Morocco's Rachid el Morabity wins Marathon des Sables for the fourth time

Morocco’s Rachid el Morabity sealed his fourth Marathon des Sables victory on Friday with a third place finish on stage 5.

The first. pic.twitter.com/nXmTNUDbKx

— MARATHON DES SABLES (@marathonDsables) April 16, 2016

His countryman Abdelkader el Mouaziz won the stage itself, finishing second in the overall men’s standings.

The main drama of the day saw Spain’s Jose Manuel Martinez and Morocco’s Aziz el Akad battle it out for third place in the overall standings. El Akad came out on top with a second place stage finish, making it a clean sweep for the home country’s runners.

In the women’s race, Russia’s Natalia Sedykh, who held a 20-minute lead over second placed Nathalie Mauclair, led the stage from the beginning to claim the overall victory.

France’s Mauclair finished the stage in third place to confirm second spot in the overall rankings. Fernanda Maciel of Spain finished third overall.