French Veteran Aïcha Omrani Excels in Grueling Sahara Marathon des Sables

Aïcha is happy to have participated in the 35th edition of the Marathon des Sables which took place from October 1st to 11th, 2021. A race for which she has been training for a year and a half. The training paid off: First Frenchwoman, she is 1st in her veteran 2 category (50-59 years old); 3rd overall in the women’s category (five minutes behind the winner, Aziza Raji) and ranks 37th overall, men and women combined, reports Le Républicain Lorrain.

In total, 353 competitors out of 682 were able to finish the marathon, i.e. more than 50% of dropouts. At the origin of these dropouts, the exceptional climatic conditions of the month of October, "the gastroenteritis epidemic that hit the marathon", adds the fifty-year-old. The latter encountered other difficulties throughout the race. She had trouble climbing a mountain "with a rope, with the strength" of her "little arms, at night and with a headlamp that was not working well!". "I was slipping, falling, sinking... One dune hid another. It was endless!" she recounts.

On the eve of the 82.5 km and 42 km, "I was drained but I never wanted to give up," Aïcha continues. She had been given a half-hour break before setting off again to finish the last nine kilometers, which earned her her 3rd place in the ranking. "In difficult times, I thought of my family and especially I visualized the face of my 14-month-old grandson Adam, with his curls and his smile," she says, satisfied to have realized her 50-year-old dream. Back from Morocco, she feels "very tired, exhausted". "[...] I walk like a zombie, I lost four kilos..." confides Aïcha Omrani.

Her wish, she will say, is to recover the lost sleep during the long and harsh stages in the Sahara desert, at 55°C in the shade.