A unique event on the ultramarathon calendar, the Trans Atlas Marathon attracts runners
from across the globe.
During the length of Morocco's high atlas mountains, the participants cover a distance
of 285 kilometres in six stages.
Food and accommodation are provided by the organisers and a team of doctors and nurses
are on hand to provide medical cover at checkpoints and at the end of each stage of the race.
We've brought equipment that we expect to use firstly based on the distance that athletes
are running, then we look at the environments with which they're running in for that distance,
so largely heat injury stuff in a hot environment such as Morocco.
We look at the altitude of the terrain, so although we're not high altitude, we're not
low either, and therefore we've brought some altitude equipment should we need it.
And then we cover really the remote medicine element, so we expect runners' bodies to deteriorate
over a multi-stage event, and we bring stuff to treat their any gut problems, we bring
stuff to treat any injuries, musculoskeletal, soft tissue injuries, infections, heat injury,
dehydration, and then we've got a few emergency pieces of kit because actually there are lots
of vehicles on the roads, there might be some trauma that we have to bear in mind, so we
brought some emergency trauma equipment with us too, and with all the equipment that we
brought, we've brought medication to support that.
Whilst most of the runners are hardened ultra-athletes with a string of races under their belts, those
with less experience can now compete in this event thanks to a new innovation, the Trans-Atlas
Challenge.
The challenge is to do it this year, to propose it, because there are a lot of friends who
ask me, I can't do it all the way, but I'd like to be in the Atlas, I'd like to
really discover the Atlas, so there I thought, even though it's very difficult to organize,
but I also think to give a chance to the runners, to the people who just want to make a little
distance, even I can't say it's not easy, but it's an experience to go to the Trans-Atlas
Marathon, to make the distance, all the distance for people who don't have experience, so
the challenge is to give an experience to go through a year or two after the Trans-Atlas
Marathon.
And it's not just about racing, one of the unique aspects of the Trans-Atlas Marathon
is the opportunity to witness a way of life that has hardly changed since Biblical times.
The Berber people who live in the Atlas Mountains have a tradition of hospitality and generosity,
often welcoming strangers to their homes with mint tea and homemade bread.
For Mohamed Ahansa, it's the interaction between competitors and the local population
that he hopes will encourage more young Berbers to take up the sport of running.
When I thought of organizing a trial across the Atlas, it's really such an idea that
it doesn't allow the runners in an isolated place, so I thought at the beginning of the
trial, I would like to take advantage of the hospitality of the Berbers, the inhabitants of the Atlas, so to make
a direct contact with the population of the region, so that way, I think, to know a
country, to know a little bit, to know it, you really have to go back home, you really have
to go through with a little time, so otherwise, you can't save the population in Altair.
Welcome, welcome.
As the race progresses, the attrition rate amongst the runners remains low, with few
dropping out.
This is due in the main to the efforts of the medics, whose presence at checkpoints
along the route help to identify problems before they become too serious.
There's a few ways to look at checkpoints.
A lot of runners won't have any problems, they'll just come in, they'll get a cursory
check over from us and then a move on.
There will be some people that will say to us, we've got some problems and we'd like
them looked at and we can address those problems and move them on after that.
Then the third category, which is our biggest risk, is that people who don't identify
within themselves, that they have problems, that we therefore have to identify and sort
those out.
Those are really our priorities, because with a race of a multi-stage where the checkpoints
are reasonably well spread in terms of distance, we have to make sure that we know people
leaving are having the best chance of getting to the next checkpoint, so we can check them
in again.
Our priorities are to make sure that they're hydrated, make sure they're not overheating
and to make sure they've got no other conditions that are going to stop them completing the
stage.
The Trans-Atlas Marathon is a very nice event because it is such a beautiful scenery.
I was impressed today because the scenery is so different to where I live in the Swiss
Alps.
It is so amazing to see all these different terrains and trails and then you look left
and suddenly everything is green and you come to a village and the women are sitting
at the water and washing the clothes with their hands in the water.
You will never see this in Switzerland or in another country in Europe.
So it is quite good organized.
I like the style that it is so that we are going in the villages, that we eat the traditional
food, that we don't get European food or that we can see a little bit how the people
are living here and what they do and it gives me a good spirit to see a little bit beside
the racing.
I am not all about racing or competing so that I can get some more impression about
a country.
And this is Trans-Atlas Marathon, it is perfect for that.
next year the fifth edition of the Trans-Atlas Marathon will take place in
May.
And Mohamed Ahamsar has his sights set on making the event even more spectacular with
a new route which will take the competitors into a region rarely seen by outsiders.
I have already decided to start by having a date fixed for the next Trans-Atlas in 2017,
which will be even more professional, so I think I have a marathon to do until
then.
Thank you for your attention.
Anyway, good luck to you.
Thank you for watching and I'll see you in the next video.
