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Alexander Gordon

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Atacama Crossing (2010) blog posts from Alexander Gordon

11 March 2010 07:17 am (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time: Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London

So it seems that those crusty sections of yesterdays course where i nearly went over my ankle a few times might of brought back a slight injury from about a month ago. I seem to have strained something at the front of the ankle and it is making bending the foot up and down painful. So i got it strapped up when i entered check point 1 and then walked the rest of the day. I will be walking for i guess all of tomorrows 74km so it is going to be a long day. I have got to go and get food and prepared for tomorrow.

Comments: Total (17) comments

Posted On: 15 Mar 2010 08:35 pm

Hi Sandy - brilliant effort and congratulations on completing. Hope you're not suffering too much now. From all in cold Alpe D'Huez! See you soon

Posted On: 14 Mar 2010 10:30 am

Well done to you Sandy, I was a bit worried about you but you kept going to the bitter end, hopefully you will be able to have a good rest now and let your ankle heal and have a good and better journey home wish we could all be there to welcome you back home but we will all be thinking of you and maybe see you when you come up to Scotland again, Take care son and safe journey home Lots of Love Granny XXXXX

Posted On: 14 Mar 2010 07:35 am

Well done again Sandy, hope you have a relaxing evening back in civilisation with real food!! and maybe a few drinks!!! Hope you have a safe jouney home, get in touch when you can. You actually gained a couple of places on the 10k dispite injury. Someone can't count times, as there are a couple of people way up the leader board who were behind you in times, When counting they have missed at least 10 hours off their times for the stages, so brilliant effort on you part, a fighter right to the end. Very Very Proud of you .

Posted On: 13 Mar 2010 10:46 pm

........well done Sandy. Updates are very slow in being posted but they are up noo (10.45pm). Hope your ankle is not too sore. Have a good rest....some junk food....and a few beers....you've well earned them. Well done again Dad, Andrea & wee Connor xxx

Posted On: 13 Mar 2010 07:11 pm

You made it, and the last 10km i.m sure will be like a short stroll. Congratulations, that was an epic effort. Brilliant, you should be very proud. Enjoy the real food. Next challenge - Getting Home!!!! Lots of love, wish i was there to give you a big hug xx

Posted On: 13 Mar 2010 05:36 pm

Hi Sandy, Well done son I have just come home from work and picked up your results, I was really worried about you when there was no result from you but there you are you finished and you have done really really well to do it with an injury and I wish you all the luck for the last stage and then it will be home again.Keep smiling son and I bet you wont forget the Atacama Desert in a long time. Lots and Lots of love Sandy from Granny XXX

Posted On: 13 Mar 2010 02:57 pm

......just caught your time for stage 5....not far off what I thot you would manage (I had you down for 18 hrs). That being said and taking that you will be doing stage 6 it should all be over by 2.30 - 3.00 for you (6.00 - 6.30 uk) if you keep the same pace. Good luck and hope to hear from you later today once you have rested up. Toodle Pip Dad

Posted On: 13 Mar 2010 11:58 am

11am UK time, hogging the computer at work. Your time for stage 5 not up yet. Hope you've finished and made it to camp, always have nightmares about you being lost in the desert !!! I'll keep watching. Hopefully you've been in a while now and its just not been updated yet. Take good care. Brilliant effort in one tough race.

Posted On: 13 Mar 2010 10:48 am

Well well Good Morning Sandy, you have been doing good son, I can't see how you did on stage 5 but you just keep on going it'll soon be finished, I have friends in Chile and they are routing for you to finish well, so head down and keep on running Good Luck and Lots of love from Granny XXX

Posted On: 13 Mar 2010 07:22 am

.......it's been over 24hrs since I wrote last and you are still out there ! Great effort Sandy, great effort. Hopefuly your ankle will last the course now, and be fit and well for Australia next month. You won't get much of a rest before the last stage later today....be as well to keep going. Nae point in stopping noo...he he he Dig deep son, you'll make it. Toodle Pip Dad, Andrea & Connor xxx

Posted On: 12 Mar 2010 10:14 pm

good luck with today, if walking isn't too painful it might not be much slower than running in the heat you are experiencing.

Posted On: 12 Mar 2010 03:57 pm

Hey Sandy, we hope today went well for you! Dad has been telling us how great you've done since the start of the race, you should be really pleased with yourself. Feel slightly sorry for your wee feet though!! You should treat yourself to a pedicure when you get home. Well done from Andrea and little Connor. xx

Posted On: 12 Mar 2010 08:59 am

I just re-read the brief and it looks like you still have 2 stages to go ... is that right? Surely 4 stages is enough?? Good luck!!!

Posted On: 12 Mar 2010 08:46 am

Congratulations on completing the challenge! Awesome job Sandy - sounds like it has been a tough journey.

Posted On: 12 Mar 2010 08:11 am

Hi Sandy, I see by your report on yesterday that you have aN injury hope with the strapping it isn't too bad son, You have the determination to succeed and I know you will do it, keep going son and you'll get there might not be too bad, and you can enjoy the wee stroll (Ha Ha) Take care anyway Look after yourself and Good Luck talk tomorrow, Lots of Love Granny XXX

Posted On: 12 Mar 2010 07:39 am

By the time you read this Sandy hopefully you will have finished the long march. Brilliant effort, this race seems to have be hell. Good strapping and a stage at a time, you will get there i'm sure. Determination and good spirits (not the liquid kind!!) are the name of the game. Very proud of you. Be thinking of you through the hours til you finish.

Posted On: 12 Mar 2010 06:55 am

....chin up Sandy. You're still doing well even with the injury. Hopefully the strapping will help and you might manage a wee jog an the 'flatter' bits....if there is such a thing. At least the scenery is good....some of the pictures are stunning. Must go to work now :-( Good luck for today Dad, Andrea & Connor

10 March 2010 06:16 am (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time: Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London

So day 3 has been completed and the run of the days getting harder continues. The first 3 sections of the day went quite well and i got to check point 3 in 4 hours 15 minutes. This included crusty salt flats which is almost impossible to run on and quite frequently closapses as you stand on it, so it is an area where you are highly likely place to do your ankle in. The last section of the day seemed quite simple 11.5km with some soft sand and sand dunes. But this turned out far from the case. 3 1/2 hours later i arrived at camp and this included 2 small water additions as i neared camp and my cap and t shirt being soaked in a aquaduck so that i could actually finish the day. Quite a few people are coming in rather tired and worn out due to the last stage. Tomorrow we have the salt flats which is again supposed to be harder than today was to more fun to be had there.
 
Got to finish up as the cyber tent is shutting.

Comments: Total (8) comments

Posted On: 11 Mar 2010 11:12 pm

Fab job Sandy, well done you!

Posted On: 11 Mar 2010 10:18 pm

Well done mate for running here, it looks like Mars! Im now in San Pedro, for three nights starting tonight. Hopefully will see you and buy you a cristal! kepp at it, David

Posted On: 11 Mar 2010 09:57 pm

keep going fella, you're doing an amazing job and we're all enjoying keeping tabs on your progress. From your blog it sounds like this one is even tougher than the sahara, so we'll definitely have to have four desserts waiting for you when you get back :-)

Posted On: 11 Mar 2010 07:02 pm

Great effort Sandy - steady as she goes is the motto!

Posted On: 11 Mar 2010 03:14 pm

Impressive stuff, as simon says, sounds hard! Hang in there & well done on the good times and overall rank so far :)

Posted On: 11 Mar 2010 11:58 am

Hi Sandy, you seem to be doing good, keep on going we are all so proud of you as this is tough going, be careful in these salt fields might not be too good if you have blisters, however you don't seem to bad for that at present, take care darlin and do well, Lots of Love Granny XXX

Posted On: 11 Mar 2010 09:06 am

Sounds really tough Sandy. Good to see you moving up the standings though :-) Good luck for tomorrow mate.

Posted On: 11 Mar 2010 07:42 am

Another day down Sandy. You are doing brill, sounds really tough out there. Just take it stage by stage, Your times are great, chipping away at the leader board. Good luck for stage 4. keep possitive, you\'ll do well. Thinking of you always.

09 March 2010 06:40 am (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time: Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London

So after cooling down in camp and eating food after overheating. Word started to spread around camp that there was a small stream behind the camp. I wish i had known this when i arrived as it would of cooled me down but i managed to get a soaking in there, which is like a 5* luxury for a desert race.
 
So todays stage was around 42km and started off with the first 10km section which had about 20 river crossings where the water was ice cold. So an excellent way to find any blisters during the day. The second section had a huge climb up to a cliff top which was basically a 2km long hill. Once at the top we ran along for a few km's and then ran down a 200m sand dune and into check point 2. The next two sections were basically flat but with quite deep sand in places and with the afternoon temperature, it drained all of the energy out of you and was slowing everyone down. The last 6km into camp was the hardest part of the entire day just because of the heat. Overall my time was 7 hours 45 minutes and placed me in 44th position for the day.
 
I managed drinking and keeping my core temperature down throughout the day so that was a big success, considering there have been a few people with heat stroke and a few others droping out of the race. Currently my feet are holding up quite well. I only have a small blister problem on my little toe which i am going to leave and see how it affects me tomorrow.

Comments: Total (3) comments

Posted On: 10 Mar 2010 10:26 pm

.....well done Sandy. Just checked the results for stage 3.....another one bites the dust. 3 down with 3 to go. Doonhill to the finish line.....so to speak ! There were a few pictures of you that I noticed as well....you and Eric Chang looked no too bad at the end of the 1st stage....no sure aboot the black tights tho !! I assume they are pressure leggings to help your muscles. Anyways, well done again. It is 10.30pm here and nearly bed time. Good luck for tomorrow and hope it all goes well. Toodle Pip Dad, Andrea & Connor xxx

Posted On: 10 Mar 2010 08:33 am

Hi Sandy, Sounds like it is a tough race but you seem to be holding up good and as your Mum says I bet the stream was not too clean after you all had a wee dook in it, I have just said to Chico that I was going to talk to Sandy and he is running around in circles through all the doors I think he is in training, he should have gone with you, anyway keep going son you are doing alright Look forward to the next stage. Lots of Love Granny XXX

Posted On: 10 Mar 2010 07:57 am

You're doing great Sandy, creeping up the leader board. Keep looking after those feet. A 5* river wow!! Bet it was really lovely by the time you had all had a bath in it!! Keep on taking the magic brown powder and you'll defineatly be up for the rest of the week. Sending you lots of good running thoughts.

08 March 2010 05:23 am (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time: Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London

On Sunday we went through the race checkin which went smoothly and i managed to end uo with a 5.7kg backpack for the race. We were then transported to the initial camp which had an elevation of 3600m and at this height it gets quite cold when the sun goes down.
 
The race was supposed to begin at 8am but was delayed to 8:15, which means that i was up at 5:30am so that i could eat breakfast and get everything prepared. The start of the race went well and i didn't seem to be too affected by the altitude too much and so made good time to the first check point. The second section was a bit painful to run at times as the route was a boulder field so this slowed me down a bit. The third section was the complete undoing of me for today. Just before entering a very long and windy maze i started to overheat which no amount of water seemed to fix. So i slowly walked/swayed my way to check point 3 where i managed to cool down with some fresh water. After this check point there was only 3.5km left to go but my energy reserves were completely used up by now so slowly made my way into camp.
 
Now i am just cooling down and getting myself some food so that i will be ready tomorrow. So leason for today is to slow down slightly as even though the temp is cooler than the Sahara, the combination of altitude, heat and the lack of humidity is making it hard to stay fully hydrated and cool at times. So i shall be paying more attention to this for the rest of the week and hopefully a repeat of this will not happen again.

Comments: Total (7) comments

Posted On: 09 Mar 2010 09:37 pm

.....way to go Sandy. Great running. Hopefully getting a bit more used to the conditions.....or did running in the cool canyons and wading through the water help? No sure of the 'plunge down the sand dune into Death Valley' take it, it wasn't that bad. Knowing you, you probably enjoyed it. Hope tomorrow is even better for you. Toodle pip Dad, Andrea & Connor xxx

Posted On: 09 Mar 2010 09:33 pm

Hey Sandy mate, great to see you have finally got started and managed to survive the first day. As usual, I suggest you ignore Jim's advice and sprint the first couple of miles tomorrow, then you will be much closer to the finish and it will be a moral victory. Good lad!!

Posted On: 09 Mar 2010 09:04 pm

Just checked and see you have completed stage 2. Long day for you, but your not alone. keep on running. Hope feet are holding up ok. Thinking of you

Posted On: 09 Mar 2010 04:47 pm

Hi Sandy, have read about your stage one and it seems to be hard going so be careful son, don't want you to have any disasters after all you have been through to get there, Take care and keep well son, Lots and lots of Love from Granny XXX

Posted On: 09 Mar 2010 12:22 pm

Good look with the altitude, you'll maybe be glad of those training runs in Italy at the moment, i don't know if you can take the "Top Gear" cure for altitude :-)

Posted On: 09 Mar 2010 08:16 am

Good pack weight, that must have been one of the lightest. Guess you must have left the carton of beer at home !!

Posted On: 09 Mar 2010 08:13 am

8am Tuesday here, you'll still be asleep !!Great effort 1st day Sandy, it's amazing what you have to consider, it's not just get up and run. Take it at a steady pace, i'm sure you'll be fine the rest of the week. On holiday, once took you up hill of about 9000 ft, people there were affected by the altitude, but you were still running around like a mountain goat, so bound along today and watch the water intake. thinking of you, good running.

04 March 2010 10:02 am (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time: Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London

Well that was an adventure as what should of taken 24 hours ended up taking 5 1/2 days. But no matter as i now have a few days to relax and enjoy the sun. Luckily i managed to get through Peru and Chile customs without getting anything confuscated. Although questions were raised to the head guy at the Chile border and after a minute or two of looking at the freeze dried food he said it was ok. Thank god and nothing to do with the 50 i slipped him (joking).

I have booked myself into Hotel Kunza as that is where i will be on Friday according to RTP and i could be bothered moving hotel again. So if anyone wants to catch up in San Pedro then message me on the blog. I will be checking my emails regularly now since i have free internet access.

Since the race has been put back to Monday morning i will be looking at doing a tour possibly to the gyser fields on Firday if anyone wants to join me. It is an early start of 5:30am i think but i seem to be waking up around that time anyway right now.

Also if anyone has a Sony Erricsson charge with them in San Pedro. Give me a message as my phone battery is running low and i left mine at home.

Comments: Total (10) comments

Posted On: 08 Mar 2010 09:12 pm

.......hows it gawn? Not too bad for the 1st stage.....better than I could do anyway!!! Not too many up near the leader either....it must be a tough one. Hows the altitude? Coping alright? Nae injuries or blisters? Hopefully tomorrow will be better for you....at least you'll know what the conditions will be like. Creams and stuff for the feet now I bet. have a good rest and good luck for tomorrows stage. Toodle Pip Dad, Andrea & Connor xxx

Posted On: 08 Mar 2010 09:16 am

Hey Sandy, we thought we would say hi and wish you good luck for the start of your race! Hope it goes well. Love from Andrea & Connor. xx

Posted On: 07 Mar 2010 04:03 pm

............won't be long noo. Is it an early start to miss some of the heat ? Me thinks it will be the altitude that will be more of a problem. Be watching with interest how you progress this time. A finish would be tremendous and a better place than Sahara would be awsome.....good luck. Mind it lasts all week and no just one day ! TTFN Dad, Andrea & Connor

Posted On: 07 Mar 2010 11:34 am

What happened to updating your blog!! to busy sight seeing!! Hope you have all required stuff packed and are ready to roll. Be keeping tabs on you all week. Good luck. Run well. Thoughts and good vibes are with you.

Posted On: 07 Mar 2010 11:13 am

Hi Sandy dear, the time has come son so so as they say "GO MAN GO " and do well Lots of love Granny XXX

Posted On: 06 Mar 2010 12:07 pm

Hi there Sandy, how's my Grandson doing today, it is now Saturday and a week since you left London and nearly time for your race, weell I will keep in touch to see how you are getting on and I wish you all the Luck with it , enjoy yourself, I'm sure you will and keep fit to the finish, Good Luck son keep safe and well, Lots of Love from Granny XXX

Posted On: 05 Mar 2010 08:31 am

Good Morning Sandy dear, I am so glad you have arrived at your base and looking forward to your wee break before you race, I have been to the Geyser fields in Iceland a wee bit cooler there though and you'll enjoy that it is quite something, anyway have a nice break and enjoy your race, you brave lad, lots and lots of love from Granny XXX

Posted On: 04 Mar 2010 08:54 pm

Great effort Sandy - just to get near the start line! At this rate, the race will be doddle in comparison. Paul

Posted On: 04 Mar 2010 08:09 pm

Glad you arrived safely and with no food confiscated. Did they miss the bags of brown powder!! Like dad very jealous, i could be up for a 5.30 start, unfortuneatly i'm in the wrong country. Be good to catch with all competitors after travelling mainly alone. Take care, have a god break before Monday.

Posted On: 04 Mar 2010 06:57 pm

Hiya Sandy, Glad to hear that you have finally arrived.....bet you are relieved as well. Wouldn\'t mind going on the sightseeing tour masel....pity i\'m in Perth :-( It\'d be a lot better than work thats for sure. 7pm here....just finished tea and watchin the news. It\'ll be aboot 3 where you are and a wee bit warmer than here I bet ! Still quite cool here....-6 this morning when I got up. Best no rabbit too much.... Enjoy your break before race time....oh aye...Leroy says hiya and thinks you are fair mental like. See ya Dad, Andrea & Connor xxx

02 March 2010 08:17 am (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time: Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London

So today i got fed up waiting for TAM Airlines. They gave us provisional flying dates of Monday and i had been informed that they thought Saturday or Sunday would be the first days they started flying to Satiago from Sao Paulo which would be cutting it too fine for me.

So at 11am i started to look at alternative routes from Sao Paulo. Tgis was mainly Salta or Lima. So i headed into the airport and spoke to TAM customer service who were not very helpful and could not offer me any flights till Thursday to Buenos Aires and i could get to Lima on Wednesday morning but i would have to pay for it. 

The next stop was to the LAN customer service desk and tried to blag my way onto a flight because i had an internal flight from Santiago to Calama but they were having none of it. So i moved onto plan 2 which was trying to figure out the last section of the Lima diversion. At this point the the customer service lady mentioned a Peru airline called Taca who might have seats and were flying tonight at 6pm. Sadly the ticket office was closed till 3pm so i headed back to the hotel and got my bags. Arriving at the ticket office at 3:15 i managed to buy a ticket to Lima and then went back to the LAN customer services desk and booked the Lima to Tacna flight at 3:50am so i did not have to book a hotel room.

My next step is to get a taxi to the border of Chile and then try and find a bus to Calama or San Pedro from Arica. If everything works out to plan then i could be in San Pedro by Wednesday afternoon, which would be 24 hours after starting to travle from Sao Paulo.

So in all it has been a rather busy but exciting day. Not to mention expensive on my poor credit card, but i am hoping the travel insurance can cover most of this.

Hopefully my next report will be in San Pedro where i will be relaxing and getting ready for the race.

Comments: Total (8) comments

Posted On: 04 Mar 2010 02:54 pm

No doubt Sandy will update when he can. Just to let everyone know he has arrived safe and sound in San Pedro this morning and is staying in the Kunza Hotel. Chill Sandy and enjoy the next few days, before its down to the business of racing. Good luck, thinking of you always.

Posted On: 04 Mar 2010 09:40 am

Hi Sandy dear, Glad to see your Mums message this morning and that you are on the move again, have a good rest and chill out when you get to the base and I will be watching how you get on when the race starts, keep safe son and have fun when you run (a wee bit of poetry there) Take care and always remember we all love you. Lots of love Granny XXX

Posted On: 04 Mar 2010 09:12 am

Hi Sandy, well hopefully you'll almost be where you were meant to be a few days ago. What a time you've had. The worst thing must have been all the waiting about at the airport and not really knowing what was going on. Hope you manage to have some fun and get some sight seeing done before the race starts. Best get on as Connor is climbing all over me and the lap top trying to help me write this. Take care Andrea & a cuddle from Connor. xx

Posted On: 03 Mar 2010 08:21 pm

Hola Sandy. Nice to hear that you are finally moving in the right direction at last....even if it is a roondaboot way for a shortcut !! That will be stress relieving in itself i'm sure. Huge sigh of relief from all of us as well.....was really getting quite concerned, so we were. Not nice not being able to help you with nothing more than just words. It's all coming good noo tho, just the small matter of a desert race noo !!! Will keep an eye on your progress, rest assured. Hope your journey's no too tiring. Keep safe Dad, Andrae & Connor xxx

Posted On: 03 Mar 2010 06:25 pm

Very quick phone cal from Sandy this morning, he has arrived safely in Arica and is booked on the night bus leaving at 10pm local time to Calama, then Shuttle bus service he had already booked from there to San Pedro. So he will be there by Thur Lunchtime hopefully. Think everyone should get a medal for getting to start line. After two phone calls to San Pedro luckily after saying hello got someone who could speak english. Sandy is booked into the Kunza on Fri night , so they have rooms their for Thur night, so have txt him and told him just to arrive there. His phone is off most of the time to try and conserve some battery for emergencies so hopefully he will pick up my txt later. Still wishing you luck Sandy and worrying about you, relax when you get there.

Posted On: 03 Mar 2010 09:26 am

Fingers crossed you make the start, mind you will make it more challenging if you have to catch up a day or so :-)

Posted On: 03 Mar 2010 08:11 am

Hi Sandy, saw your Mums message and yes I am glad to see you are on the move again too, you take care and good luck in your race, think of you all the time son keep safe and I will be watching your progress "GOOD LUCK" Lots of Love from Granny XXX

Posted On: 03 Mar 2010 07:39 am

You'll be there in time to have a rest before the race!! Yu didn't tell at the start of this trip that a scenic tour of South America was included, Perhaps you would have been quicker running the journey!! At least you are on the way again, instead of being stuck in Sao Paulo. Safe journey thinking of you always, keep in touch.

28 February 2010 09:59 am (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time: Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London

Myself and another person decided to head into the airport at Sao Paulo to see if we could arrange alternative flights to get around Santiago. I was looking at trying to get to Salta which turns out has also just been hit with a 6+ earthquake, but all Buenas Aires flights are full until 2:20pm tomorrow at the earliest. So that idea has been scrapped as i would probably arrive in San Pedro not much sooner or possibly later than if i waited for Santiago to open.

I then decided to try and fnd out some more information about what i needed to do and where i was supposed to go when Santiago reopened, which turned out to be a bad idea. First i was directed to about 4 wrong areas by the TAM airline staff. Then on the last attempt at going back to Customer Services i was pointed to what seemed like the correct place and they started looking at my ticket. This is where things started to go wrong, eventually there were 5 TAM airline staff all talking to each other in Spanish and i did not have a clue what was going on. Then eventually they started to say i did not have a hotel room any more and that everyone had been checked out, which was then followed by questions of whether i wanted to fly back to London. At this point i gave up and decided to go back to the hotel to check to see if everyone was still there. But while walking through the airport i spotted some people i recognised in the checkin queue who were on supposed to be gong to Santiago and were in my hotel. It turned out they had swapped flights but said everyone was still there when they left. So after returning to the hotel i find that everyone is still there and nobody has heard anything about changing hotels.

Was it all a bad dream? Sadly not.

So the moral of the story is: 
Do not go to the TAM airline checkin desks until Santiago is open, or until i learn Spanish and i think the first option will be quicker.

Comments: Total (11) comments

Posted On: 02 Mar 2010 09:07 pm

this is amessage for family & friends to keep you all updated as sandy won't get on the net for the next few hours. Brazilian Airline TAM who Sandy flew from London -Sao Paulo with and then a connection from there to Santiago show no signs of putting any flights from Sao Paulo to Santiago before the weekend. Sandy fed up waiting!! Locol Brazilian time he is flying Sao Paulo - Lima in Peru leaving 6.05 pm arr Lima 9pm then Lima to Tacna leave 3.15 am arr 5.30 am. he has teamed up with a chilean guy trying to get home, so is not travelling alone. Then taxi across the border, not far i think to the nearest town in Northern Chile. From there you can bus to Calama and from there bus to San Pedro. Hopefully he will be in San Pedro sometime tomorrow and can have a few days there before the race. This was all taken note of in a two min. phone call so isn't to full of details. Hope it all goes well and he has a safe and uneventful journey. Will worry until he is there!!!

Posted On: 02 Mar 2010 08:39 pm

Hiya Sandy Hope this finds you well and in good spirits. Read the updates today, (sure you have as well) it sounds as if things are starting to move at last. You'll be spending most of your time at the airport just now anyway i'm sure. Have any other competitors appeared? Should think they will start showing up pretty soon. It's just about Connors bed time and is away to get his supper. We all hope that you get moving soon and you can start relaxing and preparing for the race. Keep safe Dad, Andrea & Connor xxx

Posted On: 02 Mar 2010 09:15 am

Hi darling, it is now 2nd March here I'm not sure of the time difference, I am keeping up to date with your progress and will be pleased when I hear you are where you are meant to be and as your Dad says keep stress free and you will suceed, remember the "Gordons " always get to where they are going to and work hard at it, Take Care son and keep safe, Love you Granny XX

Posted On: 02 Mar 2010 02:16 am

Hi Alexander, Hope things are moving in the right direction now! When you know what you're travel option is can you maybe post it to the forum thread through the link below. I'm trying to gather as much news/info in one place to help participants with their journeys. I'm sure it will be of use. Thanking you muchly, and hope you start moving soon! Sam H - RacingThePlanet http://www.4deserts.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4401#4401

Posted On: 01 Mar 2010 08:57 pm

How's things Sandy? Its 9pm here and just getting Connor ready for bed. We read the updates, which we're sure you have as well. No point in adding to the advice. Sounding good for tomorrow, hopefully, though. We're sure you have things well in hand, and are probably sitting, relaxing and having a beer!! How's the weather? Hear it's quite warm. Take it it will get even hotter at the event sites? We'll check in tomorrow and hopefully you'll be on your way or at least have more info. Stay as relaxed and stress free as you can. Dad, Andrea & Connor xxx

Posted On: 01 Mar 2010 06:13 pm

Hi Sandy, things don't seem to be going right at the moment son but as Mum says have faith and keep safe, you will get there and hopefully things will go alright, just keep in touch you are special to all of us, Take care and keep safe, Lots and lots of love Granny xxx

Posted On: 01 Mar 2010 04:25 pm

Have you seen the latest update, if ness. you now have until Sunday to get to San Pedro, Santiago should be more functional Tuesday. You sounded so fed up this morning when i spoke to you, keep your chin up, and keep on trying at the airport in sao Paulo you will get there. have faith Thinking of you always

Posted On: 28 Feb 2010 09:35 pm

I seen the BBC report about santiago being reopened this afternoon. But this news had't gotten through to TAM when I went to customer services an hour ago. Hopefully there will get sorted out tomorrow.

Posted On: 28 Feb 2010 09:09 pm

Thought you guys would be interested in this. Posted in the Wall Stret journal around 8pm GMT. SANTIAGO (Dow Jones)--The international airport in the Chilean capital, Santiago, reopened Sunday allowing a limited number flights as the damaged terminal struggles to recover from the effects of a powerful earthquake that struck early Saturday. During a press conference, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said the airport has reopened to incoming international flights, and that flights of the national carrier, Lan Airlines (LFL, LAN.SN), will land Sunday. The Chilean Aviation Authority said other airlines will land at airports in the north of the country, as well as Mendoza in Argentina on the border with Chile, and will be ferried by bus to Santiago, the president said. The Santiago airport passenger terminal is damaged, so passengers will be received at a temporary terminal, she said. The airport infrastructure, including runways and flight systems, weren't damaged by the earthquake. Argentina's government-owned airline said it would send a special flight later Sunday afternoon to carry 160 people to Mendoza. Aerolineas Argentinas said in a statement it has contracted buses to take the people on to the Chilean capital.

Posted On: 28 Feb 2010 08:16 pm

Hiya I see that you have been having a time and a half wi the locals !!!! Surprised that there are no staff that speak even a wee bit of english to help you, seeing that it is an international airport. Is there an American or British airline check in desk that might have english speaking staff that may be able to point you in the right direction? Maybe a British Consulate/Embassy office....just a thot. Plenty of time for you yet is there not? Although all this won't help with getting you used to the altitude. Hopefully it will all be a little clearer tomorrow once the earth stops shaking and they get organised with helping the folk caught up in the earthquakes. Chin up Sandy you'll get there i'm sure. Keep safe Dad, Andrea & Connor

Posted On: 28 Feb 2010 06:24 pm

what happened to prov.booking for 6.30 this evening?? Also bad dream !! next time make friends with someone who already speaks spanish, and pay them to accompany you to ariport. Be calm and have much patience, it will probably be needed to get to Santiago. Let me know how you get on with flights. Take care

27 February 2010 01:27 am (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time: Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London

So after finishing work last night i went to Heathrow airport and boarded my flight to Santiago with a change over in Sao Paulo. The initial checkin was a bit worrying as there was still a large queue with 45mins before the flight was going to leave, which meant it got delayed slightly. But once on the plane it was a not too bad 12 hour flight to Sao Paulo and thought that the only place where something might go wrong would be customs in Chile. 

But after getting off the plane in Sao Paulo i found all flights to Santiago were cancelled. There was a bit of confusion early on as my Spanish is non existent and finding out exactly what was going on took a little while. We were initially told that Santiago was closed due to weather, which i thought was rather strange. All was cleared up when i turned my phone on and started to receive text messages from various people asking about the earthquake. At this point i managed to speak to someone back home and got the full story. Admitedly the airline have been quite good as after the initial 2-3 hours of sitting in the terminal, they moved us through customs and into the checkin area where we got hotel and meal vouchers for the night.

With all the waiting at the airport i managed to find some other people from the UK heading to Santiago. So we have grouped together at the hotel which i rather nice, otherwise i would of been rather bored sitting around on my own. But currently i am provisionally booked onto a flight to Santiago for tomorrow at 6:30pm. I am not sure if this flight will go ahead or not as i am seeing various news reports saying that Santiago airport will be closed anywhere from 24 to 72 hours. 

For now it is going to be a waiting game with a lot of hope.

Comments: Total (10) comments

Posted On: 28 Feb 2010 01:01 pm

Hi Sandy, well here you are off on your missions again, things look a bit grim at the moment son but you look after yourself and keep safe, love you lots. Granny xxx

Posted On: 28 Feb 2010 11:26 am

Glad you're safe and have company. I'm sure you'll all reach San Perdo by Saturday. Meantime i'll be glued to the internet to keep track of you !! Good luck on you're journey, stay safe and well.

Posted On: 28 Feb 2010 10:31 am

Hi No long up here and been watching the news fae Chile. It disnae look bonnie doon in Concepcion. A bit of damage in Santiago as well. No word on the airport status as yet. Sure you will all make it to the start line tho. Keep safe Dad, Andrea & Connor

Posted On: 28 Feb 2010 07:43 am

Heard about Salta, too. Horrible horrible. Heart is with all the people. Might just get to Sao Paulo via Heathrow and see from there. Have read that some have been redirected to Lima instead. Taking a bus from Peru can work as well.

Posted On: 27 Feb 2010 11:48 pm

Sounds promising Kristina if it comes to that. Good to know someone has done it. May well be worth checking those bus services are running though. Would you believe it though, the news also now says a seperate 6.3mag (not an aftershock from Chile) quake hit Salta yesterday too, and a few deaths are reported there. Probably worth ensuring that the roads are all ok with the bus companies before anyone considers that option, if indeed flying into Chile is not possible.

Posted On: 27 Feb 2010 11:04 pm

The bus route over the Andes is not that tough. Did the route from San Pedro to Salta last year. It's about 9-10hrs and the border crossing was pretty smooth. I'd go for it if I were sure to get tickets to the Thu morning bus. Wondering if internal flights in Chile are on at all? one thing is to get to SCL, but from there to Calama might be problematic as well?

Posted On: 27 Feb 2010 10:06 pm

I've also checked the Salta airport option; posted it on my blog oddly enough. Possibly flying via Buenos Airies. There are two bus companies; Pullman and Geminis. The buses leave around 7am on Tues, Thurs and Sunday. Ticket prices I saw were more like 50-60 USD booked via an agent, but probably less if you just turn up and there is room on the bus. I can't vouch for these Argentine phone numbers, but I came accross them when looking for info, in case anyone want's to go down this route; that is if SCL is likely to be closed all week (still quoting 72 hours on BBC, subject to survey for structural damage). That bus trip could be 10-12 hours including the border. It's a very high altitude pass, and I think I read they carried oxygen on the coach for those in need! Needless to say, they may not speak English well, or at all. 1. Geminis 54(387) 431-7778 2. Pullman Bus 54(387) 421-0606 Hope you guys at various airports are all ok, and let's hope loss of life in Chile is minimal.

Posted On: 27 Feb 2010 09:41 pm

yes, Salta is what i've been checking tickets for. But the problem is that the buses go only Tue, Thu and Sun mornings and are often sold out in advance. Will wait for RTP update as well before any changes in plans.

Posted On: 27 Feb 2010 09:38 pm

I have just looked at Argentina. Salta is the closest town with an airport and there is a 9 hour bus to San Pedro for $20-30 which is always an option. But i shall see what tomorrow brings and wait for another RTP update before deciding on anything.

Posted On: 27 Feb 2010 09:34 pm

Good luck and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I fly out of Heathrow on Tue and am supposed to arrive in Santiago on Wed morning. No idea as of yet how things will work out. Keep us posted. There's very little info about the actual situation with all the flights etc and don't know whether to change my tickets to fly to N-Argentina instead... Horrible situation in many ways.

10 February 2010 11:29 am (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time: Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London

That's my last race out of the way before the Atacama and it went not too badly. The Pilgrim Challenge is a double 33 mile ultra going out from the Start on the Saturday and returning along the same rout on the Sunday along the North Downs just South West of London.

On the Saturday i went with a 7.5kg backpack which is roughly what i think my pack will weight on day 1. The first 18 miles seemed to pass by without too much bother in a bit over 3 hours as most of the hill undulated or were quick climbs. After the the 18 mile point the main hills were about to come upon us and the course started to get quite a bit muddier which seemed to take quite a bit of energy out of me. This then resulted in me moving quite a bit slower planned and made it to the 30 mile check point in about 6 1/2 hours. After this point i found my final burst of energy to finish the last 3 miles and finished with a time of 7 hours 5 minutes.

For the Sunday my pack was slightly lighter at around 7kg because i had eaten some of the food that i was carrying during the Saturday. I also wasn't looking forward to the first 15 miles of mud and hills, but this turned out to be alot better than i had imagined. Apart from the first 3 miles which is how far it took before my legs felt fully functional the mud and hills didn't seem so bad, but i am putting this down to me having more energy while going through this section on the Sunday. The last few miles were a bit of a struggle because my ankle had taken a buit of a pounding running down all of the hills. But i still managed to come in with a time of 7 hours 31 minutes, which gave me an overall position of 39th.

Overall it was quite a good final long distance test with pack weight before the Atacama. Plus i got to try out a few new additional kit items which worked quite well. My next task is to try and pack my Atacama pack this weekend so that i know exactly what the weight will be and to make sure i can fit it all in.

Comments: Total (1) comments

Posted On: 19 Feb 2010 02:59 am

Hi Alexander What a great two days race you've had. I haven't heard of the pilgrim challenge before, I will see if I can do it next year. Atacama will be my first desert race, I hope I can complete it without any problems. I will be arriving on the 3rd., see you there.

27 January 2010 07:18 am (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time: Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London

It is not long now till we start heading off to the Atacama.

I shall be getting on a plane in 4 weeks time this Friday so that i can spend a full week doing stuff in San Pedro and acclimatising to the altitude. Some of the main things that i am planning on doing is some day trips to the hot springs and up some high volcanoes to keep myself entertained. So if anyone is in San Pedro from Saturday 30th onwards it would be good to meet people before the actual race.

The Atacama is also the 2nd of the 4 Deserts race that i will be doing after completing the Sahara 2008 race. This will be quickly followed up by the RTP Australia race 6 weeks later so hopefully my recovery will be quick and possibly speeded up by being back at sea level (and pigs may fly) but i am currently choosing to live in la la land until that time comes.

Before heading off i have 1 more race to enter called The Pilgrim Challenge on the 6th and 7th of February. Basically its 2 * 33 mile ultras over the North Downs with the 33 miles on the Saturday and 33 miles on the Sunday. So i will be loading the backpack up and getting one last really long multi day training run in.

Once i get the final kit items that i require i shall do a blog covering all of the kit that i am taking with me and how i am going to pack it into the OMM 20L backpack and aim for 6.25kg (without water). So it should be quite an entertaining packing session as i am not fully sure if i am going to manage it. Thankfully i have the OMM 25L to fall back on if everything goes horribly goes wrong, but i have faith.

Comments: Total (1) comments

Posted On: 27 Jan 2010 09:02 pm

Hey Alexander, we are doing the Pilgrim Challenge also, will no doubt see you, meet you then.