The Marathon of the Sands, southern Morocco's grueling event, widely known as the Marathon de Saab, is considered the most difficult foot race on Earth.

Held in the unforgiving Sahara Desert, this six-day race stretches 250 kilometers over shifting wind-blown dunes, challenging the world's most persistent and durable competitors since 1986.

Contestants are expected to be self-sufficient and carry their own supplies, though medical support, tents, and rations of water are provided at half a dozen designated checkpoints spaced across an expanse

of unforgiving desert full of pitfalls. This ultramarathon is tough enough on its own, without something

going wrong, and there is a lot that can go wrong, jogging through a desert for a week. Some drop out,

some, unfortunately, drop dead, and in 1994, one contestant, Moro Prosperi, seemed to drop off the face of the earth.

Welcome to Maroon. Stories of the Catastrophically Lost. I'm Jack Luna. This is Aaron Hable, and I can tell from Aaron's outfit, short shorts, tank top, cute little sun visor that he's ready to take off running into this one, aren't you Aaron?

Absolutely.

I'm raring to go, Jack.

You covered much of what this ultra marathon is about in the introduction, but there are a few more details we should take care of before heading out.

So the Marathon de Saab is the

brainchild of Patrick Bauer, who in 1984 set out across the Sahara Desert, carrying a backpack,

holding 70 pounds or so of food, water, and supplies. In this 70 pounds, this is carefully

calculated so that he can make it.

Bauer was challenging himself to traverse a 350-kilometer expanse of empty desert alone.

His trek would intentionally avoid villages or any known oasis and was considered by some to be a suicide mission.

But when the then, 28-year-old, emerged

a little worse for wear, but truly alive after 12 days, the Marathon of the Sands was born.

And to this day, Patrick Bauer remains director of it. Yeah, it's fascinating. Some people are just

drawn to the desert, it seems there, and it's like it calls to them.

Patrick had spent a couple of years in West Africa selling encyclopedias to schools and books on medicine to doctors out there.

His travels as a young man had him driving through the Sahara Desert frequently, and once he'd returned home, Bauer couldn't stop dreaming

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