The sun has just risen, an impressive line of runners is already winding in front of the medical service tent.

The day before was given the start of the longest stage of this Marathon, 86 km through the Sahara, whose sand and large stones torment the feet.

Some relied on caregivers just after crossing the line after a day and a night of travel, on the sixth day of the race.

At the entrance, a selection is made: the most dashing take care of their own feet under the supervision of a podiatrist who gives them a kit.

"Oh la la, that's not pretty at all! We're going to pierce it and then we'll see if you go to the clinic or not. And you pierce it, you don't tear it out", kindly warns podiatrist Thomas Colmerauer , who hopes to cross to the other side in 2024. "After that it will be me pushing 'Whoooah'".

The clinic is the next tent, which you enter after cleaning your feet with betadine water.

A game of darts in a corner, good background music provided by a caregiver/DJ, and the competitors offer their feet, not without clenching their teeth.

Risk of infection

Lying on the ground, half-legs on a stool, some squirm as the compress approaches while others play the zenitude.

"I'm scared, I'm scared," worries a Briton when she sees a syringe loaded with eosin.

The caregiver reassures her by gently tapping the raw wound.

Light bulbs are the daily lot of the Doc Trotters, ie 57 volunteers on this edition.

“We are also there to comfort the runners so that they can go to the end of their experience. We try to solve their problems, we give them strength,” explains nurse Nick, known as Nick L ( in reference to all the 'Nickel' he receives at the end of the healing).

The competitors in the 36th edition of the Marathon des Sables cross the Moroccan Sahara towards Jebel Mraier, March 30, 2022 JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK AFP

"Here, it's flour sand, all the runners wear gaiters but even with that, the sand manages to enter and it increases the risk of infection", continues the caregiver who has been employed for 10 years.

The atmosphere is joyful, even teasing.

"Be careful, she is very sadistic," slips a nurse with a smile to her colleague's patient.

Bodies relax, minds relax.

Almost everyone thinks of the last stage of the general classification, the 42 km on Friday.

300 treatments in one day

In a nearby tent, we also want to believe that the game is not over.

A dozen stretchers welcome runners with more serious pathologies, in a soothing atmosphere.

François Guisset cracks.

Arrived at 3 a.m. on Thursday, he suffered from hypoglycemia.

Lying down, tears in his eyes, he worries about his wife still on the run.

Emma Guisset will arrive seven hours later.

The couple will depart on Friday.

Competitors in the 36th edition of the Marathon des Sables receive treatment in the Moroccan Sahara near Jebel Mraier, March 30, 2022 JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK AFP

Pale, a participant begins to vomit.

He suffers from gastroparesis.

"With the effort, the stomach no longer does its job. We will infuse it to prevent dehydration from affecting other organs such as the kidneys", comments the + doc + in chief, Frédéric Compagnon, who has no don't forget Monday.

With a temperature climbing to 37 degrees and a sandstorm, dehydration affected about fifty runners, forced to give up.

The medical tent looked like an emergency hospital, the infusions were linked, the competitors seemed to be at the end of their lives and yet most had only one question in their mouths: "Will I be able to leave?"

Thursday, 300 treatments were provided on some 800 competitors.

© 2022 AFP