this morning we finished the race with an approx 10k run. the course had a bit more to it than we had thought. right from the start we did some mountain climbing, encountered rolling sand dunes, a mini river, until we finally reached some flat terrain. cc and i did a walk/ jog, and were happy with our time. all in all, I have to say that, aside from paying full retail, this is the hardest thing I have ever done. very proud of team cave! thanks to all who sent us messages through the blog. they really helped us get through the grueling week. pics will be up shortly on facebook! thanks to rtp and the amazing volunteers who put in an incredible amt of hrs. as competitors we don't see half of what they do, and they certainly deserve a lot of credit! thanks to all who donated to our auction, and to those who personally donated funds to lifeline shanghai! without your support we wouldn't be able to do the work we do! ....so, what's next?

hi all!
 
thanks again for all your messages! it really is great reading these now that we have finished the long march and are back at camp resting up for tomorrow's 'run'. now that i'm semi-conscious, i can finally write more in detail. the last email i had so much to say but by the time i sat down, was too tired to think of anything.
 
day 5: hot during the day, windy as hell at night
 
the night before was about 4 degrees celsius. my liner, bag, 2 long sleeves, jacket, hat, and gloves were no match for the cold.  it was the worst possible timing since we had an 8am start for the long mach. no sleep for this lady.
 
the start off though was at these beautiful salt flats that looks like frozen cottage cheese. really breath taking....until i realized that we were going over them. 15kms over this stuff.  the surface didn't break and it was extremely hard to maneuver.  i doubt i'll be eating cottage cheese for a while.
 
cp2--one guy drops out. i think we are down to only 84 competitiors. i'm told this is a higher than the usual 1 out of 5 drop out rate.  there are only a few of us 'walkers' left in the race.
 
there are 7 stages, totalling over 74 kms.  after cp 4, we have to use our headlights and make our way in the dark.  a stray dog that has been running alongside competitors, decided to join us for this leg.  we didn't have much to give him though, and as we passed someone by, he decided to stick with him.  our dogs probably would have done the same.
 
along the way a guy in a passing truck tells us to stay on the road, otherwise we'll go into the land mines, which were put in during the 90s.  cc said he was joking.  we just found out he wasn't. 
 
We make it to cp5 at around 10:30pm, where we have covered over 50kms straight.  here we can have hot water and rest.  our intended 1hr stay turned into 3.  no adjectives, aside from curse words, come to mind when describing how i felt at that moment.  this is a pg rated blog, so i shall refrain.  
 
by this time, cc's ankle and my knees had already abandoned ship, and cc's stomach declared mutiny after cp 4.  we must have looked like some pair, hobbling along, stinky as hell, and all broken.
 
we finally arrived at campsite the next day at 6:15am.  thank god, buddha, and my lucky stars we did! 
 
we immediately fall alsleep. except for 61yr old superstar Kumi, all our other tentmates arrived ages ago.
 
i'm happy to report that i still did not get one blister.  thank you asics trail shoes, injiji socks, and body glide for saving me!  unfortunately i can not say the same for poor ol hubbie.  all in all, though, we can't complain. i have seen some really disgusting feet. i mean, even morphine wasn't doing the job for one guy.  plus, we didn't get blown up by a land mine, so bonus.
 
  boob report: it has been said that the salt flats have more cleavage than me now. excellent. jane---it's going to take more than ice cream to get this cupcake back to normal!!
 
 
tomorrow is the final stage to the finish line! woohoo! we are going to do a 10k 'run' into san pedro de atacama and then have our banquet at a restaurant there. ole!
 
big hugs to all!!!