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A red sandstone arch over the surf at Legzira beach, near Sidi Ifni
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MDS 120 Atlantic Coast stage maps and checkpoints

Three stages on Morocco's Atlantic coast at Plage Blanche, 70, 100 or 120 km in all, with your food on your back. You pick your distance during stage 2.

January 23 to 30, 2027 Plage Blanche, Guelmim Province, Morocco

MDS 120 Atlantic Coast is the Marathon des Sables' three-stage race at Plage Blanche, on the Atlantic coast of southern Morocco. You walk or run 70, 100 or 120 km, carry all your food, and sleep three nights at a bivouac that doesn't move all week. Stages 1 and 3 are 25 to 30 km each, and on stage 2 you choose 20, 40 or 60 km on the day. The 3rd edition runs January 23 to 30, 2027, with the stages on January 25, 26 and 28.

The organizer keeps the route secret until it hands out the roadbook at the checks the day before stage 1. The maps here pin the 2026 checkpoints and bivouac from the race's own timing data, with no course line drawn between them. The 2026 route started about 15 km south-southeast of the bivouac and finished on the coast 1.6 km west-southwest of the village of Echatea El Abied. The 2025 edition used nearly the same points.

There's no mobile network at the bivouac, the organizer says. The 2027 course can change, but a map on your phone shows how the ground lies and how far apart the water was.

This is an unofficial guide: Goat Maps isn't affiliated with MDS 120 Atlantic Coast. Check the official site before you enter or race.

MDS Atlantic Coast course map

Every course's checkpoints on the Goat Maps topo map. Each course has a map of its own further down.

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MDS Atlantic Coast courses

CourseDistanceClimbingStartTime limit
Stage 1 (2026)23.2 km (14.4 mi)344 m (1,129 ft)
Stage 2: 60 km (2026)54.9 km (34.1 mi)402 m (1,319 ft)
Stage 2: 40 km (2026)41.3 km (25.7 mi)306 m (1,004 ft)
Stage 2: 20 km (2026)19.5 km (12.1 mi)144 m (472 ft)
Stage 3 (2026)27 km (16.8 mi)110 m (361 ft)

Stage 1

MDS Atlantic Coast Stage 1 (2026)

23.2 km north-northwest from the start to the bivouac, with two checkpoints.

Distance
23.2 km (14.4 mi)
Climbing
344 m (1,129 ft)

The course line isn't drawn yet, so the map only pins where the checkpoints are.

Take this course offline

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Stage 1 ran on January 26, 2026. Ian Corless reported a 2 AM wake-up and a 3 AM departure, then a long transfer before the start. The course ran north-northwest to the bivouac, 15 km away in a straight line, with checkpoints at 9.4 km and 17.3 km.

There's only 344 m of climbing, but Corless wrote that soft sand, dry riverbeds and rocky plateaus made it hard going. Every format ran the same stage 1.

Red conglomerate boulders on a pebble beach at Legzira
Anastasiia Malai / Unsplash

Stage 2

MDS Atlantic Coast Stage 2: 60 km (2026)

The 120 km format: a 54.9 km loop from the bivouac with five checkpoints.

Distance
54.9 km (34.1 mi)
Climbing
402 m (1,319 ft)

The course line isn't drawn yet, so the map only pins where the checkpoints are.

Take this course offline

Download its map in Goat Maps and you can find the next checkpoint without a signal.

Open in web map

Stage 2 started at 8:30 on January 27, 2026. The long option went east-northeast to CP1 at 9.5 km, south to CP2 at 19.8 km and west to CP3 at 30.1 km. From there it swung southwest to CP4 at 38.5 km, about 10 km south-southwest of the bivouac, and came back north by CP5 at 46.8 km. The timing points put it at 54.9 km.

Corless described rocky plateau, flooded gorges that left shoes full of water, and a flat run beside the ocean to finish. The rules have you switch your headlamp on at nightfall, and in 2026 the last finisher came in close to 11 PM.

Stage 2

MDS Atlantic Coast Stage 2: 40 km (2026)

The 100 km format: 41.3 km from the bivouac with three checkpoints.

Distance
41.3 km (25.7 mi)
Climbing
306 m (1,004 ft)

The course line isn't drawn yet, so the map only pins where the checkpoints are.

Take this course offline

Download its map in Goat Maps and you can find the next checkpoint without a signal.

Open in web map

The 40 km followed the long option through CP1 at 9.5 km, CP2 at 19.8 km and CP3 at 30.1 km, then headed back to the bivouac, 11.2 km on. It climbed 306 m.

Stage 2

MDS Atlantic Coast Stage 2: 20 km (2026)

The 70 km format: out to one checkpoint and back, 19.5 km.

Distance
19.5 km (12.1 mi)
Climbing
144 m (472 ft)

The course line isn't drawn yet, so the map only pins where the checkpoints are.

Take this course offline

Download its map in Goat Maps and you can find the next checkpoint without a signal.

Open in web map

The shortest option went out to a single checkpoint at 8.7 km, about 5 km south-southwest of the bivouac and a few hundred meters from the longer formats' CP3, and came back. It climbed 144 m, and you still get the rest day with everyone else.

Stage 3

MDS Atlantic Coast Stage 3 (2026)

27 km east-northeast from the bivouac to the finish on the coast, two checkpoints.

Distance
27 km (16.8 mi)
Climbing
110 m (361 ft)

The course line isn't drawn yet, so the map only pins where the checkpoints are.

Take this course offline

Download its map in Goat Maps and you can find the next checkpoint without a signal.

Open in web map

Stage 3 started at 7:00 on January 29, 2026, after the rest day. It ran east-northeast the whole way: CP1 at 6.1 km, CP2 at 16.5 km, and the finish 1.6 km west-southwest of Echatea El Abied. It climbs only 110 m.

Corless wrote that the sea ran high up the beach and pushed runners off the firm line into deeper, slower sand, which made the last 10 km a slog. Low cloud and light rain hung over the coast that morning.

A sandy beach below low pale cliffs at Legzira, near Sidi Ifni
Anastasiia Malai / Unsplash

Entry and cost

Registration for 2027 is open on the organizer's site. There's one offer, €2,250 per person since April 1, 2026 (it was €2,150 in late February and €2,200 in March). There's €100 off for the first 100 registrants. It covers transfers from Agadir airport, four nights in a double room with half-board at a hotel near Agadir (two before the race, two after), your bib, three nights at the bivouac in your own tent, the finisher medal and the gala dinner. Once the places are gone there's a waiting list.

If you cancel between October 5 and November 8, 2026, the organizer keeps half the fee, and after that there's no refund. Moving your entry to 2028 is free until November 8, costs €250 from November 9 to December 13, and isn't possible after that.

You need the organizer's own medical certificate, signed by a doctor less than 90 days before the start.

Getting there

Fly into Agadir-Al Massira International Airport. The organizer recommends arriving on January 23, 2027, with shuttles between the airport and the hotel from 6 AM. The checks are at the hotel on Sunday, and on Monday a bus takes you to the desert for stage 1. The 2026 finish was about 190 km southwest of the airport in a straight line.

The event page has you fly home from Agadir on January 30, but the regulations' program sends that day's return transfer to Marrakech airport, so check with the organizer before you book your flight home.

You can leave a suitcase of spare clothes at the hotel. Nobody else can come into the desert with you: the rules accept no accompanying people, and outside help is banned, with a penalty of at least three hours for taking on supplies.

Water, food and kit

The organizer provides only drinking water, at the bivouac and at checkpoints about every 8 to 12 km. At the end of each stage you get 5 liters for the night and the first 10 km of the next day. Food is on you: 10 meals in all, from lunch on stage 1 day to lunch on stage 3 day, at about 2,000 kcal a day.

The mandatory kit includes a 20 L pack or similar, at least 1.5 L of water, a sleeping bag, a headlamp with spare batteries or a battery pack, a lighter, whistle, metal-bladed knife, signal mirror, survival blanket, skin antiseptic, sun cream and sunglasses. Add 10 safety pins, 8 stock cubes (two a day), €100 in cash and your passport. The organizer also suggests sand gaiters and a sleeping mat. Everyone carries a GPS beacon with an emergency button.

The bivouac has toilets (bring paper), shaded common areas and a medical tent that's always open. There's no electricity and there are no showers.

Weather

Grey surf below a long red cliff and arch on a misty day at Legzira
Khalid El Hadrami / Unsplash

The regulations give January averages of 22°C by day and 12°C at night, and the organizer's packing list has a windproof layer for evenings and mornings. In 2026 Corless described low cloud and rain on stage 2 and again on stage 3. If a sandy wind takes away all visibility, the rules tell you to stop on the line of the course and wait for the marshals.

MDS Atlantic Coast checkpoints and GPS coordinates

For crews and spectators: each place on the map in decimal degrees, latitude first. Paste them into any map app or add them as waypoints in Goat Maps.

  • Stage 1 start (2026)

    97 m (318 ft)

    28.71917, -10.76415

  • Stage 1 CP1 (2026)

    69 m (226 ft)

    28.78912, -10.79209

  • Stage 1 CP2 (2026)

    18 m (59 ft)

    28.81739, -10.82294

  • Bivouac (2026)

    62 m (203 ft)

    28.83599, -10.84094

  • Stage 2 CP1 (2026)

    82 m (269 ft)

    28.86042, -10.79047

  • Stage 2 CP2 (2026)

    45 m (148 ft)

    28.78880, -10.79877

  • Stage 2 CP3 (2026)

    82 m (269 ft)

    28.79126, -10.85177

  • Stage 2 CP3, 70 km format (2026)

    81 m (266 ft)

    28.79400, -10.85296

  • Stage 2 CP4 (2026)

    105 m (344 ft)

    28.75291, -10.88503

  • Stage 2 CP5 (2026)

    68 m (223 ft)

    28.81065, -10.91738

  • Stage 3 CP1 (2026)

    75 m (246 ft)

    28.86157, -10.79519

  • Stage 3 CP2 (2026)

    60 m (197 ft)

    28.90889, -10.70488

  • Finish (2026)

    28.96138, -10.61581

MDS Atlantic Coast FAQ

When is MDS 120 Atlantic Coast 2027?

January 23 to 30, 2027. You arrive on the 23rd, do the checks on the 24th, run stage 1 on January 25 and stage 2 on the 26th, rest on the 27th and finish stage 3 on the 28th. The awards and gala dinner are on the 29th.

Is there a GPX of the MDS 120 Atlantic Coast route?

No. The route stays secret until the roadbook and route map are handed out at the checks, and the race's live timing pages don't offer the track. The maps here pin the 2026 checkpoints from the timing points, with no line between them. The 2025 and 2026 points were almost the same, but the 2027 route can differ.

Can you walk MDS 120 Atlantic Coast?

Yes. Walkers are welcome, and the cutoffs are set at a minimum speed of 3.5 km/h. The organizer puts the average pace at 5.5 km/h. For the shortest week, take the 20 km option on stage 2.

Which distance should I pick?

You decide during stage 2, depending on how you feel. In 2026 the options measured 19.5, 41.3 and 54.9 km by the timing points, so the week came to about 70, 91 or 105 km. The climbing on this page comes from the same points, 856 m in all for the long week, while LiveTrail's race summary gives 1,163 m. The long option runs into the dark for slower runners.

Is there phone signal at MDS 120 Atlantic Coast?

Not at the bivouac: the organizer says there's no mobile network, and no electricity to charge a phone. Download the map at the hotel.

Where is Plage Blanche?

On Morocco's Atlantic coast in Guelmim Province, southwest of Sidi Ifni. The 2026 finish was about 190 km southwest of Agadir's airport in a straight line. The organizer runs the transfers from the hotel near Agadir, so you don't need your own transport.

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Updated . An unofficial guide, from the organizer's published information. Coordinates from the organizer's course and OpenStreetMap contributors. Photos from Unsplash. Organize a race? We help with course files.