This stage really brought the tent together.  Ricky, Pete, Giles and I decided we were going to takle this day together.  Ricky was hurting from the largest blisters the doc had ever seen.  Ken, Giles and I simply couldn’t muster more than a walk for we were all suffering from either blisters or some other leg/foot ailment.  So, standing at the start line, we all took off at a walk and…..

      Holy cow.   First imagine you are at a winter park, with snow covered grounds.  Hear and feel the crunch of snow underfoot.   Now, replace snow with salt and warm air and you have exactly what we started this stage through.   It was absolutely incredible.  I’ve never seen anything like it.   Just like melting snow, there were little pools of water all around that you have to avoid.  I can’t imagine the salinity of the water.  Sadly that giddy feeling of being a kid at a snow park left quickly, to be replaced by the feeling of running over jagged vertical shards of glass (try to imagine the shooting pain when they would cut through your shoe and stab you in the foot).   This terrain was periodically replaced by hard ground that collapsed when stepped upon.   This went on for 10 miles.   By CP 1 we were all wasted.   Only 38 miles to go.   CP1 to CP2 was actually quite easy but extremely boring.  But while we were taking a break at CP 2, we got the treat of seeing Ryan Sandes of South Africa blow in an out of the CP not breathing hard, and just chugging along.   He was amazing.  18 miles down… 28 to go. 

   The next stage was the hardest of the day, with oppressive heat, in the middle of a wide valley with very soft ground, and just when you thought it was over, we had to climb an immense sand dune at approximately mile 25… Can anyone say waterline trail?   Imagine it built out of sand and just as steep.  Now, let me add this.  At approximately ¼ of way through this stage, I mentioned to Pete that my leg felt like it was bleeding.   It wasn’t visibly bleeding, but it hurt very badly and it was getting very very stiff below  the knee.  I hobbled on however, and we all climbed the dune and with a short 1.5 miles to the next checkpoint it was smooth sailing… except for the oppressive heat.  With the wind howling it was as if we were standing in front of the largest hair drier in the world. 

                CP3 arrived none to soon, at the bottom of another large sand dune.  This one with steep sides, and we had to descend the ridge.  26 miles down, only 20 to go.  We took 15 here and shook the sand from our shoes.   We all choked down some bars, or other snacks and then it was onward.  The following 2 stages were so incredibly boring, I cant describe them.  I think the scenery was pretty, but for the life of me… it was just a big valley and we were walking a very very  very old and dry riverbed.   The night winds arrived at 7pm and all I can say is that it really sucks to walk into a 40 mph headwind full of sand (yes, stronger than the earlier howling winds).  

                CP5 was literally a mess.   The winds were so strong they had blown down the tents that were in place for some of the really late runners.  They also had very luke warm water, and everything not nailed down flew away quickly.  I kid you not 50 mph might not be an exaggeration.  It was crazy.  We only stopped for a couple of minutes…. And then it was onto the last leg.  Up, Up and through a very narrow canyon, and then down.  It was eirily like walking through a crazy long twisting and turning hallway marked only by dimly glowing green glow sticks, and illuminated by headlamp.  And then, finally was camp.

      We arrived… and I took my shoes off only to find that my ankle was the size of a softball.  The doc in charge thought that I must have had a small tear in the muscle.  Reference the paragraph discussing the 2^nd stage and you’ll understand how long it was hurting.  Add that to the blisters on the bottom, and sides of my feet and you can feel the pain I think.

                The day ended with wrapping of the ankle by the great doc, and then it was to sleep.  Only I couldn’t sleep.  It didn’t matter what muscle I layed on, it hurt so bad it woke me up in minutes.  So I looked much more like a rotisserie all night.   Up at 8, the wait was on for the 1pm start time.  Only 10k to go!!!!  This was probably the most fun of the whole race.  The whole tent had grown pretty close over the course of the week, and this morning was all about telling stories, and laughing.  All of us in pretty severe pain, but we were all laughing.  

                The race ended specatularly with a 10k into town.  It started with a ridiculous 2k over and through dunes to steep to walk much less run.   However as I say this, Ryan Sandes bounded through them with seemingly fresh legs and ran a 40 min 10k.  He really did seem inhuman.   And with a slow 2 hour last leg, I finished.  Took the medal, and ate and ate and ate and drank and drank, etc...  It was incredible.

          I’m still trying to piece together what I think about the race.  There were highs and lows and everything in between.  I hope to post more soon. Thank everyone so much for their support…. This has been an incredible experience, and I honestly couldn’t have done it without your help.