The world's largest camel race

Richard Hamilton's images and comments.

Organizers say the competition, attended by 468 camels taking place on a 4km long track in Layoune, Western Sahara, broke the previous world record, with an increase of more than 100 riders.

The camels need to be at their peak to attend the race. They are divided by age, including groups under 5 years and groups over 5 years old, because young camels are capable of running faster.

The race is at the heart of a week-long Saharawi cultural festival. The track was not large enough for the 468 riders to show up at the same time, so each of the 50 notes was held for three consecutive days.

The competition was attended by both a lumpy camel and a two-camel. Famous for its stamina and endurance, camels can run short distances at speeds up to 30km / hour.

The festival organizer is a woman, Ms. Hajbouha Zoubeir. She said camels run faster than males."It is natural, women are better than men."

Operators often whip to camels to run faster, but commentator Najib Tanani said that "economists need to grasp the psychology of the animal they are controlling and do not need to whip. so much. "

In spite of the great winds that stormed the sand, hundreds of Saharawi residents flocked to cheer for their favorite camels.

Western Sahara is a long-standing region between Morocco and Polisario Front supported by Algeria. Morocco has a huge military presence here, but the region's regulations are not yet clearly confirmed.

Winning the race this year in the category of camels under 5 years of the fastest running is 14-year-old hand Zayn Enour. The commentators said that a good handler needs to be underweight, so winning is usually male boys.