Our lovely Monkey Runners set forth from Marrakesh this morning with 800km of mountains, desert and uncertainty between them and the finish line. The only certainty was that they would get lost, they would eat tagine, and someone would fall over.
Here are the bite sized highlights of the going so far.

Day 5-6

They’ve battled sandstorms, torrential rain, snow, scorching sun, crap bikes rough terrain and their own stupidity, but against all odds this lovely lot have made it. Well done. You’ve earned yourselves a small round of applause and a lukewarm beer. Treasure this moment folks, you’ve earned it.

There’s still space on the October 2019 and January 2020 Monkey Runs, and if you can wait until the 18th, the April 2020 will go on sale too.

Funnily enough tiny wheels are rubbish in the sand. The trick is to go really fast and lean back, but we’re not telling them that.

If you’ve not played monkey bike football, you’ve never lived.

Sometimes when there’s no road, you gotta make your own. We like it best when there’s no road.

You remember when you were a kid, and you messed about all day and playing in the dirt? What happened to those days? You had so much fun. You didn’t have a care in the world. Riding a monkey bike is the way to bring back those days. Ride the monkey, unleash your inner stupid.

We’re not sure, but we reckon this lot will miss the scenery here

The funny thing about getting lost. It can be unpleasant, if you’re trying to navigate the ugly roundabouts of Milton Keynes. If you’re high in the Atlas Mountains, it’ll probably be the highlight of your day. Keith and his crew get to spend the next few hours riding around this trying to find their way.

You can guarantee if you’re going to break down. It’ll be the moment it starts to snow. Just ask Jeff. You can also guarantee Jeff’s team mates are inside with a hot mint tea. Still, it gives Jeff practice if he ever wants to do The Ice Run.

Seth and his crew have got themselves to Dades Gorge. Which gives them about a day and a half to get the last 270km. Probably plenty of time.

They might have tiny engines, but they still put out  a decent lick of speed when you want an impromptu motocross race.

These gents tried to swap their crappy helicopter for Ben’s mighty monkey. Ben obviously told him where he could stick the chopper.

Day 3-4

Zak’s bike is suffering a little. Luckily for Zak, Jorge has some tow rope. Not quite so lucky for Jorge.

Nic (4D1C) looks like he’s had enough. And they’re only half way

Are we nearly there yet?

The scenery around here is fairly easy on the eye, if not slightly monotone. Shots by Keith

When your team mate says ‘Follow me’. You  don’t have to do exactly what he does

The guys from “Asphalt Heritage” wanted to see what fuel economy they could coax out of these diminutive simian bicycles. By riding in tight streamlined formation and controlling their revs they got to 300km and still didn’t run their little 8 litre tanks dry.

Slow travel is where it’s at. Why burn around by large engine 4×4 or touring bike, when you can go nice and slow, take in the sights. Feel that shit as well as see it. Get to the top of that mountain. Jump off to let your engine cool. Stretch your legs. Enjoy the view. The let rip on the way down.

Why pay tens millions of dollars to get to the moon when you can do this for a fraction of the price?

Prefer to participate than spectate? Signup is open for October 2019 and January 2020, or stick your email in the box below to be the first to get signup news for April 2020.

There are two types of people. Those that approach the water with caution, careful not to get too wet, wary of something hidden below the surface. And those that say, “Fuck it” and burn in full throttle Which are you?

Day 1-2

Here they are, moments before the off. Not just wondering how they’ll get to the finish line, but some of them even wondering how they’ll get out of the launch compound.

Monkey Run April 2019 ready to roll

The good thing about a monkey bike is that they’re easy to ride. Though it’s probably a good idea to have ridden a bike a bit before you start the adventure. Right Todd?

It’s perhaps not a total surprise we got these pictures of Todd about 2 hours after the launch.

But at least he managed to leave the launch venue, this lot had a bit more trouble.

The First breakdown of the adventure goes to James, who got about 30km under his belt before this happened.

Elsewhere on the run, some of our teams stumbled across a portal to another world. By this we of course mean a film studio in the desert.

If you thought that Morocco would be glorious sun and blue sky, you’d be very much mistaken. Here’s Jorge, probably wondering if he should’ve brought a snowboard instead of a monkey bike.

And if you were wondering why they call them monkey bikes.

This picture probably wont help at all.

When we tell folks that these bikes are really unsuitable for adventures like  this, we’re not joking. Still the battle to get to the top of that hill will make the view at the top all the more special, right?

You can find out more about the monkey run Morocco or sign up for the January/ October runs over on the Monkey Run Website, or if you’re a fan of updates in 280 characters or fewer you can see tweets like the ones below on the Monkey Run Twitter Page.

Monkey see, monkey D’oh! pic.twitter.com/EISR2McxdN

— MonkeyRun (@monkeyrunlive) April 1, 2019

“I see you’ve played knifey spoony before” pic.twitter.com/mBsjrD1CRR

— MonkeyRun (@monkeyrunlive) April 2, 2019