http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Sahara Runner/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Sahara Runner en-us Fri, 16 May 2008 11:00:01 BST Fri, 16 May 2008 11:00:01 BST 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. On http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/blog-52975.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/blog-52822.html 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 stin http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/blog-52820.html Yesterday is donean awesome feelingbut it has taken its toll on the feet.I started yesterday at a fairly punchy pace on my ownpushing through the 1st 2 checkpoints stopping only for waterbut 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 dunesdunes more dunesthough the r http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/blog-52693.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/blog-52692.html 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 stronggood. 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/blog-52243.html 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 fineregardless 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 humi http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/blog-52242.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/blog-52137.html not got long so will be brief. first day tough but doable. chloe and I found temp ok but then we learned it was 4112...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 fqous Ansel bros blew up today...suffering from what he believes are worst conditions he has seen in his 10 yr dominati http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/blog-52135.html Dear AllWe 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..t http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/blog-51808.html We've finished day1. Its an incredible feeling to be so elated on one hand and yet so reserved on the other...best not to get excited with a big road ahead. I will work backwards from today. i finished 28k in under 5 hours. its not a great time but not bad either. the first 12k were the worst. like running on a sandy beach. then a few sand dunes a mounatin to climb and a pack that felt like i m http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/blog-51807.html Just received our road book for the race. We will be running 227 kilometers...at first sounded like fantastic news until we had a close look at the terrain...dunes dunes and more dunes...every day. Usually courses only have a day or two of them but we'll be doing about 10k of dunes per day. We are a bit nervous about this news but ah well...take it as it comes. Baby steps. Met so many people now http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/blog-51421.html I have just made use of the last sit down loo i will see for nine days. From now on we are going freestyle.... http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/blog-51419.html We landed and amazingly have cellular serviceWoke up at 430 this morning...at airport by 6...stuffed around at airport for 3 hours..flight delayed by 2 hours..now a 5 hour jeep ride out to the middle of nowhere.Oarzazate is beauuutiful Covered in adobesand kasbahs and rolling hills. the best news is that it doesn't feel THAT hot...at least not as hot as we were fearing. Fingers crossed that http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/blog-51418.html Hi...this is quick because I'm writing from my phone...but we arrived this morning early into Paris...spent the day wandering around the city. We were stopping to eat at a cafe every 2 hours carbo loading is fantastic . We also found an amazing running shop where we managed to pick up lots of last minute 'panic items'..such as more energy bars poles thermal tops etc. Also spent lost of the d http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/-le-de-France/Paris/blog-51242.html Attached are two photosHere are the gaiters that we have glued sewed and silicone'd to our shoes...hopefully to keep all of the sand out... SAND IS BADSecond is a photo of all of the stuff I am packing for 7 days. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Hong-Kong-Island/blog-50463.html We have just spent the last 3 hours going through our kit for the race. We have only managed to pack Carl's bag...it's amazing how time consuming this process is.Imagine trying to fit 7 days worth of food clothes first aid plus flash light camera sleeping bag etc. into the size of a small backpack..like the one you would have carried at school for your books. Its a complete puzzle trying http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/blog-50084.html After lots and lots of hard work the day has finally come...our Arabian Nights fundraising extravaganza. We have sold 300 tickets and are planning to hold a large auction and raffle which should put us well over our fundraising goal of 24000. The weather is terrible...rainy and cold...which is a shame because it is an outdoor party but a friend has loaned us tents and we've found outdoor heate http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/blog-48623.html