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Sandstone cliffs above a white beach and Pacific surf in the Paracas National Reserve, with flat desert behind
Matthijs Idema / Unsplash

MDS 120 Peru course maps, stage by stage

Four self-sufficient days in the Ica Desert, sleeping by the Pacific: three stages, and the distance you pick for stage 2 makes your week 70, 100 or 120 km.

2026 dates not announced yet, usually in November Ica Desert, Peru

Marathon des Sables brings its three-stage MDS 120 format to Peru's coastal desert south of Paracas. Depending on your format you cover 70, 100 or 120 km at a run or a walk, with your own food for the four days in the desert on your back, and you spend three nights in a camp on the Pacific shore that stays put. Peru last ran from November 29 to December 6, 2025. Too few people signed up for 2026, so that edition was called off; the organizer now shows a 2027 edition without dates.

You only see the route once the roadbook is handed over at the checks on the eve of stage 1. The lines and checkpoints below are the 2025 course, taken from the organizer's live timing points. Stage 1 left the Ica road at 495 m and dropped south to the shore, and stage 3 ended on the coast about 9 km east-southeast of Laguna Grande village. Most checkpoints sat within the Paracas National Reserve.

The organizer warns there's no phone network in camp. The next route may not match 2025's. Saved offline, this one still shows what the ground is like and how spread out the water stops were.

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

MDS 120 Peru 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 120 Peru courses

CourseDistanceClimbingStartTime limit
Stage 1 (2025)25.9 km (16.1 mi)520 m (1,706 ft)Mon, Dec 1, 11:17 AM
Stage 2: 120 km format (2025)60.6 km (37.7 mi)1,627 m (5,338 ft)Tue, Dec 2, 6:32 AM
Stage 2: 100 km format (2025)45.1 km (28 mi)1,279 m (4,196 ft)Tue, Dec 2, 6:32 AM
Stage 2: 70 km format (2025)31.1 km (19.3 mi)925 m (3,035 ft)Tue, Dec 2, 6:32 AM
Stage 3 (2025)27.4 km (17 mi)525 m (1,722 ft)Thu, Dec 4, 5:00 AM

Start times are the 2025 edition's.

Stage 1

MDS 120 Peru Stage 1 (2025)

From the Ica road down to the shoreline camp: 25.9 km, CP1 and CP2 on the way.

Distance
25.9 km (16.1 mi)
Climbing
520 m (1,706 ft)
Start
Mon, Dec 1, 11:17 AM

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

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Day one of racing was December 1, 2025. After the transfer down from Lima the race started at 11:17, at 495 m beside the road from Ica, and headed south toward the ocean; the camp lies roughly 23 km from the start as the crow flies. CP1 sits at 9.4 km and 676 m, and CP2 comes at 18 km, on the way down to the coast.

Ian Corless described mild temperatures and cloud cover early, then a strong wind later on that cooled everyone down. The 70, 100 and 120 km fields all ran the same course that day.

Rolling sand dunes under a pale sky in the desert near Ica
Sam / Unsplash

Stage 2

MDS 120 Peru Stage 2: 120 km format (2025)

The long day: 60.6 km inland and back to camp, five checkpoints, 1,627 m of climbing.

Distance
60.6 km (37.7 mi)
Climbing
1,627 m (5,338 ft)
Start
Tue, Dec 2, 6:32 AM

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.

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On December 2, 2025, everyone left camp at 6:32. The 120 km format went from sea level up to CP1 at 12.2 km (659 m), northeast to CP2 at 22.5 km, then south via CP3 at 34.4 km to CP4 at 41 km, about 15 km east-southeast of camp. CP5 at 50.5 km is back down at 11 m, and from there it's 10 km home.

Pack your headlamp where you can reach it. It's compulsory from nightfall on stage 2, and the route's markers are retro-reflective so they catch its beam. The timing data shows the last finishers arriving at 12:32 AM.

Vehicle tracks across the sand dunes at Huacachina, inland in the Ica desert
Neto Rivas / Unsplash

Stage 2

MDS 120 Peru Stage 2: 100 km format (2025)

Inland and back to camp over 45.1 km, with four checkpoints and 1,279 m of climbing.

Distance
45.1 km (28 mi)
Climbing
1,279 m (4,196 ft)
Start
Tue, Dec 2, 6:32 AM

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

This option shared the climb to CP1 (12.6 km), missed out CP2 and went straight to CP3 at 19 km. It then joined the long loop for CP4 at 25.5 km and CP5 at 35.1 km before returning to camp. In 2025 it came out at 45.1 km, well over the 40 km the organizer's page now gives for it.

Stage 2

MDS 120 Peru Stage 2: 70 km format (2025)

The short loop: 31.1 km from camp and back, CP1 and CP5, 925 m of climbing.

Distance
31.1 km (19.3 mi)
Climbing
925 m (3,035 ft)
Start
Tue, Dec 2, 6:32 AM

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

You still face the big climb to CP1 at 12.6 km. After that the 70 km format turned for CP5, down at 20.8 km, and back to camp at 31.1 km, against the 30 km now listed on the organizer's page.

Stage 3

MDS 120 Peru Stage 3 (2025)

27.4 km northwest along the coast to the finish line, with CP1 and CP2.

Distance
27.4 km (17 mi)
Climbing
525 m (1,722 ft)
Start
Thu, Dec 4, 5:00 AM

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

After the December 3 rest day, the final stage started on December 4, 2025, in two waves at 5:00 and 6:00, in darkness, cloud and mist by Ian Corless's account. It followed the coast northwest, with CP1 at 7.8 km and CP2 at 17.5 km, to a finish roughly 9 km east-southeast of Laguna Grande.

Corless had dunes on one side of the line and the sea on the other, and heat building once the sun broke through. The stage climbs 525 m in all. All formats ran this stage, and the night after it is spent at a hotel in Paracas.

Dark cliffs above a long beach on the Paracas coast, with pale desert hills behind
Kimberly Genest / Unsplash

Registration and the cancelled 2026 race

Sign-up happens online on the MDS site; places go in order of registration, and a waiting list opens if they run out. By the organizer's own description, Peru normally only comes round every third year. A 2026 edition was added straight after 2025 and later cancelled because not enough people entered. The organizer calls the next one, in 2027, the 5th edition, but hasn't set dates, and its event page carries an interest form for news of entry opening.

In 2025 one package at €2,650 covered the race, three nights in camp, four half-board hotel nights, water, repatriation assistance, the finisher's medal and t-shirt, and the gala dinner. Bring the organizer's medical certificate form, filled in and signed by a doctor within 90 days of the start.

Getting there

A dark sand cove below sandstone rocks on the coast at Paracas
Spencer Arquimedes / Unsplash

Your flight lands in Lima. From the airport it's about 45 minutes by taxi to the race hotel in Miraflores, for under €10 (around 35 soles). The 2025 schedule had two Lima nights, checks on the second day, and then the transfer out to the stage 1 start. After the finish come two nights in Paracas, with the awards and the gala, then the transfer back to Lima airport. Anything you don't need in the desert can stay at the hotel in a suitcase.

Your passport should have six months left on it when you enter Peru. Using the UK as its example, the organizer says no visa is needed for a short tourist stay; check what applies to you. Friends and family stay behind when you head into the desert. The regulations don't admit accompanying people, and accepting outside assistance during the race is against the rules.

Food, water and compulsory kit

Rolling sand dunes under a pale sky in the desert near Ica
Sam / Unsplash

Water is the only supply MDS hands out. Checkpoints sit roughly 8 to 12 km apart, and after each stage you collect 5 liters that must cover the evening and the following morning up to the first checkpoint, about 10 km in. Food is all yours to carry: 10 meals for the four days, and the organizer recommends 2,000 kcal or more a day. Gas stoves are banned, so leave yours at home.

The 2025 regulations list the compulsory kit: a 20 L pack or equivalent, at least 1.5 L of water, sleeping bag, headlamp plus spare batteries or a battery pack, 10 safety pins, lighter, whistle, knife with a metal blade, skin antiseptic, signal mirror, survival blanket, 8 stock cubes, sun cream, €100 in cash and your passport. You'll also carry the organizer's GPS beacon, which has an emergency button.

Your tent in camp is your own, pitched in a cluster of six, and the medical tent is open day and night. There are no showers and no electricity.

Weather

The organizer's December averages for the Ica Desert are 21°C in the daytime and 15°C after dark, and its packing list includes a windbreaker for evenings and mornings. In 2025 several stages began under cloud or mist, and on stage 1 the wind got up later in the day. Should a sandstorm blind you, the regulations want you to stop right on the course line until the marshals tell you what to do.

MDS 120 Peru 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 (2025)

    495 m (1,624 ft)

    -14.17104, -76.06181

  • Stage 1 CP1 (2025)

    676 m (2,218 ft)

    -14.24943, -76.06459

  • Stage 1 CP2 (2025)

    312 m (1,024 ft)

    -14.32067, -76.06214

  • Bivouac (2025)

    -14.37515, -76.08213

  • Stage 2 CP1 (2025)

    659 m (2,162 ft)

    -14.37832, -76.01408

  • Stage 2 CP2 (2025)

    513 m (1,683 ft)

    -14.32979, -75.95770

  • Stage 2 CP3 (2025)

    551 m (1,808 ft)

    -14.38105, -75.96130

  • Stage 2 CP4 (2025)

    607 m (1,991 ft)

    -14.42466, -75.94965

  • Stage 2 CP5 (2025)

    11 m (36 ft)

    -14.43484, -76.01748

  • Stage 3 CP1 (2025)

    -14.31214, -76.09719

  • Stage 3 CP2 (2025)

    -14.23688, -76.13466

  • Finish (2025)

    43 m (141 ft)

    -14.17395, -76.19372

MDS 120 Peru FAQ

When is MDS 120 Peru 2027?

No dates yet. The organizer's event page lists a 2027 edition and has a form to register interest. Before that, the 2026 race (planned for November 28 to December 5) was cancelled for lack of numbers, and the last one ran November 29 to December 6, 2025.

Can I download the MDS 120 Peru course?

Only the old one. The organizer keeps each route to itself until the checks, and you get it there in the roadbook and route map. The 2025 track can still be downloaded as a GPX from the live timing site the race used, and it's the one drawn on this page.

How long is MDS 120 Peru?

Your format decides it, and stage 2 is the only stage that changes. Its 2025 versions measured 31.1, 45.1 and 60.6 km, which put the whole race at roughly 84, 98 and 114 km. The 60.6 km version adds 1,627 m of climbing and carries on after dark.

Do you have to run MDS 120 Peru?

No, walkers can enter. Cutoffs assume a pace of 3.5 km/h, and the organizer says the average MDS pace is 5.5 km/h.

Will my phone work at MDS 120 Peru?

Not in camp. The organizer lists no mobile signal and no electricity at the bivouac, so there's nowhere to charge. Save the map to your phone while you're still in Lima.

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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.