If you’ve made it here, you may already know what Marathon des Sables is! It’s a 250km, 6-stage footrace that takes place over 7 days in the Sahara Desert near the Morocco-Algeria border. It’s been running for almost four decades, with nearly 1000 racers braving the start line each year — I found myself at the start line (and crossing all six finish lines!) in April 2025.

There’s a few aspects of this stage race that make it particularly challenging: the 40-degree heat, sand dunes, primitive camp conditions, rationed water, and sandstorms. But what makes it even more unique is that it is almost entirely self-sufficient. For all seven days, you must carry all of your gear and your food with you in your pack. The only exception is water and a tent. You receive unlimited water while on the course and 5L after you cross the finish line each day (that needs to last until the first checkpoint the next stage). For the tent, it was a traditional, black canvas berber tent, held up by thick sticks, sides open to the elements, that slept 8 racers.

As a result, gear is a hot topic that requires intentional thought leading up to the race. What will you bring? What will you leave at home? It’s a delicate balancing act between comfort, weight, and volume. There’s so many opinions out there – but ultimately it’s all a personal decision. 

What’s included below is a list (and some commentary) on all of the mandatory gear, optional gear, and nutrition I took with me to complete the race. If you’re headed to the race, that’s so exciting! And don’t be a stranger – send me an email if you have any questions.

Before we get started, here’s some stats: My bag weighed in at 9.8kg (21.5lbs) on day one. My base weight was 4kg (8.8lb) and the rest was food. We had a wide range of pack weights in my tent. Mine was right in the middle. 

 

MANDATORY GEAR.

 

Backpack: Black Diamond Distance 22L Pack. This pack was already my one-day mountain running pack that I had used for the previous few summers on alpine adventures, so I had a fair amount of confidence that it would not fail in the field and already knew it fit me well. The primary feature that I wanted in a pack was the true running vest setup to ensure the pack stayed as close to my body as possible to prevent chafing. As a “small” 22L pack (there’s really no “give” in the fabric) I was pushing the boundaries of its total volume/weight limit, but this allowed me to get critical on what gear I truly needed and what I should leave at home.

The only downside of the Distance 22L is that there is not a lot of space in the front pockets for race day nutrition – so I needed a solution for that. I have used belts before and found they can sometimes give me GI issues due to the pressure they create on the abdomen and I didn’t want to take that chance. So instead, I attached a Raidlight Activ Front Pack. It worked out okay but if there was too much weight in it, it slapped my chest pretty hard as I ran. Not ideal, quite uncomfortable at times, and I would look for a different solution next time.

Water Bottles: Raidlight Soft Flasks (2x 600 ML) + Raidlight Hard Bottle (1x 750ML). I specifically chose soft flasks so that they would shape better to my chest. Soft flasks were excellent and there was no issue with them popping (which seems to be the lore in the online forums). My Raidlight hard bottle sat in a top sleeve on the Front Pack, which helped distribute some more weight to the front of my body. It was also wide-mouthed which meant I could easily add my Skratch High Carb powder on-the-run. Partway through the race I lost one of the silicon aeration “nubs” from the lid of the hard bottle. This left a hole that I needed to tape closed – and led to some very sticky hands and gear in the back half of the race.

Sleeping Bag: Thermarest Vesper Ultralight Quilt 0-degrees. I chose 0-degrees instead of 7 – or 10- or 15- degrees because of the steep price tag. I wanted to be sure that I could come home and use the sleeping bag in our pacific northwest summers after the race. It was definitely warmer than I needed for the race, but I also opted to not take a down jacket so the warmer sleeping bag was a good failsafe if weather conditions turned colder unexpectedly. The tradeoff was that I needed to strap my sleeping bag to the outside of my pack, which was fine. But if doing it again, I would explore getting a 10-degree sleeping bag with even smaller volume.

Headlamp (200+ lumens) with spare batteries: FENIX HL18R-T. You’ll use your headlamp in two situations: at camp as you pack up your gear and get started each morning and potentially on the 50-miler day if you’re running into or through the night. The race terrain is not that technical, so the specific headlamp you have is less critical than it being dependable, comfortable, and relatively lightweight.

10 safety pins. Make sure you get high quality safety pins. I constantly struggled with my safety pins coming undone while I was racing and ended up sewing my bibs onto my pack mid-way through the race (which was great). 

Knorr type soup cubes (2 per day). Some racers were not too thrilled to bring these along, but I would add them to my dinner each night and it gave some great additional flavour (and salt). I used solid ones but they started melting in the heat and caused a bit of a mess. Next time, I’d take single-packaged dried bone broth for ease. I did also have 2 Nuun electrolyte tablets per day that I used while I was running on top of the soup broth cubes.

Sun Cream 50ml: Neutrogena Ultra Sheer 60 SPF (88ML). My fair skin needed as much coverage as possible, and I leaned on my running attire to provide that. For sunscreen my only real criteria was for it to be sheer. I used it every day, multiple applications per day and came back with approximately one third of the bottle. 

200 Euros or 2000 Dirhams. I’d highly recommend bringing Dirhams (or euros in small denominations). On the way back from the race after you cross the final finish line and as you head to Ouarzazate, your bus will stop at 1-2 locations where you can purchase snacks.

Medical Certificate & ECG Tracing (signed and dated). These must be signed and dated within 30 days of the race start date. I pre-called my doctor to explain what would be needed and to get an ECG requisition, then pre-booked all of my appointments (+ a couple extras just in case anything went sideways). The Medical Certificate becomes available on your racer’s portal 30 days before the race. It is a standard medical form asking for weight, height, blood pressure, medications, surgeries, etc. If anything goes wrong you can get the Medical Form + ECG completed at the race itself on the gear check day, but it costs 200 euro. 

Gear Checklist Form (completed). About 1-2 weeks before the race, you will be sent a Gear Checklist Form. This form is a self-declaration of all the gear and nutrition you are carrying and is reviewed by the race staff as part of your gear check in the desert, pre-race. Be sure to print this out and complete it before you get to the race check in. 

Other mandatory items: Compass with 1 or 2-degree precision, lighter (bic), whistle, knife with metal blade (victorinox mini), topical disinfectant (alcohol prep pads), signaling mirror, aluminum survival sheet, passport.

Things the race provides to you: Bib (x2), SPOT Beacon, Roadbook

 

THE OTHER GEAR I BROUGHT.

 

Pillow: Sea To Summit Ultralight Aeros Pillow. For the three nights before this popped, it was great. When you’re not running most of your time at camp is spent laying around in your tent. The pillow was a nice luxury during that time and it packs down so tiny. Once it popped, I didn’t really “miss” it per se. So, could I have done without? Probably. But it was nice while it lasted. The velcro system that attaches it to the sleeping pad works very well, but it was a bit noisy in the middle of the night when I needed to adjust it. 

Sleeping Pad: Sea To Summit Ultralight Insulated Air Pad (Regular Size). Some people will tell you to “tough it out” and just sleep on the Moroccan rug that comes with your tent. I disagree. Your recovery is critical and having a comfortable place to lay down during the day and (attempt to) sleep at night is important. My sleeping pad was one of my most beloved pieces of gear out there. Before the race I tried out the Thermarest Z-Rest, but felt like it wasn’t much more beneficial than the rug would be and I didn’t like the feeling of the Z-Rest on my bare skin. So I landed on the S2S inflatable (insulated, so I could use it at home for backpacking after the race). Inflatable or not inflatable is a big debate for this race. There are spiny burrs in the desert that can pop an inflatable. Seven of eight racers in my tent chose inflatable and only two of them had slow air leaks by the end of it. I would hands-down choose inflatable again. 

Long Sleeve Running Shirt: lululemon Breathable Running Long-Sleeve Shirt (not currently stocked). I chose this shirt for three reasons. (1) With the possibility of long days out there in the sun, I wanted long sleeve skin coverage to avoid burns and fatigue, (2) This shirt has perforated air vents all over it, meaning it would allow some airflow to keep me cooler. (3) the loose fit – which is simply a personal preference. 

Sports Bra: lululemon WunderTrain Strappy Racer Bra Light Support. This was the bee’s knees! I work for lululemon and tried a lot of our sports bras leading up to the race – this one gave me the best support and didn’t chafe along the midline on my chest. Bonus points were that I just loved the way I looked in this bra. For reference, I have a small ribcage and a C cup at best – and could hypothetically run with a built-in bra, without much issue. For the entirety of the race, I just walked around camp in my sports bra and shorts. I had no extra shirt and I would make this choice again. I did experience some bra chafing under the arms on Day 5 during the 50-miler. 

Socks: lululemon MicroPillow Men’s Compression Knee High Socks (for running) + Men’s Power Stride Crew Sock (for camp). I chose compression socks since I run in them fairly frequently at home and have experienced a high degree of leg swelling in previous races. These ones did the job. I wore the same pair every day of racing BUT by the last stage I did have a tiny hole in the big toe area. My camp socks were a little luxurious. I could have left them at home and survived but it was nice to put something less compressive on for camp.

Running Shorts. 8″ tight run shorts (no longer stocked). Not the most flattering length for race photos, but my primary concern was chafing. I typically get bad chafing between my thighs so I needed an inseam that would protect against this. Overall I am “mid” on these shorts. I don’t ever grab them out of my drawer post-race because the fabric is a bit thick for me – not as “weightless” as I’d typically like. Right after I came back from MDS we released the lululemon Go Further 8” High Rise Race Short – these are potentially the ones I would’ve chosen if going again (or maybe 8” Fast and Free shorts… if/when we have that inseam available).

Camp Shorts: lululemon, no longer stocked. I made the distinct decision to bring a pair of camp shorts. I wanted to be able to get my sweaty clothes off and to lounge around in something a bit comfier. The ones I chose fit away-from-body, have a 6” inseam and a tight short-length liner inside to give me enough coverage to feel comfortable.

Underwear: lululemon UnderEase High Rise Thong. I threw out my underwear every 1-2 days. For me, this was the best option to stay clean (and to help prevent a UTI) and to not carry dirty gear all week. 

Gaiters: Raidlight Desert Sand Protect Gaiters. You cannot do this race without gaiters. The best solution is to have velcro sewn and glued right onto your shoes by a shoemaker. It took my shoemaker 4-5 weeks to sew them on. My Raidlight gaiters performed well in the sand. I did not have to remove sand from my shoes at any point during the race. BUT they RIPPED at an aid station during the 50-miler stage. They came apart where the gaiter fabric meets the velcro and I had to hand-sew them back together at an aid station. Another man in our tent had the same Raidlight gaiters and they ALSO ripped in the same spot. Next time, I’d use the WAA gaiters – which a few racers in our tent had. Beyond not ripping during the race, they were also easier to get on with the velcro closure system at the back of the gaiter. 

Sewing kit. I brought two sewing needles and some heavyweight thread. I originally brought this in case a seam of my pack burst open, but this ended up being my saving grace when the gaiters ripped – both for myself and my tentmate. 

Runners: Topo Athletic Mtn Racer 3. These are my day-to-day trail running shoes. They are good for me and I had no issues with them during the race. When I raced in Costa Rica in 2020 I experienced severe heat swelling and had to borrow another racer’s shoes (she had dropped from the race and had a pair of shoes 1.5 sizes larger than mine). So, for this race I wasn’t taking any chances. I brought 3 different sizes with me to Morocco, all with velcro for gaiters. I ended up wearing a half size larger than normal. I chose not to bring sandals for camp and would make this decision again. Besides walking to the medical tent, water tent, or washrooms – walking around camp is minimal and your runners should feel comfortable enough for this.

Light windbreaker: lululemon Men’s Multi Pocket Running Anorak. It was thin, simple, and light. I chose a men’s jacket because I like a boxier fit. I didn’t wear this jacket until I was on the bus back to Ouarzazate after crossing the finish line. It was my only piece of gear that did not stink, so changing into it before sitting on the bus for six hours was both a joy to myself and likely to those around me. I also did not bring a down jacket because I couldn’t afford to get an ultralight one that would fit in my pack. This made me nervous at the outset of the race, but because I had opted for a warmer sleeping bag I figured it would be okay. For reference I typically run cold and was not cold the entire time. As long as I stayed in the tent at night (easy to do with all the sandstorms) I found that the tent held in our collective heat pretty well. That being said – it would’ve been utterly miserable to be cold and the weather is completely unpredictable. Some racers on the 50-miler stage would’ve needed an extra layer given the temperature and rainstorms we experienced.

Buff: Just a normal colourful, light merino wool buff from BUFF headwear – that I bought from the snack truck on our Laugavegur trip last summer. I wore this around my neck almost every day. In 2025 there was ice water at the aid stations which was poured on our head/neck by the medics. The buff held onto some of that water for a fair amount of time afterward, which kept me cooler, longer. The buff also helped in sandstorms. At night time I would wet my buff and wear it over my eyes and mouth to help me “sleep” in the dry air.

Sun Hat: Outdoor Research Sun Runner Cap. Although I don’t wear hats much at home (it often causes me to overheat) in my mind this was essential. For hot days I was thankful to have full coverage. All racers had something slightly different. Some used similar hats, some ball caps, some buffs, some foregoing hats altogether. For two stages there was cloud coverage so I ended up taking off the hat altogether or wearing it as a normal ball cap without the neck cover.

Sunglasses: Smith Bobcat Chromapop. I wanted a pair of sunglasses that wouldn’t distort the color of the scenery too much – and these worked quite well for that. I purchased these ones specifically as they had more side-coverage than my normal sunglasses. Did I realistically need that? Maybe not – but I never had any sandstorms while running so in a different year, with different weather, it might’ve needed it. The fit never felt quite right for me (which is my own fault, really) so I am a bit lukewarm overall. If you have a smaller head and need some sunglasses, let me know!  

Running Poles: Black Diamond Distance Carbon Z Poles. This was another decision that many people were divided on. I decided to bring my poles because they had been essential in my TranSelkirks race in 2023 when I had a minor injury on one of the stages. I also run with them quite a bit in the mountains so I am comfortable using them. In hindsight, with the course changing in 2025 to include much more sand, I found my poles to be essential. While others were bear-crawling up dunes, my poles gave an advantage. I’d absolutely bring them again. 

Titanium Spork. If I wanted something even lighter I could’ve just brought a plastic spork.

KT Tape. In 2025, the medics did not have any tape to provide to racers at checkpoints. I had ~6 strips of KT Tape that I slid into my bag last minute and these were a life-saver when I had a shin splint pop up on Stage 4. For the amount of weight they are, it is so worth it to have them.

Contact Lenses. I have a -2.0 and -2.25 prescription for glasses. I made the decision to take contact lenses (dailies) so that I did not wreck my glasses in all the dirt and sweat and dust. After Stage 1, one of the racers in my tent had a mild eye infection and I decided that potentially getting an eye infection from poking my eyes with dirty hands was not worth it. So I threw out my contact lenses and carried on through the race without my full vision. It was fine. Two racers in my tent wore their glasses the whole time and it seemed to be okay for them.

Squirrel’s Nut Butter Chafe Cream (56g). I could’ve brought a smaller tube. I only chafed in two places: underarms on my bra line during AND on my buttcheeks. The buttcheeks were a new one for me and I am not sure how I could’ve avoided it – but the nut butter solved it.

Ear plugs: I lost mine after night one and really regretted it.

Toilet paper + Wet Wipes: I was so nervous about not having enough. I came home with extra but I would rather that than the opposite. I also had no GI issues the whole time, which helped. 

Soap: Sea To Summit Pocket Hand Soap which I used to wash my hands and my hair (!!!) + Olay Cleansing Melts (each one cut in half) to wash my face in the morning, after running, and before bed. 

 

 

Little luxuries I would bring again:

 

Perfume: I brought a tiny (but comedically heavy) Glossier solid perfume that smelled SO good. The scent of sweet floral on day four in the Sahara Desert while you are sitting in your own filth is absolutely unmatched. I would highly recommend it.   

Letters from home: This was the first race where my family and friends were not there with me in some way. My husband arranged for each of my immediate family members (and my best friend) to write me a note of encouragement. Each night or day I would open up a letter, with a new set of words and messages that would propel me through the next day. It was the sweetest. 

Headphones: Jabra Elite 7 Active Bluetooth Headphones. I used these on three of the stages, connected to my phone. I don’t usually run with music, but was glad to have it. 

Phone: I used it mostly for photos. I also sent a message here and there to my family and my coach when I had service in the bivouac, which was always a huge boost for morale.  

Cork Ball: for manual release work. I used this every day and I shared it with others.

Battery Pack: necessary to charge my phone, headphones, and running watch.

 

Things I borrowed from others: 

 

Leuko tape: I usually bring this along but completely forgot. I ended up making a friend pre-race and using her leuko tape to pre-tape my shoulders and my lower back. Would I have chafed without it? I am not sure but I didn’t want to take any chances. The tape stayed on for the whole 9 days I was in the desert. 

Xanax: In 2025 the sand storms at night were relentless. It was so, so difficult to sleep. Many racers were only getting 2-4 hours of sleep per night. On night 3 one of my tentmates gave me a Xanax and the resulting sleep felt race-saving. I would not rely on this for every race, but I think it is a good thing to have in the medical kit juuuuuuuuuust in case of emergency.  

Paracetamol: Others’ in camp provided this to me on two occasions. First to soothe my shoulders from my heavy pack after Stage 2. And the next time was after the 50 miler (on the rest day) to help with my shin splint. 

2Toms Sportshield Blister Prevention: One of my tentmates offered this for my toes each morning, so I said yes, of course. Did it help? It might have. It might not have. But it definitely didn’t make anything worse. I’ll need to try this at home on the trails before a full review.

 

 

 

 

A NOTE ON BLISTER CARE

 

The blister care setup was phenomenal at this race. There was a large medical tent where you could self-care your blisters each day. It looked like this: you would sit on a stool and put your feet in a tub, wash them with iodine, and then cover them with thin, stretchy blue medical slippers. Then you’d walk into the tent and sit on the floor at a floor-level round table. In the middle of the table there would be everything you needed for your blisters: antiseptic wipes, iodine, needles to pop the blisters, gauze, and thin medical tape.

 

The medics would advise you if needed, but would only typically provide hands-on support if you had what were deemed “complex” blisters. Which were usually blisters that had the potential to cause you to drop from the race. One man in our tent had blisters the entire size of the ball of his foot, on both feet by the second last stage. These ones were considered complex. Otherwise, blisters in our tent were fairly non-issue. I pre-taped my heels, but otherwise no pre-taping, and came away with 2 gnarlier blisters (one on my big toe, one on my second toe) and 5-6 small ones (around the edges of my heels) + a little bit of hot spotting on my arches.

 

NUTRITION

 

The mandatory number of calories for the race is 2,000 per day for 14,000 total calories. I made the intentional decision to take more than this. The tradeoff would be weight. But I understood that being on the edge of hunger the entire time would not allow me to “enjoy” the race. I had also spent a ton of time working on fueling during training and understood how proper fueling radically changed my mindset and expanded my capacity and capabilities as a runner. 

One thing I didn’t anticipate was the pre-race pressure to remove food from your pack. As many racers finished their final packing, I kept hearing “my pack’s still too heavy… I’ll remove xyz food or abc nutrition”. Food seemed to be the dominant lever to pull to reduce weight.

I had to work hard to resist that lever. I did not want to be part way through the race, watching others eat food while I was hungry. When I felt the urge coming on, I just reminded myself “a very rational maddie chose this food, don’t let an emotion/nerves-filled irrational one take over”.

As a result, my fueling strategy was one of the highlights of my race. I ate what felt like the right amount – I wasn’t ever sitting with a grumbling stomach with no food to fill it. And on course, it never felt like hunger was holding me back. Was it heavy? Absolutely yes. The first two days my pack weighed a lot and I felt it. But the tradeoff was that I had sustained energy through all 6 stages — which was not the case for many other racers.

My calories by stage were: 2790, 3010, 6780 (50 miler + rest day), 3370, 2720, 2000 

The structure of my food was breakfast, run fuel — and after finishing each day — recovery shake, lunch, and dinner. The exception was the 50-miler where I made lunch on-course.

 

Details on my camp food:

• I cold soaked all of my meals so that I didn’t need to bring a stove and pot – I didn’t want the weight and I didn’t want to have to make a fire after running. I would simply put cold water into the bag and leave it to rehydrate for 1-2 hours. It was fine. I was hungry so a bit of crunchy rice or noodles didn’t matter too much.
• A tentmate offered me some hot water on three of the nights, which I gladly accepted. It allowed me to make my mac and cheese with a broth cube, which nourished my soul. 
• For breakfast I had two meals in rotation: 
  • Holos Overnight Oats and a Precision Fuel Chew. The Holos was a bit hard to get down but it gave me enough calories to kick off the day. 
  • Alpine Air Strawberry Granola with Milk. THIS WAS DELICIOUS. 820 calories. I ate the whole package for each of two different mornings and it slapped.
• For lunches I had three in rotation: Nomad Nutrition’s Red Lentil Stew, Southwest Breakfast Skillet, Kathmandu Curry. They were flavourful, compact, and a good mid-day snack. The Red Lentil Stew was my preferred one because it had big potato chunks in it.  
• For dinner I had two meals in rotation:
  • Backpacker’s Pantry Pad Thai. I have had this one a lot in the backcountry but found it too spicy this time. The rice noodles also didn’t cold-soak well.
  • Alpine Air Forever Young Mac & Cheese. I am not a cheese gal as I find it hard to eat at times. But I tried this one before I left home after my husband raved about it. It has a light, thin cheese sauce and I consistently looked forward to it.  

 

Details on my running fuel:

• I planned for 250 calories per hour, with the number of hours being how long it would take me to run the approximate distance for the stage.  
• I brought a combination of Skratch High Carb Drink Mix (singles, for convenience on course), Huma Gels, and Precision Gels. This was the first race that I didn’t eat “real food” while running so I spent a lot of time in training getting my stomach used to it.
• I front-loaded my gels in the week because of their weight — the last two stages I only used Skratch High Carb Drink Mix. My mouth was definitely raw-ish toward the end of the race from the sugar. But, Skratch High Carb mix has been a game changer for my fueling. I can always get it down, no problem.
• For the back half of the 50-miler stage I brought a couple Skratch Protein Bars.
• I also had a tiny baggie of nerds clusters + sour patch kids rationed out for each day of the race. They were delicious. This is not included in my calorie count above – and was about 120-150 more calories per day. 
• Right after I finished each course I would drink a Skratch Chocolate Recovery Shake which basically tastes like nesquik and was such a welcomed treat. 
• Another tentmate brought crushed salt and vinegar potato chips and that was the only thing I saw someone else eat the whole time that I was envious of.

 

WELL! There you are.

All the nitty gritty details of what I took to the Marathon des Sables. Part of me thinks that I could get my pack even lighter if I did it again – and maybe there’s some truth to that. But I also felt like I didn’t have much to spare. Everything I brought, I used. And the small luxuries made an otherwise very tough living and camp environment just a tiny bit more manageable. 

Gear decisions are deeply personal. Lean on your past experiences, take everyone’s advice with a grain of salt, and trust your gut! You know you, best. And if you’d ever like to chat about my experience — both the gear or the experience itself, you can always reach out.