Lahcen Ahansal

About

Lahcen Ahansal is a Moroccan ultrarunner and Marathon des Sables specialist who holds the Guinness World Record for the most victories at the legendary six-day, 250km Sahara desert race, winning it 10 times between 1997 and 2007. Born in Jbel Bani, a village near Zagora in southern Morocco, into the Berber Ait Atta confederation, he was orphaned of his father and grew up in modest circumstances before being accepted into the Moroccan National School of Athletics in Rabat at 19 — though he was sent home after two months following disappointing cross-country results. He rebuilt his career around the unique demands of multi-stage desert racing, becoming renowned for using intimate knowledge of the Sahara's terrain to find the fastest legal lines through each stage. Together with his younger brother Mohamad Ahansal, a five-time Marathon des Sables champion in his own right, the two brothers combined for 15 victories at the race, making the Ahansal name synonymous with desert ultrarunning dominance.

Notable Wins

• — Marathon des Sables (10x: 1997-2007)
• — Guinness World Record for most Marathon des Sables wins

Race History