Stony Brook Man Heads to Africa for 150-Mile Marathon

Tim Austin ran the New York City Marathon in 2006, and in 2011 ran the 50-mile Ocean to Sound Run, which takes runners from Jones Beach up to Oyster Bay. In between, he has done some 50-kilometer runs.

Now Austin, 45, an engineer and a 15-year resident of Stony Brook, is taking on something altogether different: Starting Sunday, he will take on the 150-mile Marathon des Sables, through the desert of Morocco.

It's the kind of race where he'll pack his own backpack with all the food and necessities for a week of running through the desert. It's the kind of race where he'll have to avoid scorpions and thorns on the desert floor. The first three days he'll run 20 miles each; the fourth day is 50 miles stretching into the fifth day; he'll run a standard marathon (26.2 miles) on the sixth day; and the last day, a “charity day,” is about 13 miles.

His main goal: to finish the race.

"That’s number one," he said. "The second goal after finishing it is to enjoy myself while doing it, and third, I really would like to stay out of the bottom 100 runners. If I’m higher than the bottom 100, then I’ll be happy."

His goal is also to raise money for Doctors Without Borders, with a goal of raising $2,000. That's enough for emergency supplies to help 5,000 disaster victims for two months or provide a standard medical kit that would contain enough medicines, supplies, equipment and dressings to treat 3,000 patients for six months. Austin has surpassed that goal and is continuing to accept donations for the cause.

To train for the run, Austin ran 10 hours each week. He said it takes a deep love of long distance running – as well as an understanding family that doesn't mind him using his vacation days to run a marathon in an African desert. According to his training blog, He has tested equipment such as gaiters for his running shoes and chromatic goggles to wear as eye protection. He has also tried the freeze dried foods he'll take with him, as the marathon rules require runners to take at least 2,000 calories with them each day.

This trip to Africa won't be Austin's first: About 20 years ago he said he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, the highest mountain in Africa.

In an email to Patch on Thursday, when Austin arrived in Ouarzazate – where Lawrence of Arabia was filmed – he said he had learned several lessons from the runners who have previously completed the Marathon des Sables.

He wrote: "So far I have learnt: take a second toilet roll, don't throw out any spare food until after the first day of running, shake out your sleeping bag as well as your shoes to dislodge scorpions, the thorns scattered on the desert floor are large enough to go through a flip flop and the job of the first person back to camp is to clear the rocks from under the rug we sleep on."

Stay tuned to Three Village Patch for updates and photos on Tim Austin's run. Visit the Marathon des Sables website to learn more and to send Tim (Runner No. 1060) a message of encouragement during his run.