In April 1994, Mauro Prosperi, an Italian former police officer and pentathlete, was running the Marathon des Sables, a multi-day footrace across southern Morocco. On the fourth and longest stage, a sandstorm caught the field. Prosperi kept moving rather than lose his place, and when the wind dropped, he could no longer find the course markers. He sheltered in an abandoned Muslim shrine, where he killed bats and drank his own urine. He planted an Italian flag on the roof in the hope that searchers would see it. On the fourth day, believing he would not be found, he cut his wrists; dehydration had thickened his blood, and the wounds clotted. He walked on instead, living on insects, lizards and plants, and reached an oasis on the eighth day. A Tuareg girl herding goats found him, and her family took him to a village. Soldiers who suspected he was a spy delivered him to a hospital in Tindouf, Algeria. He had been missing for nine days and had strayed roughly 290 kilometers from the route, crossing a national border. He had lost about 15 kilograms and suffered lasting liver and kidney damage. Prosperi later returned to run the same race several more times. Memorable historical photos: