By Kevin Tiscareno
The Sahara Desert stretched endlessly before me as I took my first steps into what many consider to be the world’s most challenging footrace — the Marathon des Sables Legendary. In April 2025, I joined approximately 1,100 other runners for the brutal 250-kilometer journey spanning seven days of rough terrain, dynamic weather and absolute self-reliance. Nine months of preparation had brought me to this moment, but nothing could have prepared me for the leadership lessons waiting in those sand dunes.
The Marathon des Sables became an unexpected training session in understanding what drives organizational success in the fire service. As I pushed through each grueling stage, carrying everything I needed to survive on my back, the relationship between the desert and the daily challenges facing fire departments became clear. Both demand preparation, adaptive leadership under pressure, and the ability to perform when failure isn’t an option.
Marathon mindset: Endurance over speed
The Marathon des Sables takes away every illusion about quick fixes and instant success. Over 250 kilometers in the Sahara Desert, runners who charge out of the gate at their typical marathon pace slow down and eventually fail. The desert teaches a harsh but invaluable lesson that sustainable progress supersedes explosive effort every time.
I witnessed this principle firsthand watching seasoned marathoners who had ignored the “race within yourself” mindset. They began sustaining injuries, and some ultimately did not finish. The runners who embraced a steady, methodical pace by checking off one checkpoint at a time found themselves still moving forward. My strategy was to focus solely on reaching the next checkpoint, celebrate that small victory, then set sights on the next checkpoint. This approach carried me through each stage and ultimately to the finish line.
Fire service leaders face an identical endurance challenge. Departments that operate in constant emergency mode by sprinting from crisis to crisis without sustainable systems inevitably burn out their personnel and compromise their organizational effectiveness. Departments that build endurance into their organizational DNA achieve dramatically different outcomes. They develop comprehensive succession planning that prepares the next generation of leaders years in advance, maintain consistent training programs that build competency steadily over time rather than cramming knowledge during crisis periods, and implement proactive wellness programs that preserve firefighter health instead of waiting until burnout.
The checkpoint mentality transforms how leaders approach organizational success by building in recognition points and recovery periods rather than expecting personnel to maintain peak performance indefinitely. Like the MDS runners celebrating each checkpoint reached, endurance-focused departments acknowledge incremental progress by recognizing successful recruit classes, new program developments, well-executed training evolutions, and smoothly managed incidents. The small victories build momentum toward larger organizational goals.
Self-sufficiency with community support
The Marathon des Sables creates a unique dynamic where runners must be completely self-sufficient carrying their own food, shelter and navigation equipment — all of this while participating in a larger community effort. The most successful participants master this delicate balance between independence and collaboration. The community in the desert help fellow runners, when possible, which builds strong bonds within each tent group. Nobody loses sight of a fundamental truth that ultimately, each person must complete the journey individually. These community connections complement, rather than replace, personal responsibility.
Fire departments face an identical balancing act between organizational independence and community collaboration. The National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program emphasizes this principle through coursework focused on building partnerships by using the “the whole community approach.” This methodology recognizes that effective emergency management extends far beyond fire department capabilities. It requires engaging residents, visitors, private sector partners, nonprofits, faith-based organizations, and government at all levels.
Consider wildfire preparedness in the wildland-urban interface. A department practicing the whole community approach transforms from reactive responder to proactive partner. Rather than simply responding to fires, firefighters help residents create defensible space around homes, educate neighborhoods about evacuation procedures, and implement mass notification systems. The face-to-face contact involved in these programs builds crucial relationships before emergencies occur.
Similarly, a neighborhood trained in CPR with strategically placed AEDs multiplies the department’s life-saving capacity. Residents who know their neighbors’ contact information and have established communication networks become force-multipliers during crisis situations. These initiatives require the department to maintain its professional capabilities such as core self-sufficiency, all while empowering citizens to take ownership of their own preparedness.
Work-life balance integration
Preparing for the race required nine months of training that changed how I approached work-life balance. Ultrarunners who work as firefighters quickly learn that balance isn’t about the perfect separation between training and life. It’s about integration and purposeful choices. This includes early morning runs before my family woke up, planning long runs as to not interfere with family time, and recovery periods that enhanced rather than detracted from work performance.
This integration mindset directly parallels the challenges facing fire service personnel. The traditional “work-life balance” model breaks down in a profession that demands physical fitness, continuing education, community engagement and week-long deployments to wildland fires. Like ultra-runners, successful firefighters learn to integrate their professional development with personal well-being rather than viewing them as competing priorities.
Fire service leaders who understand this integration model hold a significant advantage in recruiting and retaining Gen Z personnel. Unlike previous generations that tended to accept rigid boundaries between work and personal life, Gen Z seeks employers who recognize that professional growth and personal fulfillment can enhance each other. They’re drawn to organizations that view their desire for travel, education and diverse experiences as enriching their professional capabilities rather than competing with them. The Marathon des Sables is an example of this appeal. Despite its extreme difficulty, the event sells out annually because participants understand that the challenge integrates adventure, personal growth, physical achievement and community connection into a transformative experience.
Remembering your why: The North Star of the fire service
Day four of the Marathon des Sables, which was 83 kilometers, began with blisters on my feet, chaffing and hot weather. I recall reaching a dark place in my mind where I wanted to quit. Every step brought more pain, and quitting was the common theme in my mind. In that moment of complete physical and mental breakdown, the one thing that kept me moving forward was remembering why I was there.
My why wasn’t about finishing times or bragging rights. It was rooted in a fundamental belief that life is short, and we owe it to ourselves and those we serve to push beyond our perceived limitations. I believe deeply in pursuing hard things because they forge personal development that makes me a better family man and a more effective chief officer. We rob ourselves of the growth that only comes through voluntary discomfort and challenge when comfort becomes our default setting.
Every firefighter faces their own version of a dark place. The multiple calls after midnight in abnormal weather, the budget meeting where cuts need to be made, and the community events that seem to always fall on your shift. In these moments, remembering why we chose this profession becomes the difference between going through the motions and serving with purpose. The fire service why transcends individual achievement. We exist to serve the needs of our community, embracing the principle that no call is too small. This isn’t about showing up to work for selfish reasons or collecting a paycheck. The true why asks a different question entirely: How can I leave my organization and community better today than I found them?
Final thoughts
The fire service stands at a crossroads where traditional approaches to leadership, recruitment and organizational development are changing by community needs and generational expectations. The lessons learned across 250 kilometers in the Sahara Desert offered a roadmap for building resilient fire service organizations that can serve their communities for decades to come. Fire service leaders must embrace the marathon mindset like the runner who celebrates each checkpoint while keeping eyes fixed on the distant finish line. Fire service leaders should understand that the greatest victories come not from individual accomplishments, but from the patient, persistent work of building organizational trust. The desert taught me that when we remember our why and commit to the long journey ahead, we don’t just survive the challenge, we emerge transformed and better equipped to serve others.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kevin Tiscareno is the division chief of support service and special projects for the Manhattan Beach (California) Fire Department. He also serves as a certified fire investigator. Tiscareno previously with the Newport Beach Fire Department as a firefighter, engineer, public information officer, training officer, fire investigator, fire captain and acting battalion chief. He was awarded the department’s Firefighter of the Year Award in 2020. Tiscareno has several professional designations and certifications, including Chief Fire Officer through the Center for Public Safety Excellence and Executive Fire Officer through the National Fire Academy. Tiscareno has a master’s degree in public administration, a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership and an associate degree in fire administration.
