The Supreme Test - Namibia Ultra Marathon

The third edition of the Namibia 24 Hour Ultra Marathon is slated for May 24, 2010. Known as the ultimate endurance test for distance runners, the marathon will cover 126 kilometers within a 24 hour period. Water stations and medical tents are located every 21 kms. Runners will have to be self-sufficient throughout, carrying all their food, water, energy bars and change of clothing on their backs. The setting is the forbidding Namib Desert where temperatures will range from 36 degrees to 5 degrees at night. Competitors will travel along the dusty gravel plains, dry riverbeds and vast sand expanses of the oldest desert in the world, before passing through the spectacular Messum Crater and finishing at one of the most hostile coastlines on earth, the Skeleton Coast.

From the race accounts, I can only imagine the suffering that the runners will endure in such a harsh climate like the Namib Desert. Most of the runners are accomplished marathoners who have trained as best as they could to simulate the unrelenting conditions of the desert. They talk about getting goose bumps, raging thirst and hallucinations and all the symptoms of heatstroke. Some runners are beaten to a pulp and look haunted, but somehow they soldier on carried by their will to finish. This grand adventure, the camaraderie among like minded souls and the participation in the most supreme challenge is what sets this race apart.