Costa de la Luz
Three gaditanos set off for the toughest endurance test in the world
By m.p. - Mar 26, 2008 - 9:37 PM
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Three contestants from Cádiz province are taking part this Sunday in what is considered one of the most difficult endurance tests in the world – the Marathon des Sables, or the Marathon of the Sands.
This year’s race is the longest in the history of the marathon, more than 245 kms across the sands of the Western Sahara in temperatures of up to 50 degrees, where the competitors must carry all the supplies they need for each of the six stages of the journey on their backs, a weight of some 12 kilos. It is said to be the equivalent of six normal marathons.
The three competing from Cádiz are Julio Becerra, Diego Rodríguez and Juan Antonio Traverso, and they belong to the club ‘Ultramaratón Bahía de Cádiz’. La Voz Digital has spoken to the three intrepid adventurers, and they say their greatest concern is dehydration. They have been training for the past year, part of it on local beaches, slowly working up to carrying heavier weights on their backs for longer distances. They also said they would never have been able to have entered without sponsorship – registration is more than 3,000 € and the equipment needed for the marathon costs another 1,500 €.
They set off for Madrid on Thursday to meet the rest of the Spanish contingent – 52 contestants in total – and arrive in Ouarzazate on Saturday for the last medical tests before the start of the race at 9am on Sunday.
One of the three was told that if he completes the marathon, he can expect to arrive home weighing seven kilos less than when he set out.
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