all said and done

A bunch of piccies via the link on the right, and still sorting through it all.

Glad it is over, happy to be home, but a little unsure if really satisifed with my run... should have gone out harder? Dunno. Despite that, I had a great time. Excellent tent mates, all competitors incredibly supportive and friendly, organisation superb, and conditions had a bit of everything. On top of that, the longest and toughest to date, so what was there not to be happy with? :)

Now, next time.......

Made it

The fastest stage of the race for me! 1:35 for the 17.5k and highest finish with a 75th. Tickled pink! The last couple of km were on road into Tazarine and when my shoes hit the tarmac I flew (relatively speaking ;-)). Getting rid of all but about 5kg helped, and not fronting up tomorrow for another marathon may have contributed, but hey, it worked a treat! Warm start, but not too hot - guess mid 30's. Pretty featureless course - soft sand, rocky stretches, and rough tracks through the fields on the outskirts of town. I just charged it. Spent the entire stage passing people, and rocked past at least a dozen in the last 1,600 metres.

Now in OZZ and looking forward to coming home. We have already showered, put on clean clothes, had 2 cokes, chocolate, chippies, and a pizza. No guilt! Awards tomorrow, then Marrakesh, Casablanca, London, Singapore and home Thurs early. All good!

Thanks to all for the support, and huge thanks to my lovely wife Megan and new son Josh who have helped out more than words can ever explain.


cheers all
Stephen

Fin

Last email. 17.5k tomorrow to Tazzarine, then a bus ride to hot showers and cold drinks at OZZ. Will look for a 'net cafe but dunno. Looking forward hugely to coming home.

Definition of surreal? We have the Paris Opera and Orchestra performing tonight in the bivvy.
Lot's of kids today running along both cheering & begging. Glad I was running as there rarely kept up. Flies have come out, must be close to a town.

Our front numbers were exchanged for clean ones last night, along with a small can of Pepsi - heaven - cold & sweet. Bartering happening all over as essentials run short. Loo paper at the top of the list, & lots of food available.

Solar charging worked well, the Olympus 795 has been faultless & despite 300 piccies & some vid, the battery only died this morning. MP3 and Garmin also good with charging on the run.

Thanks for emails from the iTa guys, PeteC, IanM, TimF & AK; all the CR troops - bloody marvellous; family & friends - superb.

Personal Worst for the Marathon

5:15 for the 'thon, and definitely a personal worst for a marathon distance race, and I couldn't be happier! 50C & high humidity (no num given), but I ran the whole way.

One slightly used (and abused) 50 yr old 5hr marathon pacer now available ;-) Will supply own pack (to 8kg) & will accept any course & weather conditions. Common sense not avail.

Berbers dropped the tents at 6:30 but the scary thing was that it was already warm. Packs getting lighter, and my aim today was to beat the lovely Fleur! I ran & ran & ran, up & down, hot & hotter, but at 8k to go she caught me. Nope, she wasn't going to get me, so I took off for the next 6k not looking back. Turned the last corner and saw the finish 2k away over the salt flats, glanced back, and she was 10m behind me. So, the hardest 2k of my life, but got there. I will admit to serious tears at the end.

Lesson? a 'thon 36hrs after a 75k not recommended, even with 100k training in the 3days before. Perhaps more taper?

Stage 4 - The long one

[Note: out of order! Received the Stage 4 email a day late, which is why it appears after the 'Rest Day'.]

All good, another blister or two, but nothing serious. Damn long day over huge dunes, salt flats, passes and dry lake beds that stretch out forever, and soft sand - damn soft sand. Started at about 9:15 with a monster climb at 7k. Needed to "visit the loo" on the first loooong flat, but do you know how many trees are out there?

The elite 50 guys & 5 women started 3 hrs later. The leader caught me at 6 hrs, so he was travelling twice as fast over that terrain. My tent had 3 elites and one just outside, so I was waiting for them to catch me. Damon got me at 50k and we ran together for a km or so, but Andrew snuck past at CP6. Was dark with no moon from CP5, so I had to stop occasionally to navigate. Passed many on the last few km.

Glad to get to bed at about 11 last night. Rest day today. Blue skies, soft sand, light breeze, and 45C!

Rest Day

Only 2 more nights under the tarp and then the trip home starts. Next weekend here would have been nice - the marathon is on!

Cousin Joel (Mackay, Aust Rogaining Champ) sent me an email that simply said "eat, EAT". How true, but it is not quite that easy. There are only 2 limits that apply to our food out here. Officially, we must carry at least 2,000 Calories per day, and your pack must be less than 15kg ex water. Typical basal rate for average sedentary people is 2,000 Cals. Needless to say, there is a bit more going on out here, so there is much discussion about who is eating what & when. Carbs vs fat calories, protein and powders, gels vs bars. In our tent, Andrew has a concoction of maltodextrin & olive oil, and some amaranth for good measure. Then taste and being able to eat things day after day also comes into it.

Oops, have to go. The very last runner of the long stage is about to finish and we are gathering to wave her in, some 27 hrs.

He lives!

Had a brief phone call from Stephen - he is fine, successfully through the 75km stage.

He finished at about 10pm last night local time, which I think makes it about 13 hours for the stage (better than the 15 hours predicted).

Next trick is to line up to send an email, which I probably won't receive until morning.

Doesn't matter, he lives! :-)

Long wait...

Note from TigerMeg:

Not sure when to expect the next post from Stephen. His estimate of around 15 hours for the long Stage 4 would see him finish late Thursday morning (Sydney time). Then presumably things like rest, food and recovery would take priority over lining up for email time!

Will post as soon as I hear anything. Keep running Stephen!

Stage 3 - A 'petit adventure'

First up, Happy 80th birthday to my Dad, the long one tomorrow is for you! It should have been 80k!

46C today in the shade, but took it easy and had my best stage in terms of finishing full of running and feeling fine. Blisters were not too much of a problem, and food went well. Rooming with Andrew & Damon is priceless, the info and tricks they have are superb.

Had a little adventure today. At about 22k we went back into the dunes and the bearing given was 288, but all the footsteps went off at about 250, so me being me, I charged off into the dunes on the correct bearing and spent the next hour totally alone in a sea of dunes. Came across camels and their berber who pointed me in the direction I was going, and up and over the next dune was the checkpoint. Ok, so I came at it from the wrong side, but hey, it was great!

Ran strongly from there, either a slightly lighter pack, perhaps 8kg, or excitement of the off course experience. A great booster for that little stage tomorrow.

The email here is batched up on a CD, then sent into town for sending, hence the delay. Emails typically arrive at about 7pm.

Results are being done with a DAG system [same as used by Striders]!!!! so my time yesterday was really 5:24ish. No prob, today was 6:07ish.

Thanks for all the emails, they are a highlight. If I list them I will miss someone, so I have kept them (despite the extra weight ;-) & will drop you a note when I get back.

Latest report was for 49C at CP2, so it is a tad warm, but the humidity is down around 10 per cent which helps. Water is the key element here. We have a tag a around our neck which is punched for every 1.5 litres given, and you must manage the water you have. Extra water above allocation costs a 1 hr penalty per 1.5 litres. So far no prob for me, although deciding to carry an extra litre from the last checkpoint to the finish is a tough decision!

No email tomorrow - expect 15hrs.

Stage 2 - A bit more!

I decided to line up for another go. Not much else happening here. Our team, Westrac is 8th, and my time today was 30 mins faster than I thought - much happier now! Food is going ok, I am a bit behind as I seem to be able to only eat before it gets really hot, then I am on fluids only. Should have got more flavours.

Blistered toes are not too bad, I am still draining them. I suspect it was salt buildup after only a basic rinse last night. They got a serious wash tonight.

Toilets are the classic trench warfare, but not a lot of flies, so pretty good. Cooking in the sun in cut down water bottles works a treat, but I am having a problem stomaching too many nuts.

We had a hot air balloon this morning, and wild camels on course, plus lots of small lizards.
Oh yes, todays temp revised to 46C at CP 3, more of the same tomorrow with more dunes.

Stage 2 - Active Recovery

42C & a gentle tailwind - not a good combination. At least it is over. Some dunes, some stony patches, and far too much very dry mud flats. I ran (if you call 7:30/km running) to checkpoint 2, but at that point we heard the temp and looked across the shimmering flats. Time to walk. End result, a long day in the sun, but still about double the winners time, so all good.

Many thanks for the emails, they arrived last night. I was the envy of the tent with a pageful of messages. They are superb, it certainly lifts the spirits.

Gaiter disaster averted. Scammed some needle & thread from the amazingly prepared Andrew Cohen and it was sweet. Unfortunately, I still copped some blisters on a couple of toes, so tomorrow is looking like a loooong day, although not as far as the next day.

We have a 1000 char limit on these emails, and with a 45 min wait in the sun, one must be concise!

Hey, Damon wants to join Striders. 16th yesterday!