Endurance sports are the go-to challenges for who like to test their limits. These events are without a doubt the toughest physical challenges that our world has to offer and winning these endurance sports sand races puts you among the fittest in the world. If you haven’t had any health concerns and if you are putting your all into marathon training recently, then here are some of the longest, most challenging and ultimately most rewarding endurance races around the world. You simply must participate in these races if you want to know your limits and exceed them!
Salzkammergut Trophy
Marathon bike races are one thing but marathon mountain bike races are simply in a category of their own. One such event is the Salzkammergut Trophy in Austria. It is a 16-hour race which keeps your body in full exertion mode for an entire day. The race is 210 km long, but no ordinary marathon. These are the alps. You will be biking on harsh terrain, constantly ascending and descending at an altitude of about 7000 meters. At such a height, breathlessness comes quickly, and due to lack of oxygen, every paddle stroke needs twice the effort. Hundreds of bikers participate every year but the race brings most of these participants to their knees, and only a few get to finish it. One can only imagine what the exhilaration of finishing let alone winning this race must be like.
Yukon Arctic
If you feel like an Adonis and if you are sure that there is no challenge you can’t complete, then perhaps this race will ascertain whether that declaration holds. If you are looking for a race with no health concerns, then you ought to look away because in this race, participants have to battle frostbite, hypothermia and many inches of slow as well as the intense exhaustion of towing your sled for long stretches. This race lasts for days, and the participants have to be self-supported. There is the option of covering 100, 300, or 430 kilometers, and even the toughest of people are tempted to bail at the first checkpoint. This race is perhaps the toughest challenge that Canada has to offer.
Marathon des Sables
This is a 6-day race through the Sahara Desert which exposes your frail skin to some of the harshest conditions in the world, and the biggest part is that you are left fending for yourself. Sahara Desert is one of the hottest and most barren lands on Earth, much of the landscape is uninhabitable, and amidst all of that, you have to run for 155 miles! Finishing the race takes your body to the extremes of physical and mental endurance. This race is so challenging that it has in fact claimed the lives of many people, but still, hundreds clamber on every year in an attempt to survive through the sand storms and the scorching heat.
Tor Des Geantes
Italy has some of the most breathtaking natural splendor, and this ultra-endurance marathon takes you on a journey across the Aosta Valley. Many marathon runners claim this to be the toughest marathon race in the world, and with good reason. There are excruciating climbs and sleep and painful descends which test every muscle in your body. In fact, even if you have the slightest of issues with your knee or ankle, this race will exacerbate that issue. The only consolation that this race has to offer is the scenic beauty and the refuges and life bases which offer runners delicious pasta and Italian wines to make this a tourist experience. Many people participate but only a few ever manage to finish this race.
Cape Epic
How about a Tour de France with mountain bikes? This is a 700-kilometer-long race, but the track as well as the support has been planned out so that even amateurs can have a grand time participating in this race. This is the default mountain bike marathon that every biker has to finish to prove his/her salt. This race will be an excruciating challenge for both you and your bike.
How to Endure 