Stony Brook Runner Completes 150-Mile Run in Africa

Six days of running marathons – yes, plural, marathons. Through the deserts of Morocco. Yes, Morocco.

Stony Brook resident Tim Austin has officially completed the Marathon des Sables, a 150-mile series of marathons.

On Friday, Austin reported that he had "nothing left."

"Today was the toughest day: knowing what I can do in a trail marathon and feeling good after the rest day I started strong, but the dunes and lack of breeze took its toll," he wrote.

He reported feeling "a little wobbly" between the first and second checkpoints, so he slowed down.

"My back started hurting, my feet throbbed, but I kept marching on through soft dunes, across dry wadis and over baking plains," he wrote. "Tw miles from the finish I found the energy to start running again. What kept me going for the next 20 minutes was the image of my family and friends standing beside me cheering me on."

He drank a cup of sweet mint tea – which he said always tastes good but felt particularly like "the nectar of the gods" that day – and got a hug from the course director.

Austin, who finished the Marathon des Sables at position 577 out of more than 1,000 competitors, has run plenty of races previously but none like this one.

"This was the first time I got emotional at a race finish," he said. "There's nothing else like it."