Alice’s Adventures
From running a company to running the Sahara, Alice thrives on challenge and danger
Alice Morrison is often described as Indiana Jones for girls – and no wonder!
Since a midlife career change from high flying executive to adventurer, 56-year-old Alice has cycled across Africa, walked across the Sahara, completed the most gruelling running race in the world and run around the base of Everest.
“That’s only a few of my wonderful adventures,” says Alice, who, in true Indiana Jones style, has discovered a lost city and narrowly missed being trampled to death by a charging bull elephant.
“I’ve always had an adventurous streak, although my mother insists I was a couch potato,” she laughs. “I was a journalist before becoming chief executive officer of a media organisation, but I tried to squeeze mini-adventures into my spare time.
“When I was in my mid-forties, I remember lying in bed at my home in the Peak District and thinking, What doIwanttodowiththe secondhalfofmylife? The answer? I wanted to write more and travel more.
“So, when I was made redundant in 2011, I entered the 2011 Tour D’Afrique, a four-month cycle from northern Africa to South Africa.
“That’s where I had my
“Sandstorms, quicksands, snakes and landmines, but also moments of beauty”
near-fatal encounter with a charging bull elephant,” reveals Alice. “The elephant was so close, I could feel the earth trembling. I pedalled as fast as I could but an elephant can run at 30mph, which is faster than I can cycle. Thankfully, he stopped chasing me when I cycled out of his territory but, until then, I was convinced I was going to die. Despite this incident, that cycle race was one of the best experiences of my life.”
Alice returned to the UK looking for a new challenge and found information about the gruelling Marathon Des Sables, a six-day endurance race across the Sahara.
“This race involves running a marathon every day, with a double marathon on the third day,” explains Alice. “I’d never run a marathon, never mind running 156 miles in scorching temperatures, carrying all my food and equipment.
“I started my training alongside Manchester’s canals and then moved to Morocco for a year so that I could run on sand and in the heat. Yet, even with all this training, I was still a terrible runner and found the Marathon Des Sables very difficult.
“On the final day, when my feet were torn to pieces, I spotted a runner shouting and capering on top of a sand dune. I followed him and, from the top of the sand dune, I could see the finish line.
“I’d reached the end of the Marathon Des Sables. An incredible feeling of relief, excitement and happiness rushed through me. That was when I decided to stay in Marrakesh and commit to being a full-time adventurer.”
Four years later, Alice and her local guide had become the first people to trek from the highest point in the Atlas Mountains to the Atlantic, and she had also followed the ancient salt roads to Timbuktu for a BBC2 documentary series and written two books.
“Then I let myself go!” Alice admits, laughing.
“I tend to be either doing something crazy or sitting on the couch, eating chocolate! But you can’t be an
adventurer if you’re a fat blob watching television so I signed up for The Everest Trail Race.
“This event involves running almost 100 miles in six days, ascending an incline which is the equivalent of walking up a ten-mile ladder.”
To train for this ultramarathon, Alice relocated from Marrakesh to the remote village high in the Atlas Mountains where she still lives. “I live in a tiny flat above the chickens and cows in a small family compound. I’m treated as a much-loved auntie, which is wonderful.”
After completing the Everest Trail Race, which she describes as “brutal – yet magical”, Alice became the first woman to walk the Draa River in Morocco – and then walked 1,000 miles across the Sahara Desert.
“That was a very special expedition,” reveals Alice. “It was so tough and so wild. Sandstorms, quicksands, snakes and landmines, but also moments of enduring beauty that gladdened my soul.”
Alice’s summer 2020 adventure is a 50-day trek across the Atlas Mountains which, due to coronavirus, has been postponed. “In Morocco, we’re in lockdown until at least June 10 and not allowed outside. Thankfully, my little flat has beautiful views and I live with my cat Squeaky alongside a lovely family – but I’m desperate to return to adventuring.”
Alice reveals that, at the start of every expedition, she feels nervous, excited and apprehensive. “At the end, I feel exhausted, happy and sad,” she says. “That sadness is because the adventure’s over – for now! There’s always another adventure on my horizon.”
Adventures in Morocco by Alice Morrison is out now in paperback and ebook. To find out more about Alice and her adventures, visit WWW.ALICEMORRISON.CO.UK
If you’re a wildlife lover and always wanted to go on safari, then I’d urge you to follow your dream. It’s undoubtedly one of the best experiences you’ll ever have and contributes in a large part to conservation and the local communities, who appreciate the benefits of tourism above poaching.