TEAM RACING
This is a challenge of the first order and when very good runners join forces if offers a genuine opportunity to get a place on the podium. There really is everything to play for. This year once more the battle was fierce and the gaps between certain teams could scarcely have been narrower. Team members can of course decide run together the whole time but equally each competitor can run at his/her own rhythm and hope to move up a few places. Whether made up of colleagues, friends or members of the armed forces, we've noted that more and more teams are running to raise money for charity.

HOW OLD?
Sporting worth has little to do with age since the AHANSAL brothers were just 20 years old when they first participated. When you look at the results, you see that 6 runners out of the top 10 are around aged 30 and already have a fair amount of experience under their belts. Out of these 6 runners, 5 are Moroccan. The best Europeans, however, are nearly all Veterans 1, even V2 in Marco OLMO's case. Who's going to follow on from them? Why start adventure racing so late?

A WOMAN'S PRESENCE
Out of the 74 women who started the race, 69 crossed the finish line. Competition was once again hot and it took considerable effort to get a place on the podium. These female competitors have plenty of determination, but also pace their course well and wisely, and manage to keep smiling throughout it all. Now where do they learn to do that? Many a man could pick up a tip or two...

RANKINGS, DIPLOMA and PHOTOS
Having taken into account the outstanding objections, the rankings are now final. They were sent in May to all the participants, along with the official diploma for ranked competitors and the photo order form.

ANTIDOPING CONTROLS
The FFA (French Athletics Federation) states that all 9 controls carried out during the 19th MDS tested negative. These controls concerned above all the top runners in the rankings, but several were also done at random so that everyone felt concerned by the situation. To date, MDS is still the only adventure race to actively fight against doping.

THE FILM
The 19th MDS film, made by Cimbaly production company, will be sent to competitors at the end of July. Those who were not on this year's event can obtain a copy of the cassette by using the order form published in a future edition of the Sahara News.

darbaroud.com web-site statistics during the 19th MDS
Number of hits: 10 047 810
Number of page views: 1 786 554
Number of visitors sessions: 152 637
Number of unique visitors: 51 142
15,967 e-mails were received from all over the world during the 19th MDS and distributed to competitors on the bivouac.

A phenomenon?
He's quite obviously an exceptional runner but there's nothing miraculous about his progress; it's the fruit of long hard work and experience.
We first saw his name on the 7th MDS when he finished 3rd aged just 20. He then came back 3 times winning 5th place on two occasions and pulling out once. At that time he was beaten by renowned and intimidating athletes like Corredor (SP), Derksen (R), Olmo (I), Costa (F) or Joly (F). During those learning years, it was the long stage that gave him the most trouble so he worked hard to remedy the situation. It took him five attempts to finally clinch victory and when it did happen it was by beating the best: Corredor, Olmo and Derksen on the 12th MDS. On that occasion his lucky star shone bright: his brother Mohamed and Derksen from Russia, who had been in the lead, got badly lost during the 78km stage. Mohamed beat him the following year but from then on Lhacen AHANSAL has notched up 6 consecutive victories which owe nothing to chance. His secret is simple: the MDS is his n°1 objective and he spends all year preparing for it.