9.
april 2002
De første resultater er kommet, og for anden dag i træk placerer Peter Ellehauge sig på en imponerende 5. plads. I den samlede stilling lykkedes det ham også at passere Marco Olmo fra Italien, således at Peter nu ligger på 4. pladsen.
PROVISIONAL RANKING : STAGE 3
Men :
1. Ahansal Lahcen, 02H16'01"
2. Ahansal Mohamed, 02H16'01"
3. Diehl Gilles, France, 02H22'49"
4. Al Aqra Salameh, 02H26'16"
5. Ellehauge Peter, 02H31'57"
72. Torben Nielsen 03H20'27"
90. Jan Frydendal 03H25'44"
Women :
1. Maria Isabel Trujillo, Colombia (N356)
2. Tania Pacev, United States (N383)
3. Simone Kayser, Luxembourg (N334)
4. Mariella Bighelli, Italy (N594)
Provisional rankings :
Men :
1. Ahansal Lahcen 06H40'26"
2. Ahansal Mohamed 06H53'42"
3. Diehl Gilles 07H06'04"
4. Ellehauge Peter 07H57'42"
5. Olmo Marco 07H59'33"
29. Torben Nielsen 09H16'34"
100. Jan Frydendal 10H36'40"
Women :
1. Maria Isabel Trujillo (N356) 09H56'39"
2. Simone Kayser (N334) 10H26'44"
3. Tania Pacev (N383) 10H32'52"
4. Mariella Bighelli (N594) 10H43'27"
Hej Danmark!
Torben er medtaget, men med!!!!!! Endnu en dag i oerkenen er gaaet og
humoeret er hoejt - saadan da. Peter flyver derudaf og klarer sig helt
fantastisk. Han blev i dag nr 5 paa 3. etape og ligger nu samlet nr 4
- hurra hurra!!!! Torben foerer sueveraet konkurrencen for uforberedte
loebere. 
Hvis
man kan tale om at vaere nedslidt saa er det vist det han er - men der
er jo ogsaa kun de 2 laengste etaper tilbage :-( Torben blev i dag nr
72 sammen med den ene Brahe-broder og ligger (desvaerre) 29 samlet, hvilket
betyder at han skal starte sent i morgen.
Frydendal klarer sig ogsaa fantastisk og ligger nr 100 samlet. Dagens
etape var en helt fatastisk oplevelse. Vi loeb gennem en palmelund paa
ca 7 km, derudover gik ruten gennem en lille landby hvor vi loeb i en
lille gyde - det virkede naermest som om det var en borg vi loeb gennem.
Der var kun ca 7 km "sanddunes" i dag, men det var ogsaa rigeligt.
I morgen har vi saa den store manddomsproeve paa 71 km med 30 km dunes
i alt. Vi er spaendte paa hvordan det skal gaa Peter "vores helt"
og paa om Torben overlever????? Temperaturen er steget en del og vi "fryser"
ikke laengere. Vi bukker og nejer mange gange for de emails vi har modtaget,
en speciel tak til Soeren Rasmussen for uddraget fra "De graa sider",
men vi kendte historien.
Peter sender hilsner til mor, far, Jette og Torben.
Torben sender hilsner til alle mine moedre paa Laerkeskolen og elever
og andre laerere. Desuden sendes kys og kram til Helle!!!!
PRESS
RELEASE : 09-04-2002
17th
Marathon des Sables – Press Release – 09 April 2002
Stage 3 – S/E Bounou to Oued N’Am – Southern Moroccan Sahara
– 31 km
14h00
(GMT) – 33°C in the shade
Terrain: dunes, packed earth, crossing of palm-grove
Start : 8h45
Number of competitors : 585
Weather : hot, strong sandy winds, sandstorms
Difficulties: strong head on winds, 15km of dunes
CP1
(km11.5) : at 9h37 N1 and N2 (M and L Ahansal, Morocco) - N6 (Gilles Diehl,
France) at 2mn - N14 (Ait Amar, Morocco), N6 (Ait Hssaine, Morocco), N283
(Ellehauge P, Denmark) at 4 mn – N269 (Al Aqra, Jordan) at 5
mn.
Women: at 9h52 N356 (M Trujillo, Colombia) – N383 (Tania Pacev, US)
at 3mn – N334 (Simone Kayser, Luxembourg) at 5mn.
CP2 (km21) : at 10h20 N2, N1 and N6 come in together – N14 at 3 mn
– N269 at 4mn.
Women: at 10h45 N356 - N383 at 6mn – N334 at 16mn – N594 at
20mn.
Finish line: at 11h01 N1 and N2 – N6 at 6mn – N269 at 10mn –
N283 at 15mn.
Women: at 11h46 N356 – N383 at 12 mn – N 334 at 22mn –
N594 at 32mn
To
note : weather is clement for start of race, but very strong head on winds
blowing at more than 40km/h turning sometimes to sandstorms, affect the
last 10kms of the race, making conditions very difficult for competitors.
At km16 the MDS convoy stopped over in the village of Mhamid to present
the teacher with books and equipment for his local school. The materials
had been collected in france on the initiative of French competitor Michel
bach (N209).
The race route then took competitors into the alleyways and kasbah of
Mhamid, where excited local children and adults greeted them with enthusiastic
rounds of applause. Once out the village, competitors headed through around
5kms of palm-grove, providing welcome shade in the early, sunny part of
the day, before attacking a stony wadi. At around midday violent head-on
winds erupted, bringing visibility down to around 20m. Only those out
in front were able to escape them, having already reached the finish line
before midday.
A real turnabout in the yesterday’s stage: the Jordanian runner Al
Aqra, one of the few serious rivals to the Ahansal brothers, got lost
in the dunes for 4 hours, falling to 202nd place in the general ranking.
The brothers now look set to continue to dominate the race. Gilles Diehl
from France secured a fine 3rd place in both the stage and general rankings.
Maria
Isabel Trujillo from Colombia makes an impressive leap in the general
from 79th to 37th place. Hot on her heels is a trio made up of Simone
Kayser (Lux), Tania Pacev (US) and Mariella Bighelli (It) who are
just 17mn behind!
On the medical side, the most common problems treated are to feet and
backs (150 cases on the first day, 410 on the second !), but the medical
team keep on going. 11 competitors have retired so far.
Tomorrow is another day : the competitors will have to confront the traditional but much apprehended Marathon des Sables 71-km long « super-stage ». Tension is mounting…
Profile
: N 386 Stephen Houghton (USA)
“Growing up gay, I never thought I could be an athlete. There were
no openly gay role models in sports. I want to inspire gay and lesbian
people to achieve their dreams – athletic, artistic or otherwise.
For my sponsor (Team Clif Bar), I’m just an ordinary employee accomplishing
extraordinary feats.” Originally a tri-athlete, Stephen had run 11
marathons before embarking on the 17th Marathon des Sables.