Desert races

Running in the desert means accepting that you’ll lose all your usual bearings: no more trees, no more shade, no more natural markers—just a horizon line that keeps backing away as you move forward 🛣️. Here, the scenery is reduced to the essentials and the run becomes an almost spiritual experience. But keep your feet on the ground—you’ll need them to cross the finish line 😂.

The desert, this vast environment that covers about a third of the planet’s land surface, generally isn’t one of runners’ favorite playgrounds. And for good reason: little water, little shade, and no cool zones 🥶. We’ll admit we’ve seen more suitable conditions for long-duration efforts... They can be sandy, polar, or rocky, but they’re all just as rugged as each other 💥. And if you’d like to see one without crossing half the globe, know that the Plaine de la Crau, in Provence, is considered the only stone desert in Europe 🪨. Enough to soak up a desert vibe without leaving the Hexagon.

In the sand, every stride sinks in and doubles the effort required: calves burn, ankles work differently, and your pace collapses by several minutes per kilometer 📉. But don’t panic—it’s the same for everyone! 😮‍💨 It’s terrain that will strengthen you as much as it will tire you out. Here, even the most seasoned trail runners see their reference points shaken up and their limits pushed back. But whether sand or stone, the one variable you absolutely can’t ignore is the heat 🥵. Temperatures vary enormously between day and night and are ruthless when the sun peeks out ☀️. Hydration and effort management therefore matter more than pure performance 💦, especially since many of these races are run in self-sufficiency or in semi-self-sufficiency, with aid stations spaced far apart 🍽️. Some routes are also split into several daily stages, so you can catch your breath a bit between efforts 😮‍💨.

And if the effort is intense, the scenery is too 🤩.  The Sahara remains the absolute reference, with its Merzouga dunes at the gates of Drâa-Tafilalet in Morocco. Further south, the Erg Chegaga unfurls some of the country’s highest dunes, while Ouarzazate, nicknamed the "Hollywood of Africa" for its film studios, serves as a gateway to these landscapes. But to see American stars in the flesh 🦴, you’ll need to cross the Atlantic Ocean and head for the United States. Over there, the Sonoran Desert in Arizona and the red canyons of Utah create a setting that’s just as spectacular. If you’re more mindful of your carbon footprint, the Foulée de la Crau in France, in Saint-Martin-de-Crau, is a truly rare race 😁: running on this stony, almost lunar plateau in the Bouches-du-Rhône, just a few kilometers from the Camargue, offers an unexpected desert immersion right in the heart of Provence 🌱.

But when we talk about desert, the category leader is still Morocco, which hosts the majority of international meet-ups 🌍. The Dune Desert Marathon of Morocco starts from Merzouga over 10 km, 21 km or 42 km in the heart of the golden dunes 🐫. The Raidlight Desert Trophy Morocco offers, from Zagora, a stage race lasting several days, with nights in Bedouin tents and a crossing of the Erg Chegaga. This time, we’re talking ultra-trail formats, with routes ranging from 98 km to 200 km 🤯. Yes, yes—we recommend you start training right now 😅. In Ouarzazate, the Ouarzazate International Relay Marathon lets you run as a team over the mythical distance of 42.195 km. We’ve already mentioned it, but the United States is no slouch when it comes to landscapes either. The St. George Marathon winds through the canyons of Utah, not far from Zion, while the Garmin Tucson Marathon crosses the Sonoran Desert in Arizona.

And after the effort, tradition changes its face too: mint tea under a tent, a ride on the back of a dromedary or stars as far as the eye can see, far from any light pollution—there’s something for every type of tourist 🤪. So, ready to swap your umbrella for a parasol? ⛱️