Sahara Challenge 2012 Update: Jukka Conquered The Desert!

A few weeks back, on February 5th, Jukka completed the journey in just 31 days. The run started in the shadows of Morocco's Anti-Atlas mountains and proceeded south through the desert until he reached the Mauritania border, at which time Jukka had already entered the Sahel Desert. Averaging nearly 52km (32 miles) per day, the ultrarunner actually completed the challenge a few days ahead of schedule.

As I write this, Jukka is already back home in Finland, where I'm assured that he is resting and recuperating from this long run. But I'm also told that he is already planning his next endurance challenge for either 2013 or 2014, which will of course involve running across yet another desert. Can't wait to hear what's next!

Congratulations on completing the Sahara Challenge Jukka!

One Man Epic: Back To The Desert

Last fall, I wrote a piece about Australian adventurer Tom Smitheringale, who as the time was just setting out on a new expedition through the Sahara Desert. Tom started his journey at Lake Nasser, located in southern Egypt, and kayaked 1200km (745 miles) to Cairo, ending the first leg of the adventure in the shadow of the Great Pyramid. After that, he traveled to Luxor, where he joined a bedouin tribe on an 800+ mile trek across the open desert by camel.

While that seems like it would be plenty of time for Tom to get his fill of the desert, that was just a warm-up for what he has planned next. According to this story on the Canoe & Kayak website, Tom now intends to travel across the Sahara, starting at the Nile and ending at Morocco's Atlantic Coast. Along the way, he'll cover more than 7500km (4660 miles), mostly on camel, crossing the Libyan desert into Niger, followed by Mali and Mauritania. When he has finished that leg of the journey, he'll travel to Morocco, where he'll cross the Atlas Mountains on foot, descend into the flatlands, and finish his overland adventure at the Atlantic Ocean. But event that landmark won't mark the end of the expedition, as he'll then get back into his kayak and paddle along the Moroccan coast until he reaches Casablanca.

You'll be able to follow along with Tom's adventure, which he continues to use as a vehicle to raise funds for the Starlight Children's Foundation, on his website OneManEpic.com.

Seems like this will once again be a great expedition to follow. Thankfully things have quieted down in Libya, which should make travel there a bit easier, although by the sounds of it, traveling through Egypt hasn't always been a bowl of cherries either. Good luck to Tom on this next desert adventure.


One Man Epic: Mission Sahara from Dave Brosha on Vimeo.

Sahara Challenge 2012: Solo Across The Sahara

While we're on the topic of very long runs today, an epic new run just got underway last week. Finnish ultrarunner Jukka Vilijanen is attempting to run solo across the Sahara Desert, covering 2000km (1242 miles) in just 35 days. Jukka calls this run the Sahara Challenge 2012.

The run officially began last Friday, with Vilijanen knocking off 50km (31 miles) in his first day. Since then, he's been maintaining a steady pace in widely varying conditions, and allowing us to track his progress as he goes. Jukka is using the Sports Tracker mobile app to broadcast his position, which is a very cool approach. Not only does it keep us connected to his run, it is something we could use ourselves in our own workouts.

If you recognize Jukka's name, it could be because we followed his Trans-Kalahari run back in 2010, when he a couple of friends ran across the Kalahari Desert in Botswana. This time he's going it alone however, which will make for a completely different, and more challenging, experience. Throughout the next month, while on the trail, he is expected to consume between 5000 and 7000 calories per day, and will be running 40 marathons in that time frame. It's always nice to have someone to chat with and share the hardships with, but for a solo runner, these long expeditions can be very lonely indeed.

Good luck to Jukka. We'll be following along!

The 2012 Sahara Race Begins Sunday

The 2012 edition of the Sahara Race is scheduled to get underway this Sunday, when 160 runners from 40 different countries will set off on a week-long race through the hottest desert on Earth. The course, which is 250km (155 miles) in length, will take them directly into the heart of the Sahara in Egypt, where daytime temperatures are expected to hit roughly 50°C / 122°F.

This is the seventh running of the event, which is part of the 4 Deserts series of ultra-runs. The format for this race is well established, with the runners, who are completely self supported except for water stations, setting out on a stage of the race each day. Most of those stages are 40km (24.8 miles) in length, although Stage 5, commonly known as "The Long March," doubles that distance. The final stage, which is next weekend, is just 10km (6.2 miles) in length and finishes in the shadow of the Great Pyramids in Giza.

As usual, you'll be able to follow the event at the official website, with daily updates to standings and news from the course. Most of the runners are already in Egypt and are preparing to get underway on Sunday in what is sure to be a grueling test of endurance, through an amazingly beautiful setting.