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220 km Sahara desert run: 'The toughest race on Earth'

By Teo Kermeliotis, for CNN

April 9, 2013 -- Updated 1040 GMT (1840 HKT)

 (CNN) -- Would you pay thousands of dollars to spend seven days running under the scorching sun of the Sahara Desert, traversing shifting sand dunes and punishing rocky plateaus for more than 220 kilometers, with all your food and kit affixed to your back?

It may sound like insanity, but it's exactly what daring men and women of all ages have chosen to do by taking part in this year's iconic Marathon des Sables (MDS).

Known as the world's toughest footrace, the MDS began Sunday morning as the driving sounds of AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" blasted through loud speakers to usher a record 1,024 competitors from nearly 50 countries into the heart of the Southern Moroccan desert.

Over the next few days, the grueling adventure will challenge participants -- the oldest aged 76 -- to test their bodies and minds as they take on whipping sandstorms and blazing temperatures of up to 50C in their epic journey across the desert.

To toughen the ordeal, competitors are required to carry all their equipment for the duration of the ultra-marathon -- from food and sleeping gear to an anti-venom pump and glow sticks. Three runners have died in the 28 years the race has been taking place.

"Some runners come here to push back their limits and brave the extreme to write their tale," says Frenchman Patrick Bauer, who founded the race in the mid-1980s.

"For a lot of participants, the Marathon des Sables is an opportunity to break with everyday life and feel a sense of timelessness. There is even a spiritual dimension, a quest for answers to what are at times very personal questions," he adds. "The desert magnifies the soul."

INDEED!