La Route du Sel 555
(aka Trans 555)

This journal was transcribed from a report 'phoned in by satellite. Connections were not always good and messages got garbled, so this may not be up to my usual standard. Originally posted on EventRate.

More than twice the distance of the Marathon des Sables (MdS), the Route du Sel 555 is probably the longest desert footrace in the world - it's certainly the longest I've ever come across. There are a few other differences - for example the Marathon des Sables is a stage race which means runners are on the move for up to 6 hours most days with a rest of about 18. The Route du Sel however (or Trans 555 as it was known amongst runners whilst in the palnning stages) is non-stop which means runners will rest for a total of 4-5 hours a day and run the remainder. The cut-off time for completion is nine days which is two days more than the Marathon des Sables. But in many other respects, the race is similar, i.e. it covers a remote quarter of the Sahara Desert (well, technically the Tenere Desert in Niger) and is likely to be very hot by day and nippy at night.

Fortunately runners are not obliged to carry all their own belongings on their backs, but can leave drop-bags at checkpoints (CP's) along the course. They do need to carry sleeping bags, hydration systems (i.e. water bottles), headtorches and a GPS to navigate.

The Race Director, Alain Gestin, has organised many other extreme races, including the Trans 333, which I was fortunate to complete in 2001. His many attempts at hosting the Trans 555 before now have been foiled for a variety of curious reasons. For example, one year the reason given was that the runway in Niger hadn't been finished.

However, it looks like the inaugural race is about to begin in a few days' time. On Wednesday 3rd November 30 runners, mainly from Europe (with an American and a Polish/Canadian thrown in for good measure) will set off on what promises to be something of an "epic". Although we arrive in Niger on Saturday we have a two-day 600km drive to the start in 4x4's followed by a day of preparation.

How I managed to get a place is anybody's guess - this is by far the longest race I've ever attempted, and I'm already beginning to feel that forces are conspiring against me. Three weeks ago I had to send my passport to the Race Director in France so he could get my visa for Niger (we don't have a Niger Embassy in the UK). Sadly it hasn't returned yet. And I'm due to depart for Niger later today (it's now 3.45 am and I'm still packing). So I have to try to persuade the UK Passport Office that a) I'm a legitimate UK resident, b) that I have had a passport before and c) that this is a business trip… Well, thanks to a major men's lifestyle magazine this is actually quite true. The editor kindly agreed to fax the Passport Office and confirm that I've been commissioned to write an article about the race and that it will be easier if I can actually participate. So at crack of dawn I have to be in a queue at the Passport Office and I'm just hoping that the trip doesn't have to be aborted at the last minute - after all, I have several sponsors to please, all with high expectations of me making it all the way to the start line…

Communication from the Race Director has been scarce, but highly entertaining when it's come. Whoever translates the letters/emails from French to English may need a little more practice. Here's an excerpt from the last letter I received from the Race Director. I'm not sure but I think it's meant to be motivating…

"Hello my dear runners! The fever goes up, the big day now arrives to big steps. We are all in the last preparations for the big crossing of the Tenere ocean. I am as you. The fever? I also have it. I try to take the event with serenity in order to good all to control….Promised juror I would be to your feet to sustain you and to shoulder you in the big crossing."

He finishes with the last sentence in block capitals:

"The 555……YOU ARE GOING TO REMEMBER OF IT TO YOU A LONG TIME!"

And the equipment list is no less confusing with mandatory items like

"your pharmacy perso-frontal lamp"

and

"some bags plastics trash can for your deposits in the CP".

The mind boggles.

Yesterday, Thursday, was spent charging around London trying to speak to Passport officials, collecting my new racing specs from Vision Express (one of my sponsors), buying last minute items of essential kit like batteries and earpieces for the MP3 player and having meetings, interrupted only by me repeatedly calling my poor wife at home to find out what deliveries from sponsors had arrived successfully. It was a hectic day, and today looks remarkably similar already.

I'm excited about trying out all the new sponsor kit I've been given, for example the new Montrail Desert Storm trail shoes with the built in gaiters, designed to keep the sand out, the technical x-socks and the Odlo shorts and tops. Lifesystems provided me with an excellent first aid kit…. Actually, on second thoughts I'm not really looking forward to having to use this although I suspect with 555 kilometres of desert it's a fair bet the blister treatment may get some action.

My energy levels during the race should stay high thanks to a huge crate of food which arrived today from Expedition Foods stuffed full of freeze-dried boil in the bag meals, energy powders and food bars.

So all in all, I'm just about ready.

The only thing I need now is a passport….

Pre Race update

"This is Luke Cunlife reporting from Niger on the eastern side on Tuesday 2nd of November - just giving you an update on the Route de Sel 555 which begins tomorrow morning. The Route De Sel is a route between Bilma and Agides to the West of Bilma about 600km away - and is a route for transporting salt from the salt mines"

We arrived in Agides on saturday, despite the fact that I didn't have a visa and only just got a passport reissued at the very last moment on Friday. We arrived safely and met the other runners and checked into the hotel - which is luxury by local standards - which means it had locking doors and running water.

We had the breifing in the evening - in which we were told about the emergency satellite beacons which we are being issued with for the race - which are incredibly heavy - very cumbersome and each have a huge pair of batteries to go with them. Each of the batteries are being charged by the organisers as I speak. These beacons can transmit messages when used - which somebody located in Brittany of all places will then be able to relay back to the organisers in Niger - which is quite interesting. Also we have a GPS which we've been issued.

Now I met up with a chap here called Wilko who I've met before in the Yukon, and he's a dutch Green Beret, he's pretty switched on and knows what he's talking about.. and he was explaining that he had a spare GPS if I wanted to borrow it.. he did say he'd had a few problems with it crashing and falling over and being generally incredibly unreliable - so I thought it might be better than nothing.. - eventually I declined his offer - as the race organiser was to issue us a GPS which was apparently new.. Unfortunately the race organisers GPS is the very same model that Wilko was offering to lend me - so I haven't got a huge amount of faith in it.. but we'll keep our fingers crossed.

The organisation here has been customarily strange and unusual - not the way I would do something myself..but then I'm creative.. The journey to get to Bilma should have been 2 days - but has taken 3 - stuff in 4x4's with breakdowns and punctures all the way down..

Temperatures are around 50C with the nights a more bearable 20C - as we prepare our GPS's with checkpoint cordinates we are all now preparing mentally for the task ahead.

Day 2

It's about ten to four in the afternoon of Thursday and so far i've managed about 60km which is a little less than I would have hoped. It's actually been one of the most horrible experiences I've had in racing for a very long time.. The first two checkpoints came and went quite quikcly - in around 8 hours - but with temperatures now 50 degress (C) both days in the sun and 35 degrees in the shade at the check points - it's incredibly difficult to combat the heat here - and that seems to be the problem most people are having.

So far we've had about 4 retirements that I know of - and the majority of people seem to be suffering a great deal from the heat, blisters and stomach aches - myself included - in the last 18 hours i've not managed to keep anything down food or water, which has been a real problem and leaves me feeling quite weak.

Nonetheless wr're going to push on tonight. I'm accompanied again by Wilko. We run the first stage together - and some of the 2nd where we split up and joined other groups - and then at about 1 o'oclock in the morning he found me asleep by the side of the trail where he woke me up and we continued together to the finish.

All in all - it's a very very tough race - this desert is quite incredible - there is just no shelter anywhere. Anyway - i'll try and come back later with another update..

Day 3

7:45pm Friday 5th November.. and for me unfortunately it been an absolutely disastrous 24 hours which culminated in me retiring from the race at about lunchtime today. The problems I had for the first day and a half just didn't seem to abate. I got progressively weaker - as I was unable to eat or drink anything and keep it down despote several attempts, so unfortunately by lunchtime today it was pretty much all over. So with regret I've had to retire, which leaves me incredibly disappointed as you can imagine.

Temperatures today are low - only 49 degrees celcius! - they were high yesterday apparently according to the organiser who are equally surprised at how incredibly hot it's been - and it seems a lot of the runners are suffering from heat problems as well - so I'm not the only one who's fallen ill of the route.

I had a very long night trying to eat and drink - but finally gave up and had to call it a day. Having been taken out of the race I was then moved forward a couple of checkpoints with the organisers to checkpoint 7, where I bumped into Wilko who was still going strong - although his feet are severely mullered at the moment. He and I swapped shoes and socks..and I'm happy that my shoes & socks that have done very well for me are going to do better for him. After 125km I haven't had a single blister - I'm amazed they worked so well - so many thanks to Montrail for sponsoring me with them.

The leader currently is Alicia Bahreiner and she winning by about a checkpoint at the moment..and she's ahead of Rene Heines who's running second.. Alicia and Rene have both won the Trans 333 in the past so I imagine it's going to be hotly contested last 6 or 7 days.

It's likely that only half the field will finish - if that - so we can only hope the remaining runners in the field keep themselves in fine fettle..

I'll keep you updated for the rest of the week... over and out..

Day 5

Sunday 7th, 5:15pm in the evening. I'm now way up the front of the field with the support crews - in fact at checkpoint 15 or 16 even. At the moment the news is that Alicia is way, way ahead - she has around a 40km lead now over the next two runners, Francis and Rene. Francis and Rene are now running together and behind them is a chap called Gerard and then Patrice.

It's very difficult to interpret placings at present as the news is coming up and down the field from people in various support vehicles at different times.

Alicia had left me a note at this checkpoint - addressed to Eventrate - wchih reads, "It is Hot Hot Hot, This is the most difficult race I have done, only dunes today and 80% soft sand. I got lost this morning and was out of water for 8 hours - thank god I was found by 10am - I have to go I hear the guys are on checkpoint 12" - interesting as when she wrote the note - she was in fact 2 checkpoints ahead of the nearest runners - she I one determined lady.

She's storming ahead - but she says her one wish is for a cold drink - any drink - just cold.

The temperature now is up to 52 degress C - which is a record we believe. In amongst the blistering temperatures the scenery is desolate. flat flat flat, sand sand sand and the occasional line of dunes.

The last I saw of Wilko yesterday - he was doing pretty well - and there has only been one more retirement - bring the retirees list to 6 - which is remarkable given the conditions.

More from the field over the next couple of days.

Day 6

Monday 8th November - 9:30am. At Cp 16 - we've now had half the runners come through here - about 12 runners - and at the moment the runenrs that we've seen are still looking pretty reasonable. Many seem to be going in pairs - obviously finding it easier to travel with someone rather than on their own - although one or two are struggling along on their own.

We had a fairly quite night here - we had some amazing views in the sky - including meteorite showers - absolutely amazing to see. All the runners arriving here overnight spent as little time as possible at the checkpoint - in order to keep going while the air is cool and they have some shade or darkness.

Right now it is becoming a litle brighter - a little hotter- and runners that arrive in middle of the day will probably stay around until about 4 in the afternoon. The vast majority of the field seem to be avoiding racing in the midday heat - which lasts from around 11am until about 4pm. Whlst they don't run during this time - it's also too hot to sleep - but at least the can get some rest and try to find some shade at each of the checkpoints.

As far as I know at the front we still have Alicia - followed by Rene. The last runner through this checkpoint was Jacques Morel - a veteran of many of these types of race. He was having a few problems with blisters and nose bleeds and things like that - but he is going very well. Interestingly he works all year on an oil rig so he's unable to do any training. So I asked him how many races he does a year - he replied - one. I asked him how much training he puts in - he said - none - which is pretty impressive. Jacques arrived with an italian runner - Fabio Civati. Jaxques left a little head of him - but I'm sure Fabio will catch up and they'll run together.

Overnight we had various runners come through - Patrick Bonnot, Luc Bouday to name a couple.

Day 7

Good morning it's tuesday the 9th of November, 10:25am. Last night I spent the night at checkpoint 22 which was about 60km from the end of the race. I was very pleased to see Alicia when she arrived in 1st position still - now some 40km ahead of the next runner. But after a break of only half an hour with a little massage and taking on board some electrolytes she went on her way.

The next person I saw come through the checkpoint was around 9 hours later - that was Gerard Cain - he's overtaken Francis and Rene Heintz at some point during the night. This morning I moved on - and this morning I'm at checkpint 24 which is the penultimate checkpoint. When I arrived I asked if Alicia had arrived yet - and I was told she had left 30 minutes earlier. She no longer known as Alicia here - she now known as "the gazelle", and she is definately worthy of the title. Most of the runners have run in groups of 2 or 3 - Alicia has done the entire event on her own.

The organisers were orginally sceptical of her approach. Now they are not only having to come to terms with the fact that the winner will not be French - but also the they will be a woman - which is a source of great amusement to me.

She did leave here 30 minutes ago - and I'm now going by jeep to the finish line where I hope to get some pictures of her as she crosses the line.

Day 8

It's Wedensday 10th November - about 7pm . The race was won yesterday around 4:30pm by Alicia Baharona in an incredible 6 and a half days or something ridiculous... an absolutely fantastic performance. She is the first ever winner of this monsterous race which will please her. She doing lots of press interviews as there are a lot of journalists out here today - and I'm still waiting to get my chance to chat with her - maybe at the restuarant this evening. Second was Gerard Cain and I believe Rene Heintz was third.

A handfull of runners have now finished and they are trickling into the hotel in dribs and drabs - the hotel is about 40 miles away from the finish - about a 2 hour rough drive across the desert and scrub land.

All in all a very exciting race, extremely hot - a lot of people suffering from the heat and blisters - definately not one for the faint hearted. In two weeks time there will be another race out here - the Trans 333 - so people can come and pitch their wits against the elements then. This brings to a close the coverage of the Trans 555 - Route de Sel for this year - over and out!.