Running the Sahara 

In 2007 three men ran 72 kilometers a day across the Sahara for 111 consecutive days.

“When I decided to run across the Sahara Desert with Ray Zahab and Kevin Lin, I knew it would be a life changing expedition. But I could never have known that, in many ways, my life would be defined by this run and the film about the journey,” says expedition leader Charlie Engle.

While running more than 4,500 miles across Africa was a difficult physical challenge, we were buoyed daily by enlightening encounters that opened our eyes to the people and the culture of the Sahara. I am most proud to be a co-founder, along with Matt Damon, of H20 Africa (now Water.org), which raised more than 6 million dollars for clean water projects in the region. This is the true legacy of our historic expedition,” Charlie says.

They fought through injury and extreme fatigue to reach their goal, which changed them forever.

Along the way the runners learned how to adapt to the climate and their surroundings in order to make progress and save their energy to accomplish their physical and mental challenge.

Documenting the journey was a challenge on its own!
A small film crew tracked the runners across the desert, capturing their incredible journey on camera, recording this landmark moment in athleticism, in humanitarianism, and in history.

In this interview executive producer and narrator Matt Damon and runner Ray Zahab talk about Running the Sahara.