Marathon des Sables on its way

The mother of desert stage races, Marathon des Sables, started for the 23rd time on Sunday. 

According to the runners it's been a tough race with huge dunes - and plenty of hot temperatures around +40C (104 F) of course. 

Stage one was 32 km and stage two 38 km. Today's stage will be 41 km. I bet it won't get any easier for the runners after that.

Among the 820 runners my favorites to win are Marco Olmo, the 59-year-old Italian who has won UTMB twice (12. after stage two) and Ian Sharman from London, England (16.), who holds the current marathon world record dressed as Elvis.