Laois driving instructor to run world's toughest desert ultra marathon

A Laois driving instructor is preparing to run an extraordinarily difficult ultramarathon this Easter in the Sahara desert.

The 40th annual Marathon de Sables in Morocco is 270km long, with hundreds of runners crossing the desert over seven days, carrying their own heavy packs, battling intense heat and cold, exhaustion and dehydration.

For Mountmellick resident and retired soldier Tony McAllister, he says it actually eases the stress of his day job teaching learner drivers.

It will be his third time to run an ultramarathon in the Sahara, but this one is a special one for him.

He spoke to the Leinster Express / Laois Live.

"I always wanted to do the Marathon de Sables. Before you had to apply and it was quite difficult to get into it, I was on a waiting list for three years then gave up and went with the American group called Racing the Planet in 2005 and 2008, this one is with the original French group who started the Marathon de Sables. It's the 40th anniversary that's why I decided to do it."

He describes the dangers.

"Obviously the heat is the most dangerous. We don't have that kind of heat here. It's about 35 degrees, so to get your body to acclimatise very quickly is the biggest problem. At night it gets down to under 10 degrees."

A photo from the Marathon de Sables website.

Tony said that the total cost of taking part is over €6,500, so going out early to acclimatise slowly would be too expensive. 

"Running with the pack doesn't really bother me, the weight of it. You have to carry everything in your pack for the seven days. You have to carry your water bottles. At every checkpoint they stamp your race passport and you refill your bottles. 

"They supply your tent at night but you have to pack everything else, your gear and food. If you forget essentials like sunblock they forfeit you by adding to your finish time. 

"It's quite difficult to run. Once the heat gets up, to keep hydrated and move on different terrains, from trail to sand dunes to black lava rock. The dunes are quite high and soft so you're kind of slipping all the time."

It starts on Easter Sunday April 5 so Tony is bringing a bag of chocolate mini eggs as a pre race treat.

The 270km is split across six days with one day being a 100km run, finishing on day six with an "easy" flat half marathon. Competitors must keep a minimum 3.5km/h pace.

He had to pass a medical and ECG to qualify, and having recovered from keyhole surgery on his knee, is now training hard.

"I train 16 hours a week. My coach Bradley Brown does resistance training and nutrition with me. I do 80% of my training on soft trails in Emo Court, 20% in the Slieve Bloom Mountains. On a Sunday I'd do four hours and go to the gym for an hour, on other days about an hour in the gym and an hour's run. Saturday is a rest day."

Tony McAllister training carrying his pack in Emo Court woods.

Aged in his late 40's, Tony has three grown sons.

"I'd say they'll be glad when its over, their hearts are broke with all the training I'm doing."

Asked what drives him to do ultramarathons, Tony says he asks himself the same question.

"I suppose it's just a sense of personal achievement. The running is just my stress reliever. The work stresses me and the running relieves that," he said.

He took no pictures on his previous Saharan adventures 20 years ago, because he didn't bring a phone, keeping his pack light.

"I'll definitely take pictures this time," Tony said.

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Tony served 28 years in the Irish Defence forces, as a Corporal in Signals in the Curragh Camp. He completed seven missions abroad, in Africa, South Lebanon, Liberia, Chad and Mali. 

The war on Iran could become an issue yet.

"So far everything is going ahead. We fly into Morocco so that's just off the Canary Islands. At the moment there's no issues."