Each runner is limited to 2 gallons of water a day, most of it dispensed at night for cooking and bathing. No rain has fallen there for several years. One runner got lost in a sandstorm and turned up nine days later, and 44 pounds lighter, in Algeria. Their insurance policy guarantees funeral expenses and the return of any runner's body to the home country. To attract media attention and help the less fortunate, the race raises money to help the desert people with water supplies.
Runners often choose other charities, too.
Hewitson decided to enter and run to raise money for an AIDS hospice in Puerto Rico. Trying to train for a race he had never seen, he set a goal of finishing in the top 30. In November, Hewitson began running up to 120 miles a week, most of it with a weighted pack. He carried it the entire Atlanta Marathon. His friends laughed when he pulled bricks or pieces of steel out of it.