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 must have put some concrete in it. but now im back at camp and already forgotten about the pain. tomorrow is [View Full Entry]

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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 and everyone is basically in the same boat...just want to finish...not too many fitness lunatics around. So hopefully we can laugh/smile our way thru it with [View Full Entry]

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I have just made use of the last sit down loo i will see for nine days. From now on we are going freestyle.... [View Full Entry]

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We landed and amazingly have cellular service:)) Woke 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 adobe/sand 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 it holds. Have an enormous grin on my face to finally be here. Everything is grand..nice people from all around the world is the best bit for sure. Probably wont hear from us [View Full Entry]

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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 day talking about the race...our goals, our fears...the terrain, the heat, our feet, our food. Dinner tonight was strange..wanting to celebrate getting to this point with some beers or wine...but a [View Full Entry]

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Attached are two photos Here are the gaiters that we have glued, sewed and silicone'd to our shoes...hopefully to keep all of the sand out... SAND IS BAD Second is a photo of all of the stuff I am packing for 7 days. [View Full Entry]

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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 to fit it all in. Not to mention the fact that the race organizers penalize you if you forget things like your snake bite pump, your compass or the [View Full Entry]

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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 $24,000. 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 heaters . We are hoping that we can pull it off regardless. Its all very very exciting, besides being a fantastic opportunity to raise awareness of Operation Smile in Hong Kong its also [View Full Entry]

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