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3 Endure 4,000-Mile Run Across Sahara
Finally, around 9:30 p.m., they called it quits each day, returning to camp for a protein and carbohydrate-packed dinner before passing out for the night.
Despite the preparation and drive to finish, the runners said they often questioned _ mostly to themselves _ what they were doing. Zahab described stopping one recent day for a bathroom break only to discover the wind was blowing so harshly that he couldn't keep the sand out of his clothes. "And I thought to myself, 'What the hell am I doing?'" he said.
  Two of the three athletes, from right, U.S. runner Charlie Engle, 44 and Canadian Ray Zahab, 38, are running during day 109 of their 111 days Sahara desert journey, northwest of Cairo, Egypt Saturday, Feb. 17, 2007. For the past 111 days three ultra-endurance athletes, an American, a Canadian and a Taiwanese, have been striving for a goal most people could only describe as insane: Running the equivalent of two marathons a day to be the first modern runners to cross the Sahara Desert's grueling 4,000 miles (6,437 kilometers). (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser) (Nasser Nasser - AP) PHOTOS |
But Zahab kept going, as did the other two, never skipping a day. Most days the three ran a total of 44 to 50 miles _ sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less.
They were interviewed by The Associated Press on Saturday _ day 108 _ on the side of a road about 112 miles from Cairo in Egypt's harsh Western Desert, part of the greater Sahara.
At several points in their trek, the athletes stopped near sparsely populated wells to talk with villagers and nomads about the difficulties they face finding water. That marked another goal of the run _ raising awareness for the clean water nonprofit group H2O Africa.
"We have seen firsthand the need for clean water, which we take for granted in North America. It's such a foundation for any community," Zahab said during day 108's lunch break. The three plan to fund-raise for the group after they return home and finish recuperating.
"It started off as a huge motivator, especially as we passed through countries where the water wasn't clean," Engle said.
But as the trio's bodies became more depleted, the focus was "the day-to-day battle to stay alive and keep moving," he said.
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