It was a successful debut for Gianluca Barbero at the 31st edition of the Marathon des Sables, a stage race in the Moroccan Sahara Desert that the Italian athlete completed in excellent physical condition.

On Saturday, April 16, the 31st edition of the Marathon des Sables came to a close—a 240-kilometer ultra race through sand, rocks, and sunshine across the Moroccan Sahara Desert. The 2015 men’s podium was exactly as expected, with the three Moroccans El Morabity, El Mouaziz, and El Akad finishing on the podium, but the Italian contingent also delivered an excellent performance, with an incredible Marco Pajusco placing tenth and a remarkable Marco Olmo finishing twenty-ninth in his twentieth MDS.

Among the Italians, Gianluca Barbero, a Team Oxyburn athlete making his desert debut, also had an excellent first race: “It was an overwhelming experience,” Gianluca said upon his return from Morocco, “much more than I had imagined…. The suffocating heat—above average, since it was one of the hottest editions in history—sand everywhere, from the course to the tent, right down to the uncomfortable conditions at the bivouac, where we slept on the ground and ate freeze-dried food… Nutritious and light, sure, but inedible in the long run! But, on the bright side, we passed through some magical places and met a lot of exceptional people.”

And as for the Oxyburn gear, how did it hold up during the long, grueling days of the race, between the stifling heat of the day and the freezing cold at night? “Great,” Barbero begins. “From Oxyburn, I used the buff, two pairs of ankle-high socks, and the long-sleeved thermal shirt. The socks were excellent… I was one of the few who managed to keep my feet free of sores and blisters. The buff was great, and so was the long-sleeved shirt, which kept me warm during the cold desert nights.”