挑戰魔鬼沙漠馬拉松 Beyond the marathon: a 165km race through the Oman desert
“Go to crazy places — you’ll meet crazy people,” says the ever-smiling Italian Dino Bonelli, one of my tent companions and running partners. He’s talking about me, himself and the other 75 or so competitors. The place in question is somewhere in the middle of the desert in Oman. We’re halfway through a six-day race from the village of Bidiyah to the Arabian Sea: 165km (102 miles) across soft sand in heat close to 40C and carrying all our provisions on our backs. It’s hard to deny that it’s a little crazy.
“瘋狂的地方——就能碰到瘋狂的人。”始終面帶笑容的意大利人迪諾娠蕓利(Dino Bonelli)說。他是我的帳蓬宿友與長跑搭檔。他指的“瘋子”是我與他以及其他約75名參賽者，所說的“瘋狂地方”就是位於阿曼沙漠腹地。從Bidiyah村到阿拉伯海(Arabian Sea)總共6天、全程爲165公里（約102英里）的賽程，我們已跑完了一半，而且是在揹負所有個人物資、在近40攝氏度的高溫下穿越鬆軟的沙漠。不能否認，這實屬瘋狂。
The third Oman Desert Marathon began earlier this month after a ceremonial dance by the villagers of Bidiyah, wearing white robes with swords and iPhones tucked inside their belts. We then shuffled off, laden with our backpacks along 100m of road before we hit the sand. Ten minutes later, leaving the outskirts of the village, we headed into the desert and left all signs of human life behind for the next six days.
第三屆阿曼沙漠馬拉松賽(The third Oman Desert Marathon)於11月初拉開帷幕，Bidiyah村村民身穿白色長袍、腰裏彆着劍與iPhones，爲我們表演了象徵開賽的舞蹈。我們隨後開跑，揹着行囊沿公路跑了大約100米就進入了沙漠地帶。10分鐘後，就徹底離開Bidiyah村地界，向沙漠深處跑去，接下來的6天完全與塵世隔離。
The first 10km are fairly steady going. My bag is heavy, but the design of these running packs is so clever they hardly inhibit your movement. I grind my way to the first checkpoint where we get to refill our water bottles.
最初的10公里我跑得還算穩定。我的背囊很沉，但它們設計得頗爲精巧，所以幾乎不影響行進。我努力跑到第一個服務點，在這兒給水壺補充飲水。
The sand until now has been the fine sand you get on a beach in the UK. I’d spent weeks telling people it wouldn’t be like this. I’d imagined running along tracks made hard by cars, or on firm, baked, dry earth. I didn’t believe we’d be sent across such soft sand. But then, after the water stop, we head up into the dunes, and it gets a lot, lot harder. Like traversing sand dunes in England, but higher and with the sun much hotter, holding you as if in a vice and slowly squeezing you, wringing you dry, both your body and spirit.
此時沙漠裏的沙子已經變成了類似英國海灘的那種細砂。幾周來，我一直告訴同夥實際情況不會是像今天這樣的。我自己曾想象過跑在被汽車反覆輾壓後的、或是太陽長時間炙烤過的乾硬路面上。我認爲不會在如此鬆軟的沙地上進行比賽。但過了第一個服務點後，我們就進入了沙丘地帶，沙路面要比先前堅硬得多。這與在英國穿越沙丘大同小異，但是此地的沙丘更高、太陽也更爲毒辣，自己如同被老虎鉗夾着一般，不斷受到擠壓，彷彿一點點要把你的靈與肉擰乾。
A veteran of six marathons, I had watched with interest as friends took on increasingly extreme challenges. As marathon running has become more popular, almost commonplace, the so-called “ultra” scene has blossomed. The calendar is filling up with outlandish events — 50-mile runs, even 100 miles, or cycle rides and triathlons of even more epic proportions — and a new type of holiday has evolved in which competitors travel across the world to tackle them. Many events employ a lottery system to cope with the deluge of entries. The Oman Desert Marathon is a relatively newcomer, first held in 2013, and a low-key alternative to Morocco’s Marathon des Sables, which now attracts almost 1,500 runners.
作爲跑過6項馬拉松賽事的老手，我曾興致勃勃地看着好友參加極限運動。隨着馬拉松賽跑的普及（如今差不多常態化了），所謂的“極限”賽事也是遍地開花。如今，每年的極限型賽事安排得滿滿當當（50英里長跑、甚至100英里長跑、或是自行車大賽以及更爲恐怖的鐵人三項賽），新型度假方式也隨之應運而生——休假期間，參賽者不遠萬里前去參賽。很多賽事於是藉助抽籤系統以應對蜂擁而至的參賽者。阿曼沙漠馬拉松賽是設立不久的賽事，首屆賽事於2013年舉辦，與參賽者近1.5萬人的摩洛哥撒哈拉沙漠地獄馬拉松賽(marathon des sables)相比，實在是小巫見大巫。
I was drawn not just by the athletic trial but by the idea of spending a week crossing the desert, cut off from the world, being flung headfirst into the experience, needing to cope with the environment rather than being carried across it in comfort in a 4x4 or even on a camel. Realising a more direct relationship with the natural world, rather than simply admiring it from afar, is a common motivation, says Dr Eric Brymer, lecturer in exercise and sports science at Manchester Metropolitan University and a researcher into the wellbeing benefits of extreme sports. “People who complete these extreme events tap into something deeper in themselves,” he says. “As a result, they gain a better understanding of who they are.”
我深深被此項賽事吸引，並非僅僅是由於它考驗體能極限，而是可以花一週時間穿越沙漠、遠離塵世喧囂、盡情忘我地體驗，而且自己需要隨時應對險象環生的沙漠環境而不是搭乘4衝程汽車或是騎着駱駝舒舒服服地穿越沙漠。艾裏克布里默博士(Dr Eric Brymer)曾說：可以親歷而非遠觀大自然是投身極限運動最常見的動因。“極限賽事完成者深入瞭解了自己的潛力，”他說，“因此，他們對自己有更好的瞭解。”艾裏克布里默博士是曼徹斯特城市大學(Manchester Metropolitan University)教授體育與運動科學的教師，同時又是研究極限運動身心健康的研究員。
I guess I’m also hoping to emerge at the other end a changed person, to learn something about myself from such an extreme challenge. But I still have a lot of running to do.
我也希望自己完成極限賽事後，能面目一新，對自己有更深瞭解。但我距離這個目標仍任重而道遠。
I keep thinking firmer ground will come, but on the dunes go, up and down, the sand getting ever softer. I’m mostly walking by the end of the first day’s 21km stage, but even this is hard work. No one overtakes me, though, so I presume they’re all walking too.
我不斷在想硬質沙地很快就會出現，但翻過一座座起伏的沙丘，卻發現沙質越發鬆軟。第一天21公里的賽段臨近終點時，我差不多是以走代跑，但即便如此也異常艱辛。儘管這樣，沒人在這期間追上我，因此我認定其他選手也是以走代跑。
At the finish, a camp is already set up: large Berber tents with one side open. We share our tent with the same people each day and a camaraderie develops over the week. For many, this is part of the attraction of these races. I find myself in a tent with mostly Italians — one the mother of a Premier League footballer — as well as a Belgian bioengineer, a bubbly South African and a British military man. I flop down in the shade, happy to be finished, hoping for a firmer road tomorrow.
抵達終點後，露營地已搭建完畢：柏柏人(Berber)的大帳篷一面大開着。我們每天的宿友是固定的，在一週時間裏，彼此也就慢慢建立了友情。對於很多人來說，這也是這些賽事的魅力所在。我發現多數室友是意大利人，除此之外，我的宿友還包括一位英超球員的母親、一位比利時生物工程師、一位性格開朗的南非人以及一位英國軍人。我在帳篷陰涼處倒地而睡，深爲自己完成首個賽段高興，並寄希望於明天能是硬質沙地。
But day two is more of the same. And day three. Every day, in fact, brings the same soft dunes rising up and down. Flags mark the way and are sometimes so far in the distance it seems you will never reach the next one. Then you get there, cresting the dune, to spy the next flag in the distance, and your legs need to move on, running where you can, walking where you can’t. The worst is when the sand appears firm and you start running, only for your legs to give way as you hit more soft sand. It happens again and again.
但接下來的兩天，沙路毫無改觀，第三天仍是依然如故。事實上每一天的賽段都是起伏的鬆軟沙丘。旗幟標示着方向，但有時彼此之間距離間隔太遠，自己似乎感覺永遠無法企及。待跑到插在沙丘頂的標識旗杆時，卻突然發現遠處的下一竿標旗，於是繼續費勁挪動步子，在能跑的地方跑，跑不了的地方則步行。最糟糕的是沙子看似堅硬，自己於是開跑，結果卻踩到鬆軟沙子，此時的大腿卻不聽使喚了。這類情況接二連三發生。
Slowly, I learn to read the sand, to see which bits are harder. Tiny stones seem to indicate firmer sand. Camel footprints are a good sign, too. The camels seem to know the best routes through the dunes.
漸漸地，我學會了如何辨別沙質，哪些爲硬質沙粒堆。內含碎石表明沙地更爲堅硬，駱駝腳印也是很好的標識物。駱駝似乎清楚如何以最佳路線穿越沙丘地帶。
The bags get lighter each day as we eat more of the freeze-dried meals and protein bars we are carrying. Packing as much in the way of calories into as little space as possible is the trick, but doesn’t leave much room for taste or variety.
我們每天不斷消耗隨身攜帶的凍幹食物與蛋白塊，身上的背囊也就變得越來越輕。儘管在狹小的背囊內儘可能多裝高熱量食品是訣竅，但也就難以再兼顧食品種類與口味了。
After day four I seem to be adapting. Standing around in the camp before the fifth and longest stage, at 26 miles, 385 yards (42.2km), exactly the length of a marathon, the organisers read out a list of the top 20 runners so far. These 20 get to start two hours after everyone else. My name is on the list.
跑完第四天，我似乎適應了這一切。第五天的賽程是最長的一段，長達26英里385碼（約42.2公里），完全等同於馬拉松賽。比賽前，我們在帳篷裏圍站成一圈，組織方唸了截止目前爲止前20名選手的名字。這些選手將晚出發兩小時，我也名列其中。
I’m feeling pretty proud of myself as we sit, the elite group, preparing to hit the long stage. We waved the others off and returned to our tents to finalise our preparations. Water bottles are filled, electrolytes added, blisters treated, sun cream applied, gaiters (to stop the sand getting in our shoes) attached. The air is charged. This is serious now. The leading male runners are Moroccans and Jordanians, people used to the desert, though the women’s race is led by Swedish runner Elisabet Barnes (who also won this year’s Marathon des Sables). She laughs when I ask how she does it. “There is a technique for running on sand,” she says. But it’s too late to learn it now. Day five is off and running.
坐在優秀選手陣營等待時，我深感自豪。我們揮手送別其他選手後，回到帳篷做最後的準備工作：給水壺灌滿水、補充電解質、處理腳上起的水泡、塗抹防曬霜以及纏好護腿（防止鞋子進沙子）。空氣裏瀰漫着緊張氣氛，真正的較量開始了。領跑的男選手是摩洛哥人與約旦人，他們從小就適應沙漠環境，儘管領跑的女選手是瑞典人伊麗莎白巴恩斯（Elisabet Barnes，她也是今年的摩洛哥撒哈拉沙漠地獄馬拉松賽冠軍）。我問她成功祕訣時，她笑着回答道：“在沙地跑步有技巧。”但此時臨時抱佛腳顯然已無濟於事。第五天的比賽開始了！
Being in the fast group has its disadvantages. I’m soon drifting off the back of the race, running on my own. This is also the night stage so, as the last runner, I get my own police escort, driving behind me.
身居快組也有不利因素。我很快就掉隊，形單影隻；這又是夜跑賽段，由於我落到了最後，因此警察開着警車在後面一路護衛。
This is the picture-book desert of your imagination, with scorpions, snakes and camels, jutting, windblown dunes and shimmering heat. The only mirages, however, are the words of the organisers, who each day tell us the course will be easier, when, in fact, every day it gets harder. Before the fifth stage, they had told us the sand would get firmer after 10km, but instead it becomes even softer, like leg-sucking quicksand. As darkness falls I find myself struggling to move. With only the small circle of light from my headtorch to follow, it grows hard to tell if I’m going uphill or down. The slower I go, the more I curse the organisers for their misinformation. I get angry at everything — the bush that scrapes my leg, the solar-powered lights marking the course that have dimmed to almost nothing.
這就是自己想象中圖畫書中的沙漠世界：蠍子、蛇與駱駝、大風吹就的沙丘以及撲面而來的陣陣熱浪。但唯一的“幻景”就是組織方每天給我們灌的迷魂湯：後續賽段會更容易跑；而事實上艱難程度日甚一日。在第五天賽程開始前，組織方說10公里後的賽段會是硬質沙路，然而沙面卻越來越鬆軟，就如同吞噬雙腳的流沙。夜幕降臨時分，我仍在咬牙跑着。僅僅藉助頭燈的微弱圓光，我無法判斷前方是上坡路還是下坡路。我跑得越慢，心裏就越罵組織方的胡說八道。此時的我見啥都是氣不打一處來——不管是擦傷大腿的灌木還是已經無比昏暗的太陽能賽段標示燈。
If I’m going to make it, I need to stay positive. I try talking to myself, coaxing myself to keep moving. But it’s no use. In my head a switch has gone off. The desire to continue has expired. Yet this is the point of greatest challenge — the reason, in many ways, all of us are here. I stop and look up at the dazzling night sky, gathering myself, listening to my breath.
但要完成賽段，我就得給自己打氣。我不斷自言自語，鼓勵自己跑下去，但卻無濟於事。我思想上已打了退堂鼓，已經無心戀戰。然而，這正是極限挑戰的意義所在——也就是我們參加這項賽事的原因所在。我停下來，仰望繁星滿天的夜空，再次提振精神，凝聽自己的呼吸聲。
Only by staying in the present, by forgetting my time, my position, the finish even, can I get moving again. One step at a time. Before I know it, I’m back up and running, focusing intently on the bobbing circle of light from my headtorch. The sloshing of the water in my bottle becomes a drum beating a rhythm to run to. Eventually, I get there.
我只有現在堅持，把時間、名次甚至終點都拋至九霄雲外，才能一步一個腳印繼續前行。豁然開朗後，我又開始踏上征程，心無旁騖地專注於頭燈照在地上、上下襬動的小光圈，水壺裏晃動的水則猶如有節奏的戰鼓激勵着我。工夫不負有心人，我終於成功抵達了終點。
When I get back to my tent, long past midnight, Dino and Rob, the Briton, realising how shattered I am, untie my shoes and make up my recovery drink for me before returning to their sleeping bags. I can’t thank them enough.
回到帳篷休息時，時間早已過了午夜。迪諾與英國佬羅布(Rob)見我精疲力竭，幫我脫掉鞋子、添滿水壺後，才鑽進睡袋休息。我對此感激涕零。
In Kenya I recently ran a marathon on dusty trails, in hot temperatures and at an altitude of 5,500ft, in three hours, 17 minutes. Today, the same distance took me seven hours, 35 minutes.
前一陣子，我頂着酷暑、耗時3個小時17分鐘，在肯尼亞海拔5500英尺的塵土飛揚的小路上跑完一次馬拉松。但今天，同樣的距離我耗時長達7小時35分鐘。
After 10 hours out on the course, one Italian runner suffers the added misfortune of stepping on a scorpion when he finally gets back to his tent. Luckily the medics are on hand to treat him and he is back running the final stage of the race the next morning.
一位意大利選手耗時10小時艱難完成賽段返回帳篷時，禍不單行地又踩到了蠍子。好在現場醫生及時施救，他可以歸隊參加第二天一大早的最後一個賽段。
Why do we do this? It’s a question that returns repeatedly during my six days of running. Nick Mead, a veteran of many ultra marathons, says he runs because modern life is too easy, too comfortable, and he craves something more challenging.
我們參加極限賽事圖什麼呢？在6天的賽程中，這個問題不斷縈繞在我的腦海中。多次參加極限馬拉松的老手尼克猠德(Nick Mead)曾說自己之所以參加，是因爲現代生活太過舒適與安逸，他渴望更大的人生挑戰。
“Once I’d done a marathon in under three hours,” he says, “I needed a new challenge. Getting faster didn’t seem as interesting. Ultra running is more of an adventure, running through the night, alone. It’s a far more intense experience.”
“我一旦在3小時內跑完馬拉松，”他說，“我就需要新的挑戰。我在意的似乎並不是跑得更快。極限賽跑更像是一場歷險，孤身一人在黑夜中奔跑，它最爲驚險刺激。”
Ian Corless, who produces the Talk Ultra podcast, says he graduated to ultra marathons from triathlons and Ironman races. “When people asked me why I stopped competing in Ironmans,” he says, “I told them: ‘I wasn’t frightened any more.’ I knew I could finish. I needed to feel I was pushing myself beyond my limits. I love going into the unknown, and then getting to the finish and feeling, wow, I did it. All those feelings you got when you first finished a marathon come back, but with bells on.”
Talk Ultra播客創建者伊恩科利斯(Ian Corless)說，自己從鐵人三項賽“升級”至了極限馬拉松賽。“當初有人問我爲何不再參加鐵人賽，”他說，“我回答道：‘本人已不再有恐懼感。’我知道自己有能力完成賽事，我需要不斷超越自我極限的感覺。我喜歡挑戰未知領域，一鼓作氣完成後對自己說：哇塞，我真的做到了！此時，跑完自己首個馬拉松後的所有感受都涌上心頭，但滿懷激情。”
One of my fellow competitors in Oman, 65-year-old Gudrun Dautel from Germany, looks broken when I see her after one day’s racing. I ask her why she does these races. “I don’t know,” she says. “I have such a nice home.”
與我一起參加阿曼沙漠馬拉松賽的同伴中，還有一位名叫古德龍多泰爾(Gudrun Dautel)的德國老太太，她已是65歲高齡，跑完第一天後，我發現她已是精疲力竭，於是問她參加的原因。她回答說：“我沒想到自己有這麼美滿幸福的家庭。”
Her husband, Hansmartin, 68, chips in: “Because we have a nice home.”
這時，她68歲的老公漢斯馬丁(Hansmartin)也插話說：“因爲我們有個幸福美滿的家庭。”
In fact, everyone I speak to has the same reason at heart: the need to reach beyond the realms of their everyday existence. To reach deep inside themselves. To be challenged.
事實上，我問的每個人內心都有着相同的理由：需要超越日常生活的領域，直入內心世界以及接受挑戰。
“It’s still nice to get back home,” says Mead. “That first night back in a bed, with clean sheets, a shower — it feels like luxury. You appreciate everything so much more.”
“回到家後依然感覺很爽。”米德說，“回到家後的第一天晚上，洗完熱水澡後睡在牀上，看着整潔的牀單——感覺是超級享受。你會對一切心存感激。”
The Oman race finishes at the beach. After six days of ploughing through the sand, it is a joy beyond words to cast off my backpack and run into the gentle waves and just float there, knowing I’ll never have to run through sand ever again...甠渀氀攀猀猀 I’m crazy enough to do another race like this again one day. Back in the tent, Dino has a long list and is already planning.
阿曼馬拉松賽的終點設在海灘。經過在沙漠的6天艱難跋涉，扔掉背囊、一頭扎進大海的溫柔鄉盡情隨波逐流，知道此等賽事此生再也與自己無緣了……直到有朝一日，自己再次萌生參賽的瘋狂念頭。回到帳篷休息時，迪諾早已又有新規劃了。
Adharanand Finn is the author of ‘The Way of the Runner’ (Faber & Faber)
亞德哈羅南德芬恩是《跑男的激情生活》(The Way of the Runner)一書的作者，該書由Faber & Faber出版社出版。
Next year’s Oman Desert Marathon runs from November 4 to 12; for details . The ㄠ,200 entry fee is refunded for those who raise 2,500 for Facing Africa (), a charity providing surgery for children disfigured by noma, a facial disease
明年的阿曼沙漠馬拉松賽比賽時間是11月4-12日。詳情請瀏覽網站。每位選手若能爲Facing Africa（網址：）籌措2500英鎊的善款，組委會將退還1200歐元的賽事報名費。Facing Africa是一家專爲患走馬疳而慘遭毀容的非洲兒童實施手術治療的慈善團體。
