Monday, April 13, 2009
Marathon Des Sables; Marathon Day- 42 Km
As soon as I woke I realised that I wasn't feeling at all good. I felt completely lacking in energy and rather sick; I couldn't stomach the thought of breakfast but managed to force a few spoonfulls of cereal down before the Berbers removed the tent from around our ears. What I really fancied was a cup of coffee, so I set the kettle to boil even though every movement seemed like a real effort. The water was boiling nicely after about 10 minutes, so I reached out to pick it up and ended up knocking it off, and watching my efforts drain away into the sand! I could have quite easily cried at this point, but luckily nobody else seemed to notice my language!
I couldn't believe I was about to walk a marathon, and have never felt less like it! I knew that Rach wanted to put in a fast time today, so told her I was just going to take my time and that she should go on ahead. I was quite glad it was the last day, although I had been disappointed when we heard that the usual short last day had been cancelled.
We lined up at the start for the last time, Patrick made his speech and we were off- heading towards a rocky mountain and a quite steep climb;
First Climb Of The Day
I walked with Perks all day, and it was really pleasant as we chatted for the whole time. Once we had left the mountain behind, we had a plain to cross to checkpoint one. I wasn't feeling great, so we were taking it steady. There were quite a few 'walking wounded' around, plus folks who had been very poorly all week but completed the event in an amazing display of guts and courage. It was really hot, and and we used any extra water we got to pour over our necks and shoulders, and into our hats.
Scenic Desert
We only had a short stretch to checkpoint 2, but it was a tough one; over an expanse of small dunes which made my knee hurt worse and worse with each ascent and sandy descent. Perks was wearing a knee support she said she didn't need, so took it off and kindly fitted it to my knee, which did provide some support.
Perks Tackling The Dunes
I was intrigued by the large, furry caterpillars in the sand, I have no idea where they came from or what they ate!
We walked uphill and came to checkpoint 2; I had completely lost my usual sweet tooth, and found myself craving foods such as bread and cheese and roast dinners. Unfortunately all the snacks I had on me were on the sweet side, and I couldn't bring myself to eat any of them. Perks had the opposite problem; she had developed an unusually sweet tooth, so I swapped her a bag of sweets for her pretzel and nut mixture, and dipped into them during the day.
Hard Going
After checkpoint 2, we descended steeply and crossed more sand and dunes- the pain in my knee was now agonising, and only eased off when we weren't in the dunes. was also now suffering from diarrhoea- about 85% of competitors must have succumbed to tummy troubles of some sort- it was pretty bad this year apparently. I'm not surprised, as although toilets had been provided, they were holes in the ground with a plastic 'squat' seat laid over them. Let's just say that folk's aims weren't always that great... in fact, many didn't bother using the toilets at all, and went behind bushes to do their business. Unfortunately some weren't great at burying or covering stuff either, so it was pretty disgusting at times!
Scenery- Dunes!
Crossing yet more dunes and fresh agony to my knee brought us to checkpoint 3, and from then on the route was pretty flat until we reached a road and turned a sharp left to follow it. Surprisingly, we came to a wide river- I don't know if it was only there due to the recent rains, but there were lots of kids swimming in it.
River In The Desert!
The road forded the river, so we ended up with wet feet- yep, wet feet in the desert! Well, why not- we had already experienced muddy feet... Shortly after, we left the road and started to climb again- I had to have another toilet stop and lost my hand gel out of my front pack. A long, flat stretch saw us approaching distant hills, which we eventually reached and ascended. Several Land Rovers went past, and one stopped; a chap got out and fastened light sticks onto our packs as they thought we'd finish in the dark.
Desert Sunset
It was evening by now, and we approached the hill below, turning left just before it. Perks was ahead and let out a huge whoop, as she could see the bivouac.
Evening Light
We had a steep, sandy descent, aided by a couple of officials, before crossing a plain to the bivouac. My knee was still agony, so Perks lent me her walking poles. It was getting darker and darker, and I couldn't face the prospect of taking off my pack to try to find my head torch, so prayed we'd reach the bivouac before it got too dark. We suddenly saw two figures, who turned out to be Jeff and Al, who had kindly come out to walk us in, having finished already. I was really touched by this gesture!
Just before we reached the bivouac, I realised that I could no longer see, so mentioned to Jeff that I'd have to stop and get out my head torch. His reply was "Why don't you take off your sunglasses?" I'd completely forgotten I still had them on...
We crossed the line amidst a blur of applause, and Patrick Bauer placed my medal around my neck. He said a few words, in French- I can't recall what he said, but heard the word 'fatiguee'- yes I was pretty damn tired!
It Was All Worth While
Kobus was waiting at the finish line- Kobus is a living legend- he was, by his own admission, an overweight, unfit 'couch potato' who decided he wanted to do something amazing with his life. He set himself the ambitious task of completing the MdS with only 9 months training, and even devised a way of cooking a full English breakfast each morning! He easily completed Day 1 and Day 2, but was sadly pulled out on Day 3. He intends to come back next year, and I am sure he will be successful- he has his own blog.
We had a meal provided for us that night, and I was able to indulge my bread and cheese cravings. A large stage had been erected, and an orchestra flown out, so I ate my dinner to the sounds of classical music. It was pretty surreal hearing it drift across the desert! There was even a soloist in a red dress, and we hoped she'd be able to avoid the sh*t minefield around the campsite! I felt quite sad that our desert adventure was nearly over!
I couldn't believe I was about to walk a marathon, and have never felt less like it! I knew that Rach wanted to put in a fast time today, so told her I was just going to take my time and that she should go on ahead. I was quite glad it was the last day, although I had been disappointed when we heard that the usual short last day had been cancelled.
We lined up at the start for the last time, Patrick made his speech and we were off- heading towards a rocky mountain and a quite steep climb;
First Climb Of The Day
I walked with Perks all day, and it was really pleasant as we chatted for the whole time. Once we had left the mountain behind, we had a plain to cross to checkpoint one. I wasn't feeling great, so we were taking it steady. There were quite a few 'walking wounded' around, plus folks who had been very poorly all week but completed the event in an amazing display of guts and courage. It was really hot, and and we used any extra water we got to pour over our necks and shoulders, and into our hats.
Scenic Desert
We only had a short stretch to checkpoint 2, but it was a tough one; over an expanse of small dunes which made my knee hurt worse and worse with each ascent and sandy descent. Perks was wearing a knee support she said she didn't need, so took it off and kindly fitted it to my knee, which did provide some support.
Perks Tackling The Dunes
I was intrigued by the large, furry caterpillars in the sand, I have no idea where they came from or what they ate!
We walked uphill and came to checkpoint 2; I had completely lost my usual sweet tooth, and found myself craving foods such as bread and cheese and roast dinners. Unfortunately all the snacks I had on me were on the sweet side, and I couldn't bring myself to eat any of them. Perks had the opposite problem; she had developed an unusually sweet tooth, so I swapped her a bag of sweets for her pretzel and nut mixture, and dipped into them during the day.
Hard Going
After checkpoint 2, we descended steeply and crossed more sand and dunes- the pain in my knee was now agonising, and only eased off when we weren't in the dunes. was also now suffering from diarrhoea- about 85% of competitors must have succumbed to tummy troubles of some sort- it was pretty bad this year apparently. I'm not surprised, as although toilets had been provided, they were holes in the ground with a plastic 'squat' seat laid over them. Let's just say that folk's aims weren't always that great... in fact, many didn't bother using the toilets at all, and went behind bushes to do their business. Unfortunately some weren't great at burying or covering stuff either, so it was pretty disgusting at times!
Scenery- Dunes!
Crossing yet more dunes and fresh agony to my knee brought us to checkpoint 3, and from then on the route was pretty flat until we reached a road and turned a sharp left to follow it. Surprisingly, we came to a wide river- I don't know if it was only there due to the recent rains, but there were lots of kids swimming in it.
River In The Desert!
The road forded the river, so we ended up with wet feet- yep, wet feet in the desert! Well, why not- we had already experienced muddy feet... Shortly after, we left the road and started to climb again- I had to have another toilet stop and lost my hand gel out of my front pack. A long, flat stretch saw us approaching distant hills, which we eventually reached and ascended. Several Land Rovers went past, and one stopped; a chap got out and fastened light sticks onto our packs as they thought we'd finish in the dark.
Desert Sunset
It was evening by now, and we approached the hill below, turning left just before it. Perks was ahead and let out a huge whoop, as she could see the bivouac.
Evening Light
We had a steep, sandy descent, aided by a couple of officials, before crossing a plain to the bivouac. My knee was still agony, so Perks lent me her walking poles. It was getting darker and darker, and I couldn't face the prospect of taking off my pack to try to find my head torch, so prayed we'd reach the bivouac before it got too dark. We suddenly saw two figures, who turned out to be Jeff and Al, who had kindly come out to walk us in, having finished already. I was really touched by this gesture!
Just before we reached the bivouac, I realised that I could no longer see, so mentioned to Jeff that I'd have to stop and get out my head torch. His reply was "Why don't you take off your sunglasses?" I'd completely forgotten I still had them on...
We crossed the line amidst a blur of applause, and Patrick Bauer placed my medal around my neck. He said a few words, in French- I can't recall what he said, but heard the word 'fatiguee'- yes I was pretty damn tired!
It Was All Worth While
Kobus was waiting at the finish line- Kobus is a living legend- he was, by his own admission, an overweight, unfit 'couch potato' who decided he wanted to do something amazing with his life. He set himself the ambitious task of completing the MdS with only 9 months training, and even devised a way of cooking a full English breakfast each morning! He easily completed Day 1 and Day 2, but was sadly pulled out on Day 3. He intends to come back next year, and I am sure he will be successful- he has his own blog.
We had a meal provided for us that night, and I was able to indulge my bread and cheese cravings. A large stage had been erected, and an orchestra flown out, so I ate my dinner to the sounds of classical music. It was pretty surreal hearing it drift across the desert! There was even a soloist in a red dress, and we hoped she'd be able to avoid the sh*t minefield around the campsite! I felt quite sad that our desert adventure was nearly over!
Labels: Marathon Day, Marathon des Sables
