Choosing your food for the Marathon des Sables
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Food selection for the Marathon des Sables is a hugely personal choice (as you might expect), however, is also a delicate balance between hydration (i.e., not taking too much dry or salty food), morale (because the race is hard work, if you hadn’t already realised), and weight (well, obvs).
As a larger runner (I’m 6’ 2” / 188cm and was 97 kilograms at the time), my strategy for what I chose to eat was based on the meal and what I was likely doing at the time.
Breakfast
The first meal of the day is clearly an important one as you want it to be slow-release energy, taste good, and give you a little morale. You’ve slept for as many hours as you can, so your energy levels are already likely to be low before you even get to the start line.
Every morning I’d start the day with an instant 3-in-1 Coffee (either cappuccino or latte), which I’d sometimes mix with a hot chocolate for extra carbohydrates and a little sugar to make me more mentally alert.
Some of the boiling water would also be used to make my breakfast, which would be pre-flavoured porridge oats, another slow-release carb-heavy food source. A few of the mornings would also see me have a few chunks of dried mango as well, but these were more of a morale boost used strategically for when I thought I might need a treat.
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Preparing for the Marathon des Sables (aka ‘the toughest footrace in the world’), can be a hugely time-consuming affair that can border on having another full-time job, especially for busy people who want to experience the beauty of the desert, but have to be efficient with their time and not wondering how to train or what kit they need.
This digital download is over 8000 words of hard-won knowledge, advice, guidance, ideas across 17 pages, covering the following subjects:
- How to choose the right shoes for the Marathon des Sables
- Sleeping bags options
- Food selection
- Essential clothing for the Marathon des Sables
- Nutritional demands / calorie planning for the race
- Different backpack options
- The application process.
- How to meet the cut-off times
- The race format.
- Understanding the mandatory gear list.
- Tent etiquette.
- Weight reduction ideas for your kit.
- Taking care of yourself and blister management.
- Race strategy for completion.
- The pre-race medical checks
- Where to get your footwear tailored for gaiters.
- Planning for charity fundraising.
- Ideas to aid physical preparation.
- How to condition yourself for the demands of the desert
- How to enter from overseas
- How to generate social media interest for funding it.
Lunch / Snacks
My ‘lunch’ would consist of snacks eaten throughout the race time, usually spaced out for when I would reach each aid station so as to drink water with it. I used flavoured peanuts, oat bar flapjacks (not high protein versions as my other food article infers) beef jerky, cranberry or raisin ‘trail mix’ (nuts with a little dried fruit), so as to keep my blood sugar and sodium levels as stable as possible and reduce the risk and mental burden of ‘bonking’!
Whilst the days can sometimes feel long, the time between breakfast and dinner isn’t actually all that long so I kept my lunch snacks pretty much restricted to what would fit in my front bag pouches for accessibility.
Dinner
My dinner every day consisted of a dehydrated meal cooked using the dried wood and scrub that can easily be found blowing around the campsite. As you can see from my diet and nutrition article, dinner was between 600 and 830 calories, which I would occasionally pad out with some dehydrated noodles) for nights when I thought I might need extra calories or moral (if you’ve done other adventures, you’ll know how much morale some hot noodles can bring when you’re questioning your choices!).
