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To succeed at the Marathon Des Sables, many things have to come together. Along with the training, mental preparation, and logistics, having the right equipment is critical to a runner’s success. Team Western Canada was very fortunate to have some of the best tools-of-the-trade for our foray into the desert…

Shoes:

The number one consideration, if one is to run through the desert for a week, is footwear. The good folks at Montrail helped us out here by providing two different shoes for us to work with.

The custom Kinabalu: A standard Montrail Kinabalu trail racing shoe with a custom lightweight neoprene gaiter to keep the sand out of the top of the shoe. Pictured below, the shoe provided great support on the variable terrain and kept our feet virtually sand free.

The Desert Storm: A modified Montrail Leona Divide (originally created for the 2001 MDS), Jim used the Desert Storm to accommodate his frostbitten feet.. The additional width of the Desert Storm, pictured below, gave his still-recovering toes some breathing room and the Lycra gaiter kept them sand free.

Packs:

The pack runs, all puns intended, just below shoes in terms of importance for this race. Runners in the Marathon Des Sables are required to carry all of their equipment and food for the week every day when they run. A good MDS pack must be light, comfortable, and adjustable to accommodate the changing size and weight of the pack over the week. The team’s pack weights at race start ranged from 17 to 25 pounds – including Paul’s camera – and we all chose to use the:

Ultimate Direction SpeeDemon 2300: An adventure racing pack from the innovative group at Ultimate Direction, the SpeeDemon has nearly 30L of space including a flexible exterior mesh compartment, two mesh side pockets, and room for Ultimate Direction specialty pockets on the waist belt. Highly adjustable, the pack was comfortable from day 1 to day 7 and stood up well against the sandy conditions of the Sahara. In addition, Paul had a custom chest-mounted camera bag to keep a digital SLR and zoom lens close at hand during the race.