“10th Anniversary”
2008
Race Report
Team IF and Team Average Jo took their passion for ultimate challenge in adventure destinations and embarked on an amazing journey to Tunisia, Africa to compete in the 10th Anniversary of the 100km Del Sahara. This trail running event was definitely a big step outside of our comfort zones! We would like to thank Sharon Kovar, who invited us to come out to this incredible journey and took such great care of us with translation and organizing us. You were wonderful Sharon!Adriano Zito, the event director and owner of Zitoway Sport and Adventure (Italian based company) told us at the race debriefing in Tataquine (the site the first Star Wars was filmed) that the first edition of this event was in May 1999 and there were only 20 runners (all from Italy). This year, there was a field of 158 competitors from all over the world (Columbia, Mexico, Switzerland, USA, Great Britain, Argentina, Canada, etc). Out of that there were 10 Canadians that made the journey. Out of those 10, 7 were from Innovative Fitness!
IF Competitors:
Joyce Langridge
Molly Evanshen
Jen Heffel
Matt Young
Isabelle Thielen – Who won the spirit award (a sand stone rose). Way to go Isabelle!
Curtis Christopherson
Kris Schjelderup
Website:
www.100kmdelsahara.com
Here you can see a more detailed description of the race, more pictures and all the results.
Travel:
On Saturday March 1st we met our group in Rome took a flight on Air Tunisia to Djerba. Chartered busses took us to our hotel where we stayed in real beds one more time before we hit the desert! On Sunday March 2nd we took off on our journey to the desert. In chartered busses again, we drove 150km to Ksar Soltane di Tataouine where we had the presentation of the 10th Edition of the 100km Del Sahara. We then carried on another 25km into the desert where to a town called Chinini where we had lunch, dinner and slept in our berber tents for the first time.
During the race, the only travel we had was on two feet!
Once the race was completed, we all piled into Toyota Landcruisers and screamed across the desert at speeds of 140km for 3hrs until we got back to our hotel in Djerba again! 
Temperature:
Was anywhere from 20-30+°C during the day and we got to as low as -1°C at night.
Accommodation:
We slept in berber tents (5 people in our tent), which were open faced and exposed to all the elements. Every day we arrived at the finish line, they were set up for us with our bags out front already transported for us. A very smooth operation! In our race package we received great sleeping bags, which we all used.
Food:
I have to say that I was so impressed which the meals that were put together. When you go to a foreign continent like Africa, you are a bit worried about what you are going to eat. Well, we ate like kings (being in the middle of the desert!). It was all Italian food prepared for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The Race
March 3
Stage 1: Chinini – Garat Eddouiri
Description: 22km of the hardest, most technical terrain of the entire race. The first 7km was like doing the Grouse Grind over and over again!
Highlights: After all the training and travel to get there, it felt great to finally start the race. It was an amazing terrain and one of my favorite stages.
Challenges: The heat. It was the hottest day out there at 30°C+ so hydration and maintaining electrolyte balance was key to avoid cramping and bonking.
Total time: 2:14:48
Average heart rate: 178bpm
March 4
Stage 2: Garat Eddouiri – Laaraj Camp
Description: 20km of undulating hills and sand dunes.
Highlights: It was a nice break from the steep hill climbs and was our first experience running in the dunes.
Challenges: The fast pace everyone set out on. It was the fastest stage with a ton of headwind and sand blowing.
Total time: 1:44:04
Average heart rate: 156bpm
Stage 3: Loop around camp site
Description: 7km night run.
Highlights: Probably the coolest portion of the entire event! With the course lit up with blue glow sticks and everyone in headlamps, everyone forgot it was supposed to be a easy recovery run and killed it! The average times were anywhere between 30 and 40mins.
Challenges: The darkness and only being able to see 6 feet in front of you while being in a full out sprint!
Total time: 35:12
Average heart rate: 171bpm
March 5
Stage 4: Laaraj Camp – Aquinet Essbat
Description: 42km – The marathon
Highlights: Running this stage as a team. Jen, Curt, Matt and myself ran 10 and 2’s the entire way and took turns pulling each other. It was the most rewarding stage to complete as we did it as a team, supported each other, stuck to the plan and conquered the hardest most challenging day of the race.
Challenges: The distance, the terrain and the weather! This was not your typical marathon! We ran on gravel roads where you could see for miles, through deep sand dunes, and up and down technical, rocky terrain. The weather was windy which saw us running straight into a headwind most of the day with sand blowing, cool conditions turning very cold and rainy as we passed through the 36km water station.
Total time: 5:11:34
Average heart rate: 142bpm
March 6
Stage 5: Aquinet Essbat – Ksar Ghilane Oasis
Description: 20km – The sand dunes (that is why we were there wasn’t it?)
Highlights: Ran a very fast 10km to get to the dunes and then it was playtime for 10km! The dunes reminded me of snowshoeing back home in knee deep powder, the only problem was we were running in trail shoes!
Challenges: Being a heavier runner, I found I sank a lot more than the other racers and I had a hard time “floating across the dunes” like I saw others do. The other challenge was after locating the orange flags at the top of a dune, you had to navigate yourself up to the top of another to ensure you were still on course.
Total time: 2:25:20
Average heart rate: 165bpm
Overall time: 12:10:58
Final position: 52 / 158
Would I do it again?
Probably not. It was one of the top 10 coolest, most challenging and rewarding experiences I have ever done but I think is best being a one time destination. I say this because of the travel, money (the race fee was $3500) and time. I am all for experiencing new things and based on those factors I would say I wouldn’t go back. I would however do any of Zitoway’s other races in a heart beat. They have a similar event in Namibia which sounds amazing and is now on my before I die list. One of the camera guys said it is like the Del Sahara on steroids. Everything is amplified from the difficulty level, the terrain, the scenery and the numerous animals you get to see!
Having said all of this I would recommend this event to anyone who is interested in taking their running to another level and step outside their comfort zone. It was an extremely well run event and a very challenging course. The volunteers, race organizers and overall experience made this event first class.
What did I get out of the experience?
Challenge: It was a step outside my comfort zone. I had never done a stage race of running before, never been to Africa, knew I would have an issue with the food, never been away from the facility for that long before, being away from Can and I had never run that far before in the span of 4 days! The training that went into it was tough. The sweat suits during all my runs, spins and workouts, the continuous prehab for my knee and back to be able to hold up were a challenge but paid off big time!
Adversity: I have to say number biggest form of adversity I went through was the blisters I got on day one. I had awful blistering on the arches and toes of both feet that got worse and worse each day. It got so bad, I could not walk around the camp ground on some nights and woke up to blood in my socks each morning. It is the only thing that happened that I wish hadn’t. I am happy to say I sucked it up bandaged my feet up and went out there and kicked ass with as little drama as possible though!
Victory: T.E.A.M. we went there as a team and left as a team. From running the marathon together, to trading off on stretches daily, taking pictures and sharing with each other, building our tents the best in the camp ground, wearing our IF attire everywhere, eating together, being there to support teammates on the course, cross the finishline, etc. Yes, I had a lot of personal victories but I can honestly say it wouldn’t have been nearly as enjoyable without the team.
Spiritual time: I had a ton of time alone on the course as well. It enabled me to clear my head, think about those at home and where I am in my life right now, stare in awe of where I was in the vast desert land out there and how small we really are and how massive the world really is out there!
New people: This trip was a great experience to meet many new people from all over the world who share a common love for running and adventure. I met a lot of interesting people, some of which I will keep in contact with and others I will remember for their personalities or outfits! This was something I didn’t spend much time thinking about before I left and was really happy to be able to experience such amazing multiculturalism in a vulnerable setting.
Shout outs:
Thank you Sharon for inviting us to this great event and then taking care of us when we were there.
Thank you Curt for your companionship and always being a laugh. I miss our time together.
Thank you Isabelle for being an amazing teammate. You really made this trip with you being able to communicate to everyone, your positive attitude and amazing act for making friends with everyone there, helping me with the drama with my blisters and getting to know you on a whole new level.
Thank you Matt for your continued mentorship and time invested. It was another great event together!
Thank you Jen for kicking ass out on the course and being so cool to hang out with. You are a very special person and I am glad we got a chance get to know each other outside of the facility.
Molly and Joyce for being rock stars! I am so proud of both of you for this accomplishment and how well you did. Honestly, I know the entire experience was a massive step outside your comfort zones and you impressed me so much!
Thank you to Adriano and all the volunteers who helped out on the course and at base camp. From taking pictures and producing a killer dvd of the experience, taking care of me in the medical tent, the great meals, the transport of our gear and set up of our tents, etc, etc. You guys all rocked!
I would also like to thank everyone at home for their support while I was away including Candice, my family, my friends and of course my team at IF. It was such a great feeling to be sitting in the tent in the middle of the desert with no phones and no lines of communication with the outside world only to receive a print out from a Zitoway staff member (Max) from you all showing your support and encouragement.
Thank you Can for understanding this is my passion and knowing that I am following my dreams and goals. When I read your emails and spoke with you in our hotel in Rome, hearing your support and true happiness for me really meant the world to me.
Thank you Mom, Dad, Sean, Baba and Papa and the Mackie’s for your support, excitement, encouragement and emails, they really helped motivate me to push it to the next level.
Thank you to my friends for always being blown away with what I do, thinking I am crazy but still following my progress through out the race. I honestly can tell you it motivates me to keep doing more!
And lastly but certainly not least, thank you to my team in West Van. You all stepped up when I was away and I am so proud of each and every one of you. A big shout out goes to Justine, Josh, Richard and Rachel who took over many of my responsibilities and to everyone who trained my hours. We have a lot going on this time of year and I am happy to say I was 100% confident that I left the facility in goods hands. It was a great opportunity for you to be forced into a leadership position where you had to take ownership over the facility and see what it really takes. I am looking forward to joining you all again and taking us to new heights in 2008!
What IF you could run Africa?
Well, I can now say I did and have the pictures and memorable stories to prove it!
