Marathon des Sables, live.

Six stages and about 250 km across the Sahara

The Marathon des Sables is the self-sufficient stage race in the Moroccan Sahara that has given its name to a whole family of desert events since 1986.

The MDS Legendary 2027 is the 41st edition of the Marathon des Sables. The first one, in 1986, had 23 pioneers. The 2011 edition was the first to pass 1,000 runners, and the 40th edition in 2026 set a record with 1,500 participants.

The 2027 race week starts on Friday 2 April with the transfer to the bivouac, followed by technical and medical checks on Saturday 3 April. The first stage is on Sunday 4 April and the sixth and last on Saturday 10 April, with prize giving and a gala on Sunday 11 April. Over six stages, participants cover about 250 km, including one long stage of around 80 km that the organiser calls the ultimate challenge of the adventure.

The rules make this race what it is. Participants carry all their own food and equipment for the week, with at least 2,000 kcal a day, while the organisation supplies water during the race and the nights are spent at the bivouac. The landscape is one of towering dunes and rocky plateaus, and the stages can be run or walked.

The organiser describes eleven days of disconnection, nine of them in the desert. The courses are marked with stakes every 50 to 100 m, every participant carries a GPS tracker with an emergency button, and a medical tent is open at the bivouac at all times.

On Livebib you can follow a participant who chooses to share their own live position from the phone they carry. This is not the organiser's timing, and the official results come from the Marathon des Sables organisation.