In the Sahara Desert, there’s scant room for heroics. Even less for those running a marathon over its dunes.

Tim Osburn of Lakeway will run in the 150-mile Marathon Des Sables, which starts Friday and ends April 12 and is billed as the world’s toughest footrace.
The crucible will incinerate any ideas of superhuman feats.
“If you make a mistake, there’s no place to hide in the desert,” Osburn said.
As if the elements aren’t torturous enough, race organizers Atlandtide Organisation Internationale have extended the course by 10 miles to reach a total of 150 miles, or 250 kilometers, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the event. The agency also veils the exact course description in secrecy until the day before the race starts to deter competitors from stashing supplies along the route.
The marathon consists of six stages that are roughly a marathon’s distance with one stretching 50 miles. The first stage begins April 4 with an 18-mile jaunt. Two daily stages each of about 23 miles will test runners’ resolve. A brutal 50-mile trek will wear them down the next stage, and a traditional 26.2-mile completes the known distance. The sixth and final stage consists of the mileage necessary to equal a total of 150 miles.
Checkpoints dot the course to supply water, but runners only have the evening to recuperate in Bedouin tents.
Runners also must carry their food, water and sleeping gear as well as medical and emergency supplies such as a signal mirror and flare, so pack weight as well as body weight are closely monitored.
“There’s a saying that ounces become pounds and pounds become pain,” Osburn said.
An estimated 850 runners from around the world are expected to embark April 4 from Ouarzazate, a city that he said is the “Hollywood of Morocco.”
He doesn’t plan to steal the spotlight in a dramatic finish worthy of an Oscar-winning film. His goals are to simply complete the race and promote Rotary International and ShelterBox USA.
He and his wife, Melinda, are active in the Lakeway/Lake Travis Rotary Club and work with a Rotary Club in Belize to provide clean drinking water to all of the country.
“We want to have, with help of Rotary clubs in the U.S. and worldwide, the first South American country that has 100 percent access to clean water,” Osburn said.
He also is a responder for ShelterBox USA, which transports footlocker size boxes that contain a 10-man tent, stove and cookware to disaster sites, such as at Haiti.
The race’s challenge also is baiting the man who loves adventure. As a child growing up in Freeport, Texas, he dreamed of traveling to exotic locales in the footsteps of Gunga Din and T.E. Lawrence.
“It’s always much more fun to me when I travel to seek out the places no one else goes,” he said.
Osburn has scaled Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa, hiked to Mount Everest base camp and canoed in the Texas Water Safari, which is a nonstop, marathon canoe race that traverses 260 miles of rivers and bays from San Marcos to the Gulf of Mexico.
Whether it’s running in a marathon, scuba diving or flying a plane, Osburn said he strives to get a taste of the experience, not gorge himself on one particular hobby or sport.
“You meet people who collect stamps or collect whatever and that’s all they do. You can become monochromatic. I don’t wish to be that; I wish to be multicolored as far as my experiences go,” he said.
He and his friend Gary Guller of New Mexico, who summited Mount Everest despite having one arm, relish any chance to push themselves to the limit and decided to enter the Marathon Des Sables this year.
“We’re always planning adventures and scheming about what we are going to do next. A trip to us is not going to Disneyland or Disneyworld — that would be more of a nightmare,” Osburn joked.
The race boasts a two- to three-year waiting list and the lottery to select U.S. runners had been conducted when they hatched their However, the sluggish economy caused spots to open up when the payment date arrived in September 2009.
When Osburn learned he had been selected, he consulted with his wife, Melinda, who gave her blessing.
“She knows this is who I am and this is the kind of thing I like to do. She is very tolerant when I come up with something of this nature as long as its safe and I take the proper precautions,” he said.
Melinda said he assured her he would train rigorously for the desert marathon.
“He hasn’t let me down yet,” she said of his exploits.
Osburn has been cross training by lifting weights, hiking with a pack, stretching, running on a treadmill and playing tennis with his son, Tim.
“I’ll look back on the day and I’ve done 20-something miles and didn’t feel like I did anything at all,” he said.
In the last year, he has dropped his weight from 204 pounds to 180.5 pounds. When he got an EKG required to enter the race, doctors suspected him of being on medication because Osburn’s resting heart rate is 42 beats per minute.
“I’ve been consistent in watching my diet,” he said. “Melinda makes sure I stay in line.”
Music on his miniscule iPod and messages written on his white reflective gear by family, friends, Rotary members, Boy Scout Troop 52 and sponsors will also will carry him through the tough points.
Osburn’s keys to finishing will be to recover from one stage quickly so he can assault the next day’s challenge and take care of his feet to avoid injuries.
“There’s two or three keys, but there’s a thousand things that can go wrong,” he said.
Aware of the possibilities for not only failing to complete the marathon but also the unique hazards of scorpion stings and blinding sandstorms, Osburn said he will rely on preparation, his training and his focus.
He didn’t let two hours of sleep, a puncture wound or an alligator garr fish flopping into his canoe on the Texas Water Safari slow him down. He didn’t let a bear trying to get to his camping group’s food ruin the trip.
“There’s so many demons that people have [about going out in the wild]. Doubt and fear, when you let those creep into your mind … they become heavy and start dragging you down,” he said.
Just like the compass in his pack, his go-go-go mentality will point him in the right direction.
“I can’t sit there and wait for someone. You got to try to cross the finish line as quickly as you can, get in your tent, get out of the sun and start getting ready for the next day,” he said.
Osburn doesn’t stay in one place for very long. A week after the marathon, he will be in Belize to push his other drive forward.
“When you do something like [a marathon], it strips a lot of the exterior shell away from you,” he said. “You find out more about yourself. The colors are a little more vivid. Your friends seem a little more important, and your family seems a little more important. It makes you appreciate that you have a shelter to live underneath and clean water to drink.”