Thursday 3rd April

Our first day on Marathon des Sables 2003 - flying out to the town of Ouarzazate in the Anti-Atlas Mountains -- was pretty straightforward altogether. There weren't even any major delays to write home about.

Arriving at check-in at Gatwick on Thursday morning it was easy to spot the other Marathon des Sables runners. They were the lean, mostly-clean shaven men each surrounded by a heap of kit. The conversation was mainly about their training regime over the past few months, or how they were going to fit the mountain of food and clothing into their racing rucksack.

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There were around 200 Brits and Irish on the flight and we reached Ouarzazate in the afternoon. The moment we set foot onto Moroccan soil the blanket of warm air closed around us. It was also welcome to be greeted by sunny skies.

We were transferred to the extremely comfortable 5* Berbere Palace Hotel and spent the rest of the afternoon sitting by the pool with other competitors, drinking and chatting about the races that we had taken part in since we last met.

The evening meal was a lavish affair and the hotel was obliging enough to provide us with plenty of material for our main pre-occupation at the moment ? carbo-loading. The tables were groaning with plates of rice, pasta and fresh bread which we shovelled down.