on to MDS staff during and afterwards.

A hot day, cold water at CP’s make all the difference

A hot day, with a recorded high of 33-degrees, however, a gentle wind throughout many sections of the race helped to cool. Main CP’s also offered iced water which was poured on the heads and necks to facilitate cooling the core.

The stage was won in 02:29:40 by Keven Moncelli. Hugo Brincard and Alexandre Mallier were 2^nd and 3^rd, 02:32:41 and 02:39:08 respectively.

For the women, Maryline Demangel finished ahead of Axelle Bellec and Gudrun Hespel, 03:10:59, 03:20:23 and 03:39:08.

Stage 1 finish and the bivouac for the coming days is a hidden away gem backed by the unique Troglodyte homes, cut away in the rock that makes Cappadocia so unique and special.

Stage 2 (Monday) has an early wake-op of 03:30, briefing at 04:30 and the start of the stage at 05:00. Runner’s are able to choose the distance to cover.

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Day 3 of the Big Red Run unfortunately had no racing due to freak weather conditions during night 1 and throughout the day on race day 2. It left the Simpson Desert a mud bath of sticky clay. However, the runners embraced the day and used it for personal admin a real sense of group spirit came together where everyone helped each other to make uncomfortable camp conditions considerably better. The sun shone all day it is quite remarkable how the earth dried out. Overnight the temperatures really dropped (2 deg) leaving one or two runners with an uncomfortable night. Braddon DB Johnson whilst holding a hot mug of steaming coffee said. “It was in interesting night… I had every item of clothing on and was still a little chilly!”

As the early morning mist burnt off, a glorious day welcomed the runners for a revised stage 4 that left camp via Big Red dunes. A clockwise loop with a couple of dog legs thrown in then re-navigated the runners back to Big Red and the finish line from which they had started.

James Kohler has been trying all week for victory, often leading the stages in the early kilometres only to find in the latter stages. Today though, the 30km racing distance and a days rest played into his hands and from the off he opened just a slight gap from the usual protagonists of Elisabet Barnes, Andy Dubois, Jamie Hildage and Braddan DB Johnson.

As the run progressed, James slowly pulled away but it was a very slender margin and Elisabet made sure she kept him in sight throughout the day, she had said early in the morning, ‘Today is all about being sensible and making sure I don’t extend too much energy ahead of tomorrow’s 80km+ long stage!’

No doubt Andy, Jamie and Braddan had similar thoughts. James though seized his opportunity and ran a great stage 4 to take 1st place in 2:56:03. Elisabet crossed the line 2nd in 2:59:45 and Andy Dubois placed 3rd in 3:01:04.

It was a close day with the top 3 men and ladies all finishing within a 30-minute window. Jamie Hildage placed 4th and Braddan DB Johnson 5th, their respective time of 3:04:06 and 3:08:58. Helen Durand was the 2nd lady 3:20:03, she has performed consistently throughout the race and Anne Bennet seized the 3rd place in 3:33:27.

Tomorrow is the long day and runners will be resting up in camp and preparing for a long day ahead. Weather and ground conditions have improved dramatically over the last 24-hours and although a new route has been planned, hopefully it will include much of the terrain of the original proposed route. Camp will be moved tomorrow and although it may not be located in the original camp 5 location, it will be placed close leaving the final stage 6 ‘fun run’ as close to 8km as possible. After all, there is a very serious barbecue, cold beers, showers and some entertainment planned for post race recovery.