old, and he was 47 when he ran his first. Chris Moon from Lanarkshire became the first amputee to complete the Marathon des Sables in 1996. Moon had lost his right arm and leg while supervising the clearing of landmines in Mozambique. Dima and Lama Hattab, Jordanian twins who were the first female Middle Eastern participants in the race in 2001. Jack Osbourne entered in 2006 but quit early on in the second stage. He was running as part of his Jack Osbourne: Adrenaline Junkie TV series. Luis Enrique Martínez García (known as Luis Enrique), Spanish former professional footballer, and former manager of FC Barcelona, completed the marathon in 2008. James Cracknell, British rower and adventurer, competed in the 2010 race and became the highest placing Briton to ever compete in the race, finishing 12th until fellow Briton Danny Kendall placed 5th in 2014. In 2017 Tom Evans became the first Briton to finish in the first three, finishing third overall. Explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes became the oldest Briton to complete the Marathon des Sables in 2015, at age 71. In doing so he raised over £1million for the Marie Curie charity. However in 2017 David Exell became the oldest brit to complete the race at 75 Preet Chandi, completed the Marathon des Sables in 2019. A British-born Sikh army officer, she became the first woman of colour to complete a solo expedition to reach the South Pole on 3 January 2022. Cactus became the first dog to compete the Marathon des Sables in 2019. Cactus, a stray dog, started joining in with the runners during the second stage of the race and then went on to complete the remaining stages of the race. Cactus was awarded the official race number 000 and received his finishers medal. Bibliography Ted Archer: Carved by god, cursed by the devil – a true story of running the Sahara Desert. Redwood City CA, University of Dreams Foundation 2009. Patrick Bauer ... [et al.]: Le Marathon des Sables. Paris, SPE (Société de production éditoriale) 2000. (English version by David Waldron). John Bonallak: The desert run. Wellington, New Zealand, Learning Media Ltd. 1999. . Steve Cushing: 24th Marathon des Sables – a competitor's tale. Leicester UK, Matador 2010, . Guy Giaoui; Foued Berahou: Ultramarathon stage racing - from our experiences of the Marathon des Sables, the Trans Aq', and other races - a practical guide. St-Genest-Malifaux,