RESPECT FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND SAFETY AT THE HEART OF THE 38TH MDS

The opening briefing of the 38th MARATHON DES SABLES LEGENDARY placed great emphasis on respect for the environment and the safety of participants.

Cyril GAUTHIER, member of the MARATHON DES SABLES LEGENDARY Race Direction, began the opening briefing with two questions: “Why are you here? And is that reasonable? “ Obviously, the answers to these questions are eminently personal, but one constant remains: you have to be very courageous to dare to embark on such an adventure. Training, sacrifices, being at the start of the MDS is already a victory in itself.

SECURITY

When we embark on such an event, we expect foolproof security from the organization: crossing the Sahara with food self-sufficiency is not a trivial race. And indeed, safety was one of the essential points of the opening briefing. With 70 people in the medical center, more than double the number of rapid intervention vehicles compared to previous years, and two new features on the MDS Legendary – the ebike Patrol and the Medic Patrol – we understand that this subject is a priority.

The ebike Patrol are part of the medical team and are extremely mobile and fast on rolling parts; The Medic Patrol are participants like any other, of the medical profession in their daily lives, and who have agreed to equip themselves with first aid equipment to intervene immediately in the heart of the peloton. This system allow to scan all emergency cases, and supports the monitoring in the field and by beacon already in place.

RESPECT FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

The other crucial point raised during this briefing was respect for the environment. Live an extraordinary adventure, of course, but not at any price. Steps have been taken this year to significantly reduce the energy footprint of the MDS Legendary. Reduction in chartered flights (3 instead of 7), reduction in the number of bivouacs (3 instead of 6), the number of trucks (20 instead of 50), 4x4 vehicles (78 instead of 157), elimination of sponsor and family trips, reduction of press accreditations: all this is part of a global desire to move towards the most neutral race possible for the environment.

We must add to these measures the desire to reduce the share of Staff coming from abroad (35 instead of 125) but to increase the number of local service providers, and the elimination of 1.5 l bottles in favor of 5 liter bottles, bottles which will be distributed after the event to villagers who are fond of them to preserve and transport liquids: end of plastic waste.

The deletion of messages sent by relatives, printed and given to participants, as well as the removal of computers allowing participants to send one email per day, are also part of the environmental protection measures.

EMOTION BOXES

And finally, a welcome new feature this year: the launch of “Emotion boxes”, individual cabins equipped with a telephone on which an application allows each participant, once a day, to send a one-minute video to a list of email addresses. A fun, lively and timeless way to keep track, day after day, of this adventure like no other.