So we awoke on our first morning in camp.... great to here and really strange to see everybody going about their duties (not elaborating any more than that!!!). There are toilets dotted around the camp but you kind of take your life in your hands (especially as the week went on).... dodgy stomachs and relatively small holes in the ground don't mix well. Anyway...
Had breakfast and got our stuff together (slowly).... we waited for the berbers to come and dismantle the tents... they come in a rather large swarm and in a matter of seconds, each tent is removed. They're really polite, very smiley and incredibly efficient.
I don't have much recollection of day 2 other than that it was tough (harder than dune day) and there were a lot of incredibly monotonous plains to cross, which were very stony underfoot. They literally stretched as far as the eye could see.
My feet weren't happy....
Walked the whole day with Steph and we made pretty good time... covered the distance in just over 8 hours and arrived back in camp at around 5.15pm.
I decided to visit Doc Trotters as had a couple of blisters that were bothering me. They are certainly not the butchers they are made out to be. They know their stuff and also know how to tape a foot to perfection. Good enough for me!!!
We had our first emails tonight (which of course made me blub rather a lot)... was so nice to have so many messages from back home. Made me realise just how many people were rooting for me!! It was around this time that Rob the rep told us that tomorrow's long day would be 91km... the longest 'long' day in Mds history. And possibly the toughest. S--t!!! We were all left slightly speechless by this announcement!
Chicken korma for tea (my fave) and then an early night. Wasn't as cold thankfully. The thought of what lay ahead meant a pretty restless night!
Day 3 - the long one
Didn't feel great when I woke up this morning. My stomach was churning and I didn't know if it was nerves or the dodgy belly that was going around the camp like wildfire (we were told that a couple of Brits actually had dysentary (poor spelling sorry!!). Not nice. Anyway, couldn't eat all my breakfast and was feeling really apprehensive about the day in general. Not a happy frame of mind unfortunately!
We started at 9.30am after the usual morning speeches by PB. As soon as I started I knew things weren't going to go well. I felt really weak. Had no idea why but seriously didn't have any energy at all. I can't remember when but I did say to Steph to go ahead of me... and that I would keep track of her if I could. I had to stop a few times because my stomach was so dodgy.... can't say that it's a pleasant experience, in the heat, needing a poo (sorry!), flies all around you and trying to find somewhere reasonably discreet when you have horrible cramps. But I couldn't complain as a lot of people were in a much worse state than me!
The elites set off at about midday today and before we knew it they were passing us. Amazing people!! One of the girls was a Brit called Jen who I met at the Tring to Town. She actually finished 6th lady overall. Wow!!! Anyway, I was playing cat and mouse with Steph and managed to meet up with her from time to time (checkpoints etc). Also saw Perks and her and Steph went on ahead of me (stomach again!).... did catch them up at one point and we walked together for a while. I couldn't eat anything because it just went straight through me.
After checkpoint 3 daylight was starting to fade. I was with Steph and Rose and Steph said she would walk with me now.... very kind of her as I didn't fancy walking alone at night. We had sort of agree to stick together for the night stage anyway, but I was very grateful for the company.
Head torches at the ready, we prepared for the night ahead. It was getting cold at this point too but I didn't actually change out of my shorts... daft cow. Regretted it later!!! It was very difficult underfoot (lots of swearing surprisingly from me). We were both really knackered too but after what seemed like an eternity arrived at checkpoint 4. Rose was already there and Steph offered to boil some water and make a coffee. She also gave me a bag of crisps to see if I could keep them in (lovely!). We sat there shivering for a while, finished our drinks and then decided to get going again. It was bloody cold and the longer you sit, the less you feel like moving. A lot of people were bedding down for the night here. Carol came in with her friend Graham, and they decided to sleep. The tents were all full so anyone arriving now was sleeping outside on the floor!!
We hadn't long set off from this checkpoint when the crisps and coffee decided to make a quick exit. Obviously wasn't going to be able to keep any food in afterall. It must have been after midnight at this point. Rose and some other guys that we knew passed us, we couldn't keep up with them so watched them go off into the distance. I noticed that their torches suddenly seemed to be going higher and higher....
The reason being that before long we were greeted with what I can only describe as a bloody mountain. We seemed to be surrounded by grey rock on all sides.... there were patches of sand between rocks where we could see footprints so we assumed we were going the right way. Light sticks were not standing out from what we could see!! We both started climbing and somehow got separated. Steph went one way and I went another. WIthin literally 2 minutes I couldn't see her and started calling her. No reply! I was pretty scared as couldn't see any lights above or below me. The patches of sand had disappeared and was now all rock. I had my walking poles which I was grateful for because on more than one occasion I felt like I was going to fall. Really scary and I did wonder at the time whether this was the right way. Surely they wouldn't make us climb this in the dark??? But then I noticed pink spots of paint that had been sprayed on the odd rock here and there... markers. At least I knew it was the right way.
The trouble was about half way up the spots disappeared. I saw someone approaching from lower down and he then darted up the side of the mountain (I have to call it a mountain because there are no other words to describe it!!!). I called out to him to ask if that was the right way... he didn't answer.
Bugger. I felt like crying because I really didn't know what to do. I couldn't go back down because I would probably end up falling, I didn't have a clue where Steph was and was worrying about her... but the guy stopped at the top and waited. I clambered up the rocks to the side of me and thanked him when I got to the top... it was then that I could see the light sticks again. Thank God for that. I called Steph again but no joy. I knew she would be okay as she's done a lot of long walks and decided to go on and see her at the next checkpoint.
The path was very rocky and again, hard on the feet which were killing me! I passed a landrover with someone snoring very loudly inside. I'm not sure whether they had anything to do with the race or not??!!! I kept checking behind me and when I reached the next glowstick I waited for a while to see if any of the lights coming towards me were Steph. It was bloody cold though standing still and I knew I couldn't wait for long. A lady called Catherine asked me if I was okay, and I just explained about Steph. She said I could always ask the guy in the landrover if I was worried. Waited for a bit longer and then carried on. Caught up with Catherine and we walked together. That was when we got into the dunes. And they were big buggers. It was really windy and the sand was stinging my legs (hence wishing I had changed my shorts to leggings earlier). It was really hard work getting to the top of the dune and when we did we couldn't see another glow stick, due to the sandstorm blowing all around us. I was beginning to think we would have to sit tight and wait but, after another girl joined us, we managed to pick out a faint light in the distance and headed in that direction.
I had the distinct feeling that were were going around in circles. It was partly probably tiredness and also because in the dark, and with sand blowing all over you, everything looks the same. I was not enjoying this one bit. Apologised to Catherine for not being very chatty but she was exactly the same.
We had stopped briefly to figure out which way to go and I heard someone say 'Is that you Rach?'.... yay!!! Steph had found me. I was so bloody relieved to see her. We had a hug and then carried on. She admitted that she felt like sitting down and crying back on that mountain. She had found a group that she walked with, told them that she'd lost me and one of the guys suggested that she throw her flare.... bloody mad man!!!! This section seriously seemed to go on forever. We were cold, tired and hurting and just wanted to sit down for a while. My stomach was giving me grief and we found ourselves in amongst a lot of very soft ground and bushes all around us.... lots of weaving in and out.
We eventually arrived at checkpoint 5 and decided we had to stop for a while. We were both exhausted and I honestly don't think I could have walked much further. We were practically falling asleep standing up.
I think we arrived here at about 4.15am... not entirely sure! All the tents were full so we just sat in front of one of them. I got my sleeping bag out and wrapped it around me. Steph was shivering so I said she should do the same. I think it was about 4.45am that some of the guys in the tent behind us started to move. We found a space and just crashed.... not comfortable at all but just so good to be laying down and to have stopped!!!
I kept stiring because I didn't want to sleep too long as we still had about 26.5km to go. I sat up at about 6.15am and spotted one of our tent mates, Mark!! I couldn't believe he was there as he's a hell of a lot quicker than me! I thought I must be hallucinating but he said that him and another guy Rab had been there since 10.15pm the night before and had a full night's sleep. Bastards!!!! Steph woke up and we realised we had to press on. So with just over an hour's rest under our belts (woo hoo!!!) we moved on. It was probably about 7am by the time we got going. My feet were in agony and putting the pack on was torture. Shoulders were hurting and my collarbones were sore.... still, can't complain. I did pay for the pleasure!!!
I can honestly say that I have never felt so exhausted in my entire life. Having a baby was a breeze compared to this!
The rest of this stage was pretty much a blur for me. Steph started to feel crap, she was so tired she thought she was going to pass out. You start to feel really strange when you're that exhausted. If I spoke (which wasn't often), my voice didn't sound like it belonged to me. Slurring words and not really making much sense. It's a struggle just to put one foot in front of the other.
If I had shut my eyes I would have just dropped. The ground was rocky and hard going. We didn't wait around long at checkpoint 6. Just thought that sitting down would be prolonging the agony. There were a few other people around at this point. It was like the Night of the Living Dead.... just shuffling along, not saying much at all.
The last 12km were hell.... long flat stony plains to cross. Even once the bivouac was in sight it seemed to take an eternity to reach it. We knew we were getting closer because the odd Landrover would drive past and the occupants would be clapping and shouting 'Bravo'!!! It helped, slightly!
I have never been so glad to finish anything in my entire life. I couldn't wait to get the pack of my back and get my trainers off.... my feet were a mess.
Our tent mate Craig was at the finish to greet us. Such a bloody relief!!! But despite feeling utterly knackered, I still had a great sense of achievement. I'd cracked the longest day.... and the LONGEST longest day at that. Mountains and everything! 28 hours in total. Got in about 1.30pm...
All of our tent were now back safe and sound (some amazing performances too!!). I went to Doc Trotters as I needed my feet sorting for the marathon tomorrow. They did a stirling job and bound them up a treat. Then I went to the email tent to let people know I had made it!!!
So just a marathon left....
Tomorrow I am going for it...!!
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