Chennai-based Irishman conquers sun and sand at the Marathon des Sables

Con Anthony Conlon has always been fascinated by the stories of the explorers and adventurers of yore: Ferdinand Magellan, Vasco da Gama, James Cook, Ernest Shackleton, George Mallory, “the usual suspects,” says the Chennai-based entrepreneur, who remembers reading all their biographies when he was younger.

It is part of the reason he decided to embark on the Marathon des Sables, a legendary ultramarathon through the Moroccan Sahara, often called the toughest footrace on Earth. “It was a little bit of wanting to see what that kind of experience would be like, even in a very small way,” says the 54-year-old Irishman, who has just returned from the gruelling week-long race, which was held between April 5 and 11 this year.