Sahara Runner
Chloe Vine, Carl Vine, Will Lyon Joined: March 19th 2006
Logged in: April 16th 2006
Logged in: April 16th 2006
Travel Blog Posts
Hi everyone. Writing from my hotel on my phone in a shabby hotel in Ouarzazate Morocco. Completed the 21st MDS (hardest on record i may add) at 11 this a.m with Carl at one side and Will at the other. We got on a 5 hr bus ride still in our sweaty dirty clothes..not nice. Anyhow we have just enjoyed the best showers of our lives, a few beers, dinner and many many rounds of congrats to tent #74. One of the few tents with nobody eliminated. We had a superb dinner full of toasts to everyone for their different contributions and character qwerks...I truly had the priviledge of teaming up with 7 of the strongest, most supportive, good natured, hilarious people I hv ever met. The finish line came quickly today. It actually caught Carl ... read more
i ran a marathon today 42.2k. it was a glorious day a glorious course and my day of rest did wonders. it took me 6hr20min. i was so happy to finally have a day where the weather and terrain allowed me to RUN the entire race. get into a rhyth, and feel competitive. SO...NEARLY TIME TO CELEBRATE...Weve nearly done it we.ve cracked the MDS: weve got 11k of sand dunes tmrw but its a drop in the ocean to what is behind us now. no matter what we will get over those dunes to the finish line: i am not going to reflect yet bc i wont believe it until its over tmrw but also im not sure i could if i tried: so much still to process. it will take days to get it all ... read more
not really sure where to start...days 1 to 3 were really bad... water supplies simply didn't keep pace with the unusual weather...I saw so many distressing sights...dozens of people collapsing...convulsions, loss of consciousness etc...On the plus side, the cohesiveness of runners seemed that much stronger for the travails...then the water was upped from day 4 and the weather got back to just stinking hot...now we are cooking - no pun intended. the big day was naturally pretty brutal but I think we all loved every minute - well almost. After about 20k I somehow managed to catch up with Chlover which was cool...we completed the stage together under moonlight...and after 13 hrs of pounding I evn mnged a 500m sprint at the end to fend off some cheeky, goal-hanging brits who crept up behind us and ... read more
Yesterday is done-an awesome feeling,but it has taken its toll on the feet.I started yesterday at a fairly punchy pace on my own,pushing through the 1st 2 checkpoints stopping only for water,but no rest.The 1st 20k were good,& I was happily entertaining myself.By the 33K mark I'd bored myself & hit a low patch.It felt like the terrain for most of yesterday was dunes,dunes & more dunes,though the reality is probably about only half.My feet are slowly & steadily going downhill.I can't count the blisters,suffice to say that I have taken a couple of pictures one shouldn't see immediately before eating.My 2nd largest toe on left foot is also now infected & swollen to the size of my largest & constantly throbbing.The Doc has taped it up,but think it may slow down the pace a bit ... read more
we got in last night at 1130 13 hours in the making. and mostly across dunes. as u may hv read due to the huge dropout rate {140 hv dropped most yrs it is 40 for whole race. and serious medical issues due to condition they made it 57k instead of 75. i started out on the day alone but saw carl at 20k and we did the rest together: it was fantastic to have him with me. we stopped for only 5 minutes in 8 hours and just took it slowly..not that you can move fast over huge sand dunes. at around 30k we were low but otherwise we held steady. carl even raced two guys the last 100m. itwas also abeautiful evening. we walked under the light of the full moon. no lamps at ... read more
i thought about my emaill today on the trail. there are millions of amazing positive things to say and just as many examples of hardship pain horrible thoughts etc: let me first say that i feel strong/good. every day has been as hard as the next but getting used to the rhythm of the race has made life gradually eaier. i also hqve no idea how i did ystdy or today. not the time or the place. i feel that this is survival not a competition. that said im definitely not taking it lightly.. although taking 7 hrs to do 35k may seem like it. i collapse exhausted daily when i fnsh + i hv only stopped for probably a total 15 min daily.i didnt hv 1 minute of shade today. but desire to push thru ... read more
I have 1000 characters to share my thoughts with u..my approach to this race has been to view the first 3 days as a non event in terms of pain to the body.That means I only allow myself to think that I am feeling fine,regardless of the 8 blisters I sliced off my feet before getting to the start line this morning.Conditions are tough at the moment & water rationed.I am told it is hotter & more humid than it has ever been here before.People seem to be dropping like flies (I am attracting flies for different reasons!),with the fallout rate high.That said spirits are high & we have a great team in our tent.Tomorrow I will attack with as much vigour as I can muster.After tomorrow mentally i am nearly home.Physically not quite.I still cant ... read more
cant write much so doing bullets; 60 people have dropped out now. more than all ofthe whole race last year supposedly. it was hard out there. sand storm for 13ks. hot hot. walked for 13ks. extra water given tonight. an exception made mast night and again tonite bc of the extreme conditions; i found the day hard; devil on my shoulder often: rollercoaster of emotions: tried to just zone out and take it one step at a time: literally; : i finished with a decent time but now wonder if my competitive spirit is going to give me trouble later in the week when i have no more juice in the tank;. spirits are solid in our tent however which helps a great deal. i have chaffed skin on my back from the backpack and some ... read more
not got long so will be brief. first day tough but doable. chloe and I found temp ok but then we learned it was 41&12%...dry! 21 ppl had to have IVs. day 2 today was clearly harder...more force 5 winds whipping the skin and the lack of sleep and food kicking in...even one of the fq,ous Ansel bros blew up today...suffering from what he believes are worst conditions he has seen in his 10 yr domination of the event...gulp. the really hard work is yet to be done so for now we are strong and still in decent spirits but a little scared of what lies ahead...partic now that we are both sporting some lovely blisters! out of time so will sign off now. keep the emails coming - cannot tell you what a boost it ... read more
Dear All, We are here and the first day is done. Having arived here 2 days ago we have spent most of our time since preparing ourselves and our kit. our first night here was beautiful..the sky amazingly clear, sunset probably the best I have ever seen & the food better than anything I could have cooked. We woke up the next morning after a fairly uncomfortable nights sleep to prepare all our kit..this is no easy task,making the final decision on what things you will need to see you through. One has to balance off the greed which makes you throw in an extra chocoloate mousse with the practicality that I cant carry 3 square meals across the desert. Our first day of racing was today...28km which started at 9am this morning. This I have ... read more
