Marathon des Sables: Rachid El Morabity, Aziza Raji Win 35th Edition

08 October 2021 Printable Version

Errachidia - Morocco's Rachid El Morabity and Aziza Raji on Friday won the 35th edition of the Marathon des Sables (MDS), following their victory in the 5th stage linking Boulchrhal to Jebel Irhfelt N'tissalt over a 42.2-kilometer-long trail.

In men's category, El Morabity won the marathon with a time of 21h17min32sec.

This is El Morabity's 8th victory in the Marathon des sables and 7th consecutive one. With this victory, he gets a little closer to Lahcen Ahensal's record (10 victories).

In a statement to the press, El Morabity said he was pleased with this victory, noting that the gap between him and his competitors, including his brother Mohammed, allowed him to minimize his effort.

As for women, Aziza Raji won the competition with a time of 30h30min24sec, ahead of Tomomi Bitoh (Japan, 34h39min17sec) and Aicha Omrani (France, 35h47min48sec).

In a similar statement, the Moroccan athlete stressed that this feat is a dream come true after 4 unsuccessful attempts, expressing her pride to see Moroccan women investing more in extreme sports.

A total of 672 runners of 41 nationalities participated in MDS 35th edition, covering a trail of 250 kilometers in total, divided into 6 stages.

This marathon is the first desert race in the world to be run in self-sufficiency (no meals are provided to competitors). More than 22,000 runners have participated in MDS since its launch in 1986.