Asia's finest take on the Sahara
photo: Next magazine Hong Kong contingent: Simon Murray, SIP Carol Cheng, ex-CIP Chris Hanselman, IP Mark Sharp, Mabel Au Yeung and IP Justin Shave waving the flag at the Marathon des Sables in the Sahara	Back from the Marathon Des Sables, affectionately referred to as "the toughest footrace on earth", a 229-kilometre battle of endurance across an extremely user unfriendly section of the Sahara Desert, Hong Kong Police Inspector Mark Sharp provides a first-hand account of the Hong Kong SAR Team's dash across the dunes... THERE are two reasons why our 5-member team of three serving Hong Kong Police officers, one ex-HKP officer, and a public relations executive ran across 229 kilometres of the Sahara Desert. First, it was a mad thing to do in aid of a good cause. And second, it was there.
There is a strong emphasis on total self-sufficiency, personal resource and time management as well as self administered medical treatment. Apart from this, you have to have the desire to cross a finish line which can be up to 250 kilometres away and is separated by sand dunes, wadis (dry river beds), jebels (mountains of rock and sand) and vast expanses of emptiness similar to the surface of the Moon. Adding to the misery, competitors must carry all their supplies and water in rucksacks, (about 25 pounds when loaded). To top it off, temperatures can be higher than 45 degrees Centigrade and lower than zero. Interestingly, people get their minds around these challenges in very different ways. Mental imagery and micro-goal setting are common methods to get through each day. In terms of fitness preparation we all ran the Hong Kong Airport Marathon and some of us did a couple additional marathons afterwards, but as usual in Hong Kong we always seemed to find excuses not to train or found ourselves having lengthy meetings on PR and logistics in pubs or restaurants. As our team's lady runners, SIP Carol Cheng and Mabel Au-Yeung (Hospice Care) who have run a good score of marathons over the years were exemplary in their focus. Their drive was to be the first Chinese women to complete this gruelling event. Men on the team were: IP Justin Shave who did the event in 1997 and who was the only one of us who knew the score and what to expect; ex-HKPF Chris Hanselman who was anxious to ensure that surplus adipose tissue was removed after a sedentary year running his sports management company; and me. It rained the first two days while we camped out in the desert waiting for the event to start. The temperature hovered at around 6 to 8 degrees Centigrade. The Berber tents, made of old, sewn-together grain sacks, were not waterproof and left about 500 competitors very wet, cold and fed-up. On day two (pre-race) we had to hand in all kit that reminded us of comfort and home. The remaining kit was basically our rations for the next six days - closely examined to satisfy officials that we had at least 2,000 cals a day to survive on. Other mandatory items included: sleeping bag, snake bite kit, stove, flare, first aid kit and some other stuff. Day one of the race was a 24-kilometre stretch across rocks, small dunes and a sandy plateau. The pace was furious with everyone anxious to get moving because of the chilly conditions. Twenty minutes later the sky cleared and we never saw another cloud again. The thermometer climbed to 39C and the Sahara suddenly took on a different character.