Transmarocaine Raid Multisports

Name of Race: Transmarocaine Raid Multisports
Website: http://www.transmarocaine.org
Date of Race: March 9-14, 2009
Location of Race: Morocco
Type of Event: 6-Day (Stage) Adventure Race
Distance/Length of Event: 6 Days, Unsupported, Teams of 2
Team Members: Harper Forbes and Denise Rispolie, representing Breathe Magazine Canada

Several months ago, I decided to send in an application to Breathe Magazine for their contest to win a free entry to this 6-day staged France-based adventure race called Transmarocaine, in the country of Morocco.  I’d never heard of this race, but after taking a look at the past photos and race website, it appeared to be a well run race featuring some spectacular scenery and tough-looking conditions.

With about 3 weeks until race start I was contacted by the editor of Breathe – Joel, that I was the lucky one chosen and would represent their Canadian team going to race the Transmarocaine.  Although not exactly in peak race shape (or even very close!) I contacted my usual AR partner Denise and we happily accepted the role and prepared for our race trip.

Our travel logisitics weren’t exactly ideal (a transfer between Heathrow and Gatwick airports and a 12 hour layover), but we eventually make it to pre-race HQ in Marrakech, Morocco.  Since we had such complex travel arrangements and also flew between several companies we decided to rent our mountain bikes from the organizers instead of flying with our own.  The hardtail bikes they provided were decent enough… hopefully they would last the week!  Once we arrived we were welcomed by the race organizers and although there was a significant french/english language barrier (Denise and I both do not speak french) thankfully they had several organizers who did speak english – most notable was our regular translator Sabine.  I don’t know what we would have done without her!

After a quick night in Marrakech, we boarded a shuttle which would take us 3 hours away to the race start site, Ouarzazate, on the edge of the Sahara desert, south of the Atlas Mountains.  On the shuttle from Marrakech to Ouarzazate we were introduced to the other team also representing Breathe magazine – Team Breathe Magazine USA.  It was so nice to have another english speaking team there.  They were our friends for the week and we got along with them extremely well.

Sunday was our gear check, forms, registration, etc.  This is always the worst part of any adventure race but we got through it and passed everything required.  The race briefing was followed by a traditional Moroccan meal/ceremony at some exotic castle-like building.  With the formalities done, we were finally about to race!

Day 1 started with a ceremonial (non-racing) run with all the racers through the streets of Ouarzazate.  Once we were out of the city it was every team for themselves and the race was finally on!  Denise and I decided instead of switching between riders I would just hammer the run solo to the first PC.  It worked out well, with us getting there in 3rd, right behind two all-male teams.  This was about all that went right on Day 1 for us. Once at PC1 we were instructed to do the canoe orienteering (teams were split between land and canoe navigation sections with time limits).  Once on the water we paddled to all the CP’s but one, not wanting to risk going over the allotted time.  Off the water, I was given the orienteering map.  While we had been warned the maps would be bad, I was really unprepared for how poor the map really was.  No contours, water features completely off the map and shadows representing mountains.  We had 90 minutes on this section and it took almost half that time to get our first CP.  Once I got the hang of the maps, we banged off several more CP’s but the damage was done and we obtained one of the fewest amount of orienteering CP’s (which resulted in huge time penalties).  I was very upset with myself for putting us in such a hole so early in the race… While the maps were bad, I still should have done better.  Now on the bike I tried not to get too mad at myself and just keep us on track for the long bike across the desert landscape (which didn’t go exactly smooth either).   Since Ouarzazate is the “Hollywood” of Morocco (with films such as Gladiator, Lawrence of Arabia, Babel, etc. shot here), much of the ride went by old movie sets featuring large replica’s of pyramids, pharoah halls, castles, etc.  It was a long slog of a ride (even though it was only 38K) and already our lack of outdoor riding was starting to show.  Eventually we made it to PC2 which featured a memory orienteering course through a cool little village.  Back on the bike we slowly made it to the finish line, after some bikewhacking through some cultivated areas and exposed cliffs.  It was a long day, with us racing about 7 hours… and we still had 5 more days of this.   This was going to be a tough week…

Day 2 started out with a 19K uphill ride along an old gravel road to the small area of Takarrat, where we’d do our first ropes of the race.  It had two tyrolean traverses over a river and back and featured ‘stop time’, which occured during all ropes sections in this race (free break!). 

We did the traverse and it was back onto the bikes for another bone-shaking 20K or so.  The last 4K was on a paved road and had an awesome descent into the next PC.  Here we obtained another orienteering map and were given 90 minutes to obtain as many CP’s as possible.  This time the map was descent and my head was on a little more straight and we ended up doing much better with this navigation challenge, passing many teams in the process.  We finished with a couple minutes to spare and then set up our camp for the night.  Soon after setting up I started getting the chills and feeling crappy so I decided to sack it early while Denise mingled with the rest of the racers for the night.

Day 3 was a big day.  It featured a technical mainly singletrack downhill through a mountain valley along with a 30K trek through the Atlas mountains.  Gone were the desert-like conditions we had dealt with the past 2 days – we were now in the mountains with trees and snow (just like home!).  We had a sketchy hike-a-bike to the official start of the day.  We crept along scree slopes, pushed our bikes up over mountain passes and through waterfall fed creeks.  It was beautiful.

Once everyone was accounted for at the start, the race began.  It was a crazy start with a lot of crashes and endos.  Once settled in, Denise and I made our way through the mountains.  The scenery was spectacular, although it did have more hike-a-bikes, which are never too much fun.  Eventually we made it to the PC, where we transitioned to our trekking gear for a long 30K hike up and over several mountain passes. 

We ascended for several hours until finally reaching the mountain pass.  We were rewarded with some of the most stunning scenery we’ve both witnessed.  We also passed through several remote villages that still maintain a very primitive lifestyle of herding, yet always provided us with friendly smiles and “Bonjour!  Ca va?”.  After 6 hours we completed the epic trek, and were now 1/2 done the race.  Once again, after setting up camp I crawled into my tent with more chills, skipped dinner and tried to get some rest to take care of the bug I was fighting.

Day 4 was another beautiful day in the mountains.  It started with a communal 8K descent through several mountain villages before letting us on our own for a 21K climb up 1000m of primitive roads.  Denise and I had a strong climb and made it to the second ropes section of the race.  It was another tyrolean traverse crossing a creek below (traverse site below).

Once we completed the traverse we had a short, but another huge climbing hike.  In under 8K we trekked up 1000 meters of elevation, reaching around 3500m.  The altititude and ascent of the trek made even walking difficult at times.  However, after several hours we once again reached our destination – at the ski hill resort in Morocco at Oukaimedene.  The luxuries of civilization were a welcome sight – fresh cafe au lait, plumbing and bunk beds were all there for us.  Unfortunately the bug I’d been fighting all week had peaked and my time after race day was spent with a dozen or so trips to the bathroom.  My stomach felt like a huge knot and I couldn’t move much from a fetal-like position.  Sabine, our translator and race organizer extrodinaire, hooked me up with some jacked-up French immodium-like pills, which slowly improved my condition.  The only problem was that Day 4 also featured a night orienteering section and I could barely run.  Once the night-O started I was suffering (even more than usual) but Denise dragged my butt around and we did well enough for that section to finally move us into a respectable 4th place co-ed over a friendly Belgian team we’d been racing with (we’d been in 5th and 6th all week in co-ed due to Day 1’s mess).  Once the night-O was over, it was back to bed for me while the others soaked up the ski lodge atmosphere.

I awoke on Day 5 feeling much better than the night before.  The maps were distributed for the day and it revealed a large mountain bike orienteering section.  I was a little nervous because it looked pretty complicated and one could really get mixed up the singltrack trails the map displayed.  Before the race could start we all descending down the mountain ski area together (for safety reasons) and once everyone was assembled Day 5 race was on.  It began a little anti-climactic due to some hike-a-bike through some snowy sections, although once through that, it was a sweet descent to the first bike-O CP.  We moved on through the technical singletrack while maintaining the proper route.  I was feeling much better than the night before and it was awesome ride, reminiscant for me of the mountain biking near Moab, featuring slickrock type terrain.  It was my favorite part of the week long race, although Denise did not enjoy it as much… probably partly due to our bikes… which were on their last legs and sounded like they were about to explode at any minute.  They did hold up and we finished the bike-O section in the top group and then transitioned to another orienteering event.  We hammered the o-course and finished the first section of the day while waiting for the second section to start at 4pm as a group.  Once everyone was gathered it was another mass start with a quick 6.5K bike and 1.5K run to the finish.  We ran through the finish line with our Canadian flag and with the knowledge that this tough week was nearly over!

Day 6 began with a shuttle to Marrakech for the final race day.  Spirits were high as everyone knew they had raced in a long, tough and rewarding race.  We assembled in front of our hotel and did a ceremonial ride around the city before the final sprint race which featured 6 laps around a 2K course – 3 biking, 2 bike/run and 1 run.  It was a short day compared to all the rest and was over quickly.  All the teams gathered for a Transmarocaine picture and awards we handed out.  We finished 4th in co-ed several hours off the podium, but happy with our race (other than the O-section in Day 1).  All in we raced about 34 hours during the 6-day race.

That night we made the most of the Moroccan nightlife with a post-race party and some late night/early morning ‘clubbing – Moroccan style!’.  After a quick nap it was on the planes and a return to Canada.  Unfortunately for Denise, she also caught a bug like mine and her travel back wasn’t very enjoyable (but she is better now!).

We’d like to thank all our family and friends who supported us for this race, as well as the GREAT Transmarocaine organization (the BEST I’ve ever encountered at a race).  This race was top notch and we’d HIGHLY recommend this to any adventure racer/multisport athlete looking for a tough challenge in a beautiful country.  In addition, the organizers also do a fall race in Bolivia, called LA BOLIVIANA – another demanding stage race in South America – which we’d like to do in a couple more years hopefully.  Finally, we’d like to thank Breathe Magazine for allowing us this great opportunity and who will surely produce a top notch article on this (much better than my little report)!  This magazine is the best around for any outdoor adventure athlete so please support them!