The Rallye des Gazelles: Finding Myself

In March 2008, three years ago almost exactly to the date, I began my journey of becoming a “Gazelles”.  I participated in the Rallye Aicha des Gazelles, the women’s only navigational rally challenge through Morocco.  With nothing more than a compass, 1950s survey maps, a ruler and a calculator, teams make their way from checkpoint to checkpoint while seeking to log the shortest distance.  There are winners – but it is not a challenge that is about being the fastest.  It is a strategy game.  A game of precision.  Of endurance.  Of being to able to survive, just two people and a truck, alone in Morocco. With nothing but the quest for “the balise” to keep you going for 10 days.

Me and Caroline, Team 147, at the rally awards banquet

Earlier this year a friend of mine, Ann, remarked that she had no idea that I had ever done anything like the rally.  I’ve known Ann since 2009 and I guess because I met her after I did this extraordinary event, she has only known the me that is a “Gazelles”.  But what does that mean?  What did the rally give to me?  What did it teach me?  In fact, what makes a Gazelles a Gazelles?

The Rally Gave Me… Confidence

The rally is a team sport – teams of two, roles of driver and navigator.  My team mate Caroline and I decided that we each wanted to experience life as both driver and navigator.

By driving us across mountains and dunes, I developed a confidence that is hard to explain.  In short, I was confident that I could get us over a mountain – saving lots of valuable miles and thus points.  Driving over a mountain – before the rally – seemed totally crazy!  But when we succeeded, by choosing the shortest path which was completely aligned with the objective of logging the least miles, we learned that seemingly crazy paths, when aligned with the objective of the moment, could lead to great successes. 

When we chose to navigate through the hard course of the dunes – the X coordiantes – we took a leap of faith in our abilities.  Neither of us had ever driven on sand or in the desert.  We split the tasks, with Caroline driving and me running the dunes navigating.  I guided us through the trickiest of terrain – where it is impossible to tell north from south, where the constant changing and shifting of sand means there are no landmarks from which to site.  On those days we hit found almost all of the flags – the bright red balise.  At each flag we found, we learned that even though we had placed ourselves completely out of our comfort zone, by having confidence in our abilities we were able to achieve do something neither of us had ever – before the rally – even dreamed of doing.

Me, navigating through the dunes of Merzouga

The only time we ever had a bad day on the rally was a morning when we doubted our own abilities.  We pursued an “easy path” and while doing so lost track of time.  As a result of a decision at the beginning, a decision which we made because we were tired and looking for the easy path and wanting to avoid getting stuck, we completely missed the day’s cut off time and checkpoints. 

We learned that no matter what, our starting point should always be one of confidence.  And only when we started with confidence were we able to achieve success.

And conversely, we learned that to succeed we needed to believe in ourselves.  We needed to have confidence in our actions.  And that we shouldn’t back down from challenges, no matter how great they appeared or how tired we felt.

The Rally Gave Me… An appreciation for endurance

Make no mistake – the rally was gruelling.  We were up every day at 4am, greeted by Dominique Serra (rally organiser) and her cheery “Bonjour!” as it rang through our camp.  And each night we finished well past dark.  We drove all day, non stop.  Lunch became a luxury.  We survived on Nuun tablets, dried fruits, energy bars.  We slept on the hard ground, barely touching what I consider real sleep before we would be awoken again, to start another day of chasing flags, our quest to find the red balise.

Home, Sweet Rally Home

And each day we would drive. Get stuck and dig ourselves out.  Or help others who were stuck.  Shovelling sand that always seemed to reappear.  Exiting one crossed axel disaster only to meet another. 

A nice shot of me digging in the sand…

It is possible to survive on a persistent lack of sleep.  Maybe not pleasant but possible.

It is possible to survive on Moroccan pastry and fruit for breakfast, energy bars for lunch, Nuun tablets in water, and vegetables and couscous for dinner.  Maybe not the healthiest choices or the best nutrients for such active pursuits, but it is possible.

It is possible to dig even when it seems like you are digging nowhere, that you will never dig out of the hole in which you find yourself.

In the end, absolutely anything is possible, endurance can be tested and exceeded.  But to have such endurance requires not only physical attributes.  It is about spirit.  As long as your spirit believes, and you have the sheer desire and willpower, you can convince and push your physical self to do things you once thought impossible.

The Rally Gave Me… Communication (who needs a common spoken language?)

The rally is organised by a French organiser.  Its participants are mostly French.  The sheer “French-ness” of the event is hard to explain.  It is, well, just French.

But there is something about being with 100 other teams, sharing the same physical and mental challenges, day in and day out, that binds people together.

Although Caroline and I both spoke some French, and definitely understood a good deal more than we were able to speak, we learned quickly that communicating is about far more than a common language.  It is as much about heart and passion.  About wanting to understand someone’s emotions, so much so that words become secondary.

One day – the day we needed to find our way to the foot of the Dunes on the second overnight Marathon Leg, we were quite lost.  We drove back and forth, close to the border of Algeria, into the Dra’a river.  Up and down the dried, cracked river bed.  Looking for a way out.  Wondering which way to go.  All the while the sun was falling closer to the horizon, the darkness setting in.

It was frightening.  We decided to gun it and get out of the riverbed.  To just drive to the middle of nowhere, make a fire, and settle for the night.  To cook ourselves dinner, and to get some sleep, solitary and under the stars.

We noticed flashing beams.  We flashed back, and slowly Paula and Flo made their way to our car.  They spoke little English, so relying on a lot of laughter, good will, some gestures, and a shared common purpose – fire, warmth, food, and sleep – we had the most amazing evening together.  And the next day – together – we tackled the dunes of Che Ga Ga.

Paula, Me, Flo and Caroline – smiling at the finish of our amazing overnight and dune adventures

I learned that a common purpose is a lot more important than a common language.  Or that language – of the written and spoken variety – pales in comparison to heartfelt emotions and well timed laughter when it comes to being an effective communicator.

Supporting the Rally

One of the coolest parts of this rally is the way that it brings together everyone who has done it.  Once you have chased the elusive red balise.  Once you have spent days, cut off, totally reliant on yourself, without a mobile phone, without email, with nothing but your truck,  your partner, your maps compass ruler and calculator – you know what it means to be a Gazelles.  And you forever have a connection with others who do the rally, the Gazelles.

In 2008 I was in touch with Emily Miller, a pro rally driver from the US who decided to take up the Gazelles challenge on its 19th running in 2009.  Emily and I emailed a lot, with me providing her with our packing lists, my tips and advice, and some perspective about being an American in a French rally environment.

One of the best parts of each day in the rally is coming back to camp.  La Poste, the French postal service, operates an internet kiosk and communication system for the teams.  You get home in the night and can pick up messages – through the rally internet site, supporters can connect with teams and send them messages of encouragement.

Although I had never met Emily, I decided to send her messages – to follow her during the week and to let her know I was cheering her on.  A previous Gazelle, Nina, did the same for our team when we did the rally.  I wanted to pass on the support.

I encourage you to click onto the rally site and to send support to your favourite team.  I could recommend sending Emily a message.  Or perhaps you want to send Syndiely Wade a message – she is from Senegal and an amazing driver.  Or maybe you want to send this year’s all American team a note.  Or the Nigerian ladies.  All the teams really appreciate the support!

If you want to learn more about the rally, please let me know.  Emily is also now the US rally liason, and is working with the French organisers to build US media coverage and participation.  I can put you in touch with her, or search for and like the U.S.A. Gazelles Facebook page to learn more about how to get involved.  Sorry – as this is a women’s only event I guess the boys can’t participate directly, but maybe you can help in other ways!

Oh – and if you want to read more about my own rally experience (if this just wasn’t enough) feel free to click onto our blog from the challenge.  There are photos, live posts from the La Poste email kiosk, and our memories lists.  Enjoy!