There was a time when you only found yourself running through the desert, burning under the relentless sun, desperately battling to stay alive if the rest of your platoon had been wiped out and Rommel was hot on your heels. Now, as one of the things you must do before you die, or maybe more accurately, things you might do and die at the same time, the Marathon des Sables is a big calendar event. Starting on 6th April this year’s Marathon Des Sables will once again host around 1,300 competitors fully committed to extracting every last drop of moisture from their bodies.