Arriving on Friday evening from as far afield as London, Truro, Leeds and Dublin, the guys had the chance to try out kit MdS-specific kit, equipment and dehydrated food - plus plenty of home-made cake, chilli and a beer &  wine or two!  

Expert lecturers included Dr Emma Dawber (MdS veteran and expedition doc on multi-day races worldwide) on health and all-important foot care, Dr Toni Minitti (sub-3hr marathoner and head of sports psychology at Nottingham Trent University) on mental preparation, Andrea Wood (marathon runner and sports nutritionist) on training diet and race food, and Andy and myself on MdS kit, equipment, tent-life and stage-race training.

Our aim was to give participants as much advice, guidance and information as possible for a successful 2011 MdS, as well as the chance to try out kit and equipment 'on the run', and meet fellow MdS racers.    From the feedback and emails we've had so far, it seems the weekend was a resounding success - so GOOD LUCK to Adam, Chris, David, Graham, Jay, Paul 1, Paul 2, Paul 3 (!), Shane and Simon - we'll be following your desert adventure all the way!

See more photos from the weekend in our MdS Facebook album here.