I love the desert because here I find absolute silence and my runner's happiness.
- Rainer Predl
3RD PLACE IN THE SAHARA
Rainer Predl runs the Ultra Mirage 100 km
36 degrees, no shade, nothing but sand to the horizon. Ten hours, ten minutes and three seconds later, Rainer Predl stands on the podium as the best European at the Ultra Mirage in Tunisia.
In between lies a lead held from kilometer one, five aggressive wild dogs, getting lost in the middle of the desert, and a chase back onto the podium from fifth place.
It's Rainer's third trip to the Sahara, following two races at the well-known Sahara Marathon in Algeria in 2014 and 2020, rewarded with first place and third place respectively. This time he heads to the neighboring country of Tunisia, for the first time tackling the ultimate distance: 100 kilometers, entirely through the desert, in a race now held for the tenth time and thoughtfully organized.
FROM -40°C TO +36°C
Barely eleven months after the 100 km ultra in Antarctica at minus 40 degrees, now the opposite is called for. For a self-declared desert fox, this is no ordeal, but familiar terrain.
The journey leads via Tunis, where two days of acclimatization are scheduled, and continues with an eight-hour bus ride to the oasis town of Tozeur, the starting point for many Sahara expeditions. Just a few kilometers outside the city, the harsh reality becomes apparent:
sand, holes in the ground, barely any shade, and every now and then a snake or a scorpion.
BIB NUMBER 82
The Ultra Mirage is completely sold out, with distances of 25, 50, 100 kilometers and 100 miles.
For Rainer, it's clear: the 100 km is his signature discipline, just as it was in the Mojave Desert and in Antarctica. In the days before the start, connections quickly form, a group of German and Austrian participants, along with international runners from Algeria, Poland, France and Japan, united by the same passion.
After bib number distribution, the press conference and the race briefing, Rainer heads into the race with number 82. Mandatory gear, the absence of which would have meant a time penalty or disqualification:
- 2-liter running backpack
- Signal whistle,
- lighter Pocket and head torch
- Emergency blanket
- ID card
- Phone and GPS tracker
RACE DAY: 6:00 AM
Start is at six o'clock sharp, right in the middle of the desert, where the organizer has set up the starting arch and Sahara camp.
In pleasant 25 degrees, Rainer takes the lead from the very beginning, initially together with the field of the 50 km distance. At kilometer 9, the paths split off toward the "Mirage100."
Every 200 meters, sandbags mark the course, the only reliable orientation in the uneven terrain.
The GPS tracker serves for live tracking and, in an emergency, as an SOS function, which automatically leads to disqualification.
Checkpoints every 10 to 20 kilometers offer water, dates and nuts, the entire official nutrition.
Carrying one's own energy supplies is therefore mandatory, for Rainer that means Peeroton bars, gels and an isotonic drink.
LOST IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SAHARA
After the major checkpoint at kilometer 50, the route continues straight for a long stretch, the ground becomes firmer, the pace picks up.
But at some point the markings disappear. A pick-up truck carrying goats appears, the driver gestures unmistakably: wrong direction.
With no visible signpost in sight, there's nothing to do but trust his words, a ride is declined out of concern over disqualification and misunderstanding.
Instead, it means walking the roughly 1.3 kilometers back to the last waypoint on foot, accompanied by the driver. As it turns out, lost in a trance-like state, he had simply kept running straight ahead, and at that very moment two other runners come toward him from the wrong direction as well.
FROM 1ST TO 5TH PLACE: DEHYDRATION
The backpack is nearly empty, lips parched dry, a phase of dehydration starts to set in.
A pack of runners confirms the loss of several places due to the detour, but at this moment only one thing matters: drink and keep going.
At the checkpoint at kilometer 50 comes the anxious question of a possible disqualification, then relief: since the detour brought only disadvantages, the race may continue.
Dates, nuts, fluids, a salt tablet and a magnesium stick against cramps, then it's back underway.
From 5th place, the chase begins, bite and momentum are back.
The goal remains to bring this personal highlight to a fitting conclusion. After a forced running break in June and July due to a plantar fascia tear, this too is a mental victory:
the joy of running carries him through every crisis in this unique environment.
THE BATTLE FOR 3RD PLACE
At kilometer 65, the runner in fourth place is caught, visibly worse off, he vomits, a bad omen at 36 degrees. After a brief massage, the race continues, eyes now set on 3rd place. A Tunisian runner, recognizable from afar as a point of reference, is caught at kilometer 75 and shows no sign of being able to keep pace any longer.
3rd place is secured and is not to be surrendered again before the finish, the gap to the runner ahead remains unknown, later it turns out to be only around ten minutes.
The final stretch leads across a salt lake, which offers a pleasantly firm surface to run on. The last ten kilometers, by contrast, once again turn into a sandy challenge, until the finish comes into sight and the final meters are covered at a run once more.
You quickly learn that the last 10 km through the Sahara are nothing like the last 10 km somewhere in Germany.
- Rainer Predl
10:10:03 HOURS FINISH LINE REACHED
Overjoyed but exhausted, the finish-line photos are kept brief, shade and a cold Coke matter more in this moment. The first cooldown takes around 35 minutes.
In the end, this is a run that shows what's mentally possible despite injury and setbacks. Whether victory would have been within reach without the detour remains an open question and doesn't really matter:
3rd place overall, as the only European on the Ultra Mirage podium, is reason enough to celebrate.
Over time, you learn to accept things, whether good or bad. In the end, it's the experience and the event that count.
- Rainer Predl
TOP 10 RESULTS ULTRA MIRAGE 100km
| Place | Name | Country | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walid Romdhani | TUN | 09:59:26 |
| 2 | Abdebassat El Hamel | ALG | 09:59:26 |
| 3 | Rainer Predl | AUT | 10:10:03 |
| 4 | Gawen Bremond | FRA | 10:21:25 |
| 5 | Zhiou Abderrahim | TUN | 11:15:45 |
| 6 | Bilel Troudi | TUN | 11:56:20 |
| 7 | Amine Krichen | TUN | 11:57:42 |
| 8 | Fadhel Saharouri | TUN | 11:58:51 |
| 9 | Adel Trabelsi | TUN | 12:03:26 |
| 10 | Bassem Ben | TUN | 12:11:32 |
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