The race across the Atacama is over. The race to get home now begins. Flights cancelled. Schedules changed. Travel mayhem. We are set to leave for the airport this afternoon hopeful that we can get on a flight to Santiago to catch our connection to Auckland and then home to Hong Kong. Its been an incredible week out on the trail. Since my last blog we finished the last 10km yesterday. Despite everyone in camp modestly asserting they were going to take it easy and trot to the finish, it was in fact a hard fought race with most of the competitors pushing hard all the way to the line. I was trying to catch Tom Norton but he'd upgraded his tights for the last leg and sprinted in just ahead of me. Tom and I competed well for most of the week. Its the sort of rivalry that pushes you to go a bit harder and a bit longer. Anyway, 26th overall and a much better position than the Gobi. At some stage early in my training schedule I thought about a top 20 place in this race but a heavy work schedule and too many gin & tonics left me a little short of my full potential. I'm nonetheless pretty happy with the result. It was a much tougher race than the Gobi but more enjoyably in some ways. The scenery was nothing short of spectacular as were the people I've met and with whom I've become friends. The finish in the town square of San Pedro was picturesque and full of people cheering everyone as they sprinted, ran, walked or literally crawled over the line. We sat under the trees munching on pizza. I'm now going to be trying hard to replace some of the 30,000-odd calories I've burnt over the last six days. I certainly didn't manage to consume that much on the race and I've got a few ribs starting to show through. The good thing about this race is that my metabolism will burn hard for another two weeks so I can eat pretty much anything at all with no consequence. So, dear reader, this concludes my race and my blog. Thank you all for your support and your donations to Habitat for Humanity. If you haven't managed to make a contribution yet please go to the racingtheplanet.com website, follow the link, and help re-house some of the people whose homes were destroyed in the earthquake. Hasta la vista.

The Long Day.
Finished. Just 10km tomorrow and the race is over. Time magazine reckons this is the second hardest race in the world or something like that. I agree. Today was really hard but I think I put in a reasonable time. Don't know my ranking but the camp was pretty empty when I got in.
Today included some stunning scenery. Think of those Mars Rover pictures from NASA and you get a sense of what we were running through. Surreal. No blisters and feeling ok. More people dropped out today and several on drips. Medical tent is going to working hard into the night as competitors come in. I'm shoving bluetac in my ears and going to sleep. More details tomorrow when I have energy.
Blog tent tune of the day: Red Hot Chill Peppers: Around the World.
E

The Infamous Salt Flats.
Day 4 is now over with only the long day to go before a 16km jog to the finish, to pizza and to cold beer.  It feels good to be well over half way.  After my blog yesterday I started to feel a bit green around the gills and woke up this morning in less than great shape. I think a lot of it was nerves ahead of today's stage which included the much-talked-about salt flats. Its a 14km stage of a total of 42.8km across crunchy and not-so-crunchy salt, sometimes harder than concrete and sometimes like apple crumble. That was after lots more sand and a river run where Simon nearly disappeared under water and had to discard his now-famous salami.
Anyway, I thought the best way to do the horrible salt flats section would be as quickly as possible. Running out of water was the main worry for most people so I didn't want to hang around. Anyway I did it pretty fast and came in 24th today. Happy with that but of course I need to have enough gas left for tomorrow's big 72km stage.
Quite a few people dropped out yesterday. The heat is really challenging but chugging water and keeping a steady pace seems to work for me. Two dogs followed some competitors for 30km today across the flats and just arrived in my tent. One of them, a black Lab, came and sat down next to me as if we were old friends. Strange how these animals have adapted to the dry conditions. 30km with no water. Amazing.
Heard there was a 7.2 quake south of Santiago just now. Doesn't seem too serious from the updates were are getting here. Hope everyone there are OK.
Cyber tent music today is by Kings of Leon - whoever they are.
Thanks all again for your emails and blog comments. Stay tuned for the post-long day entry.
E

I now know why I don't like beach holidays. Its the sand. I like a good spash about as much as the next person but getting up from my deck chair and walking down to the water is what I don't enjoy. Sand. Hotn sand. Welcome to Day 3. One big beach with no water. Only sand. Lots of sand. Not to mention the crusty salty gunk (imagine ploughing a field of quick-dry cement and letting it set for a while) which went on for mile after mile. But generally speaking it was a better day that yesterday but the under-foot conditions were horrendous and just when I say the finish line, the course plunged into a maze of David Lean-style sand tunes. Anyway, feet good, head good, and top 30 today. Knee starting to twinge which is amazing considering I normally have to ice it after 10k (thank you Voltarin). Did a little bit less running than yesterday but I got a good pace with my walking polls which I'm very happy to have. We are now about half way with the toughest part to come. Tomorrow will be no picnic and I can't imagine Friday's long stage (72km) in this heat.  A few people have already dropped out incluing Mark from our tent who passed out on the trail yesterday. Sensible chap for not trying to push it.
Thank you all for the fantastic comments on the blog site. Keep then coming please!
Sitting in the camp just below the research centre featured at the end of of the last James Bond movie. How that guy walked even 10 feet across this terrain in a dinner jacket in this heat is quiet ridiculous. Anyway - current tune in the cyber tent as I type away is the Black Eyed Peas - Tonight's Gonna be a Good Night. Propbably not in my tent but I'll take it to mean tomorrow's going to be a good day.
Big hugs and lots of love to B&J.
E

 
I'm told yesterday's blog didn't post. You didn't miss much as it was short. First day was quite a challenge. The heat here is intense and much hotter than the Gobi. I started the race with the leaders for the whole of the first 15 yards before settling into my pace. Took the first two stages slowly and then tried to turn on the gas a bit in the second half but it was mostly uphill and I was quite spent by the finish. A few blisters on my toes because I'd tied my shoes too loose. Stupid.
 
The first camp had stunning views out across 6,000m peaks. Camp at the start was up at 3,200m and last night we slept at 2,400m. Fortunately no adverse affects from the altitude.
So on to day 2. Felt pretty good after a sound sleep (thank you Stilnox). We set off down a canyon and into a river which we crisscrossed more times than I can remember. Very cold water up to the knees. After that up a big hill, through and old mine tunnel and onto a high ridge with amazing views. Then the highlight of my day: 200m down the biggest sand dune I've every seen. Wish I had a snowbroad (one guy actually flew down on his sleeping mat).
It then started to get really hot and it was painful doing the last 20km across sand and dirt tracks. The last road seemed never ending. Came in well over 7 hours but 32nd or something like that. We're now camped by salt lake and the rubbish bins are melting in the sun and the medical tent is doing brisk business. Its way hotter than everyone had thought. The long day is going to be extremely challenging.
 
Yesterday's blisters didn't get any worse and I didn't acquire any new ones which is great considering the water and sand and the length of the day (42.8km). Had my toes all taped and shoes tight! Actually feeling better than this time yesterday. "We are the Campions" just kicked in on the sound system here in the cyber tent as I blog.
Thanks all for your messages of support, especially B and JumpingNoodle!!
No idea what lies ahead tomorrow but its going to be hot. Stay tuned.

First day done. Quite a tough day. The first 20km were actually quite enjoyable but once the heat going and we started to climb and endless hill things got nasty.  I had to stop quite early on to fix some blisters which came on because, I think, I started the day not having tighten my shoes enough. Oh well. All part of the fun.
 
The main thing is that I'm feeling fine. The first day of the Gobi ended with me totally trashed and very sick so I'm glad not to be repeating that. Anyway, under six hours today which put me at 45th of 145 but it very early days. The top guys, as always, are amazing with Ryan Sands finishing in just over 3 hours and Eric Le Hay just behind. Maybe I'll catch them tomorrow!!
Had my Recovertite and a few crisps and ready to eat something.
E

I've made it to the start line. We're at the first camp, ready to get underway tomorrow. Altitude is 3200m and we decend fast tomorrow. Camp is major upgrade on the Gobi mainly due to the introduction of seated chemical lavatories. Wow.
We are eight in our tent. Feels a bit like a stock broker's convention but more about my sleeping buddies as the week progresses.
Feeling good. Ready to go.

Greetings from San Pedro de Atacama. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_pedro_de_atacama Chilling out in a very chilled little town in northern Chile. Its now Saturday morning and I've been here since Thursday having left Hong Kong on Tuesday night with no real idea of when or how we were going to get here. My intrepid traveling companion Simon Robertson and I hooked up with a larger contingent from Hong Kong on the flight to Auckland where we found ourselves stranded upon arrival. All flights into Santiago had been cancelled. Reports varied as to the conditions in the capital but we had to hope that flights would soon resume. Could we try Buenos Aires? What about LA? Question marks hung over every alternative. Staying put and waiting for the next flight seemed the best option. The race had already been delayed by a day to give us and everyone else time to reach the starting point in time. So we spent Wednesday night being entertained by Simon's old Kiwi crew in Auckland who put on a BBQ for us while watching New Zealand chase Australia in the first one day Test Match (NZ won). We were very lucky to get onto the flight the following day and had to hustle our way through Santiago airport to get our connecting flight. The airport was operating in tents due to the damage sustained by the terminal buildings. Despite the chaos I was really impressed by the skeleton system the Chileans had put in place as well as everyone's positive muck-in attitude. It was really nice to see a whole country really putting together. Some of us felt a little guilty contributing to the human logjam of traffic that accompany catastrophes. Relatives trying to get home to family and friends; aid workers trying to reach the worst-affected areas. I met one elderly British couple living in the south of Chile who were trying to get back from their vacation. Knowing their family was all safe, they were heading back to a home that had been completely destroyed, the third house they had lost to earthquakes since emigrating here in 1963. Who needs a bunch of ultra-racers converging on Santiago's crippled airport when so many people are just simply trying to get home? The answer lay in San Pedro where the locals were raising money for the earthquake victims in the south. These people feel strongly that the race is an important local event that supports the town and I spoke to a couple of people who are really pleased that so many made the extra effort to get here. So we arrived in Calama at 7pm greeted by a 6.8 earthquake whose epicentre was just down the road. In the context of recent events in the south of the country, it was a strange thing to have happened, but nevertheless a minor tremor even though the airport building shook violently for a few seconds. So here I am in the Kunza Hotel looking out at 6,000m peaks, packing and repacking my kit, wandering the local shops and generally being a tourist. We bus out to the start camp tomorrow afternoon for a night at 3,400m or so. Its going to be cold. Its then six days or hard running, walking and probably a bit of crawling. Stay tuned for my next blog from Camp 2. E