São Paulo – Sporting event Mountain Do Sahara Desert gathered around 300 athletes, and over 250 of them came from Brazil. The first race by the Sports Do company held in the African continent took place on November 19.
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The athletes chose between competing in the 42-km marathon, or the 25-km and 10-km distance races. Along the race’s course, they faced a variation of temperature of around 20°C, passing through many terrains and landscapes, such as the Black Desert, the Foreign Legion, the Nomad People, the Paris-Dakar road and the Erg Chebbi dunes, the race’s greatest challenge.
Both the race and the trip of the Brazilian group of athletes were organized by Brazilian company Sports Do, sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism of Morocco and the support of Grupo Xaluca and Ask Morocco.
Sports Do’s director, Kiko dos Santos, said that the event was a milestone in the history of Brazilian tourism in Morocco. “We’ve never had such a large number of Brazilians in Morocco as we did during the event,” he said.
The marathon was won by Moroccan Abdelkader El Mouaziz, followed by Brazilian José Virginio de Morais. In third place came Filipe Cotta Magalhães. In the woman’s 42-km race, the first place went to Ingrid Araújo Trindade, followed by Renata Vidal Peixoto in second and Ana Paula do Santos in third place.
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Thayline Pereira ran the 10-km race and for this doctor born in Caratinga (MG) it was an amazing to take part in the event. “It was surreal to run in a scenery as astonishing as the Sahara dunes,” she said.
The 31-year-old athlete loved to also get to know the country. “Morocco was a good surprise from start to finish, a country so rich in culture, art, gastronomy, with very welcoming and happy people,” she said. “It was my first time in the country, I found everything to be wonderful and I want to come back,” said Pereira.
In addition to the athletes, the event was attended by over 200 Brazilians that were there to accompany the competitors and as tourists, in all forming a group of around 500 people. “Mountain Do has as a feature the mix of sports and tourism and this event was a landmark in the history of Brazilian tourism in Morocco,” said Santos.
Sports Do has been organizing races in trails and mountains for 15 years in Brazil and since 2012 started to hold international events, at first in South America (Argentina, Peru and Chile), and now in the African continent.
Mountain Do’s organization thanked the friendly reception of Moroccans with a sunroof for a school in Merzouga, plus 200 backpacks with school material for the children.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
