Women in Motion
Sandy McCallum
This past April, Sandy McCallum became the first North American to race the grueling Marathon des Sables a record seven times. In this event, considered to be the toughest stage race in the world, athletes cover 150 miles of the Sahara Desert in Morocco over the course of 7 days, the equivalent of 5 marathons back-to-back. A shining example of human perseverance, McCallum will attempt to break yet another record over the course of the next year, by participating in six desert races around the world in twelve short months.
Desert ultramarathons require trekking across dunes of sand in intense fifty-degree heat, carrying a week’s worth of food and supplies on your back. Organizers only provide rationed water, tents, and medical aid. There are no toilets, showers, or beds. Though these races may sound extreme, Desert ultrarunning is gaining in popularity, and athletes like Sandy McCallum are taking it to a whole new level.
Most of us would like to believe that within ourselves there is the ability to rise above excruciating pain, to conquer self-doubt and to survive in extreme conditions. Very few of us however would ever attempt to confront the type of physical and psychological boundaries that 39-year-old Sandra McCallum breaks through every time she sets foot in the sandy deserts of North Africa. There is no need to embellish or exaggerate, the threats of races such as the Marathon de Sables are very real. Throughout the race’s fifteen-year history, one man has died, while others have slipped into a coma. Participants have endured symptoms ranging from dehydration, exhaustion, dysentery, dizziness, chills, vomiting, and fainting.
The daughter of a fighter pilot, McCallum originally hails from Medicine Hat Alberta, but spent her youth traveling all over the world with her family. Now the seasoned world-traveler calls Edmonton home, though she spends very little time here, with yearly races booked around the globe. In response to her desire to adventure, live life on the absolute edge and push her body to its furthest limits, this local athlete has dedicated the last seven years of her life to racing through some of the most grueling conditions on earth.
Formerly a Calgary television reporter and journalist, McCallum traded in her career to compete in ultrarunning. Because the demands of her training are the equivalent of a full-time job, Sandy thrives on the financial sponsorship of companies like Advil to support her vision. Having sacrificed many of the conventional creature comforts most Canadians enjoy to pursue her dream, McCallum credits her single-mindedness as the attribute which allows her to not only live through but enjoy the barren conditions of the desert.
Sandy’s experiences over the past decade have paved the way for what promises to be her most meaningful adventure to date, a camel trek across the Sahara Desert and back. In 2007 McCallum will travel across the North African deserts, from the west coast of Africa to the Nile and back again- a journey that will take two full years. In preparation for this journey, McCallum will spend three months training in Morocco, learning everything that she can from a local guide about desert life, the weather, the dangers and diseases. This desert odyssey will take Sandy through 10 countries, a distance of about 9,000 miles. The journey will begin and end in Morocco, the country where Sandy first fell in love with the Sahara.
When did you first start to set your sight on running ultramarathons?
“I’ve come a long way. When I first got into running, it was more for fitness than for sport. I had no intentions of competing in marathons at the time. I remember running my first mile thinking that I would never run a marathon. For the next thirteen years I worked as a television reporter, and at that time I continued to build my endurance and eventually began running marathons. I developed a love for running, but I wasn’t happy with my career and I needed a change. When I quit my job I started reading everything I could about the desert. I decided to travel around the world competing in desert ultramarathons. ”
Why the desert?
“I always felt a calling for the desert. It is so incredibly beautiful. The landscape is gorgeous- red sand against the blue sky. Some days you run in a straight line forever, trying not to look up and see how big it is, then in the middle of nowhere, you’d see these little children, a nomadic family herding goats or the odd camel, and wonder, how did they get here, where did they come from?”
What specific training, if any, has given you an advantage?
“Cross-training. In addition to running 100 plus miles every week, I do strength training and core exercises. I try to recreate the conditions of the desert in my workouts. I prepared for one race by doing the stair-climber and riding an exercise bike in a sauna for a month straight, though it wasn’t quite as hot as the temperatures you face in the desert. I’ve also snow-shoed up to the peak from the base of Sunshine. Pool running is great too because it the water mimics the feel of running through sand.
Proper nutrition has become an important part of my training as well in recent years. I’ve been a very slight build all of my life so I’ve never had to watch calories. I’d think- I’m doing a six-hour run today, I can eat whatever I want. But you can’t do that. I’ve since learned to look at food as fuel and I’ve seen continual improvements in every race since.”
What do you find to be some of the desert’s greatest challenges?
“Being out in the desert for a full week it’s tough, not just physically, but emotionally. I race alone; carrying all of my food and supplies for the whole trip. You run through different scenarios in your mind; you could fall ill, you could have a nagging injury. I’ve had dysentery twice now and started hallucinating, vomiting uncontrollably.
You have to bring runners two sizes larger than your feet to accommodate swelling from the heat and blistering. To keep out the sand, you need to wear gaiters, as a mountain climber would to keep out snow. One particular year my footwear did not work and my feet were rubbed raw.
There’s always a challenge in desert races, as you can imagine the desert is not a very forgiving environment. I see most of these challenges as obstacles that I can overcome through planning, developing better strategies each race. But you have to know your limits, some people don’t and you see how much they suffer. It reminds you that you need to be careful.”
What types of sacrifices have you made?
“I’ve had to sacrifice a lot to do what I do. Until recently I haven’t been able to own my own home. And I don’t have children, now I live vicariously through my friends and my family members. But I feel that when you sacrifice this much you can’t look back and be bitter. You have to stand behind the choices that you have made.”
What inspires you?
“Some people are inspired by great film or music, others are inspired by the accomplishments of other athletes in their field. I’ve realized in the last year that I have to start giving back to the community. My love for children has inspired me to use these races and the press that I receive to raise money for charity. That’s what inspires me, what motivates me, the thought of being able to use these races as a way to give something back.”
What’s next? Where do you go from here?
“I am planning a camel trek across the Sahara Desert; to hike across the North African deserts on camelback, from the west coast of Africa to the Nile and back again. To do that, I plan to use the next year to learn all that I can about survival and endurance in the desert, beginning with the Gobi March, a 240 kilometer trek through the Gobi Desert in China at the end of May (2006).”
