Its over...

Very bizzare feeling to be rid of the constant thought of another day out in the desert...after a 3.30am sleep and up at 7am the last 10km drew near...it was a brilliant stroll back into San Pedro to raptuous applause from the locals and competitors...it was the first time i really took in the surroundings - this certainly is an amazing place..! Ken, Ray, Dad and I got over the finish line together, hopefully there will be some photos...it was a good feeling to get the prize that the last 6 days have been built up to, we are certainly lucky as over the course 20 didnt make it...back in the hotel now, i have had a rare wash - showers were a bloody good invention, maybe second behind beer...

Got a party tonight, cant be a late night seeing as everyone is shattered - have also got to sort out my flights seeing as a few days ago there was another earthquake in Santiago, will get on the case now...

Cheers for all the messages, there is no longer a need to check this out as nothing interesting will happen anymore - thanks for the support, from both myself and Dad

lots of love, and hope to see you all soon

xxx

Good evening devoted followers of this epic read...
 
Thursday 11th
 
Ditched a load of food this morning to get the pack weight down but if im being honest it still weighs exactly the same on my now tender shoulders. Started today with a 9.5km climb up and over sand dunes and back down again - getting quite good at walking on sand now..! It was tough going, it took us 3 hours to do it, which considering there are now time restrictions isn't a good thing...the stage ended nicely (if anything out here can be considered nice..!) with us zig zagging down a steep dune into an oasis and wadding through streams again, not good for the feet, but it breaks up the monotony.
 
 
Stage 2 started with us going through a town called Tocona and then a huge 13km stretch across flat, typical desert surrounding...not much to report there, apart from Dad may have a story to tell you, enough said...
 
Next came the beast of the day...14km across the infamous Atacama salt flats, which as I very nearly found out today, you can sink through..! The day, with this included, was immensely tedious so I decided to be a reckless youth and pick up the pace and get the hell back to camp, which by this stage was 13km away - sounds like a bad idea but I seemed to be in one of my happy places and I zoomed into camp...
 
However, damage had been done, 4 blisters - they have now been sterilized, punctured and taped so im feeling a bit more fresh...tomorrow sounds daunting, 73km over tough terrain - it is certaininly gonna be an all nighter, but the finish is so close that its gonna take something major to stop me - fingers crossed guys..!
 
Dad and I have a media interview in a bit, we seem to be celebs around here, haha..!
 
Chicken Tikka looms, C'mon..!
 
Also massive thanks for all you support - gets us all through the tough times
 
lots of love
 
Sam, Shaz, Kudu
 

Hey guys..!
 
Sorry its been so long but have been too exhausted in the evenings to contribute to this...
 
Day1 was one full of excitement due to the start of the race, it was a 35km warm up really, there were a few challenging parts but we all got through fine
 
Day2, different story - it was an apparent 41km but we clocked it at at least 45km, thats a big difference when you have to guage water consumption, but we survived...just..! The course started in a canyon full of water so for the first 10km we were wading through the water, it broke up the monotony of long flats which was good but it took a hell of a lot longer than usual...next came an incline upto a ridge which we walked along before the highlight so far...sprinting down a sand dune, was amazing...dropped  about 100 ft in 30 seconds, and also got caught on camera footage...happy days...have been doing lots of interviews with the media guys as they seem to be quite interested in the whole father-son thing...im not complaining...that was the end of the good that day...we got in later and i was absolutely broken, not physically but mentally and emotionally - i was shot to bits, thats not something you can prepare for but it seemed to make day 3 a whole lot easier...had some good chats to some of the guys that ive met and they have been really supportive...helped get me through that tough day
 
Day3 started amazing, we all breezed through the first 20-30km but the last 11km were a huge effort...up and down thick sand dunes, over and over again...it got pretty frustrating as you could see the camp site a long way off but it never seemed to get any closer..! however, made it eventually, dad got in just a while ago too - so we have all survived...only thoughts and imaged of Cheryl Cole kept me going, not a bad form of inspiration..!
 
We are now at the half way stage, tomorrow is another 40km plus, then the Friday is the double marathon of 73km...thats gonna be a 24hr job, but after that its clean sailing to the finish...fingers crossed i can keep it together for the next 3 days..!
 
Right im off to have a dehydrated chicken tikka meal...jealous i bet...!
 
lots of love
 
Sam, Shaz, Kudu

After having a great few days doing tourist-ey things the real deals starts today. Firstly we all have our bags scrutinized to make sure we have the correct amount of calories, and also to check that we have the right equipment. After sorting through my stuff copious amounts of time, I should be fine...Then at 3pm we get bused to Camp 1 and sleep outside ready for Day 1 which starts tomorrow...

We are now in a competitor hotel with about 80 others, which makes it easy to meet new people and everyone to trade ideas about whats best and what isnt...Dad, Ray and I had a break from that yesterday and headed to Bolivia, with a few others, by bus to check out all kinds of things, sulphur springs, lagoons, flamengos and my personal favourite a hot geyser, which after the dirty journey we all freshened up in on the way home..! The altitude hit 16,000 feet which made everyone feel a bit sluggish, but thankfully the highest we get to on the race is about 8,000 ft...Also it meant more stamps in the passport, one to leave chile, one to enter bolivia, another to leave bolvia and a final one to re enter chile - its quickly filling up..! On the way back to San Pedro, we drove past an overturned car carrying lorry in the middle of the road, lucky nobody looked injured but it could have been very bad...

I know it sounds like its a lovely holiday at the moment but i promise after today things will get a whole lot tougher and i probably wont sound so chirpy..!

Hope you are all well wherever you may be

loads of love

Sam, Shaz, Kudu

PS Mum thanks for the footie update - i managed to find a hotel barman who was an avid football fan so he managed to fill me on on all the news..! Was very handy, may have to take him with me..!

Finally arrived in San Pedro yesterday after 3 flights carry me from Heathrow to Madrid, Madrid to Santiago and Santiago to Calama. In spite of the recent tragedy that has fallen on Chile, everything ran very smoothly. Met up with a few of the competitors at various airports, not hard to spot who we are seeing as we´re all carrying around massive backpacks full of all the gear to support us over the next week. 

Fortunately Dad´s flight from Hong Kong was fine to so met up with him at Santiago airport and went and had lunch with him and 2 other competitors from Hong Kong, Ray and Ken. Santiago airport is running in a very bizarre manner, seeing as the terminal building is closed due to the roof integrity being compromised, the airport is operating outside..! In fact, the only issue we all had was the heat of waiting outside, suppose we are going to have to get used to that though..! As we were boarding our flight to Calama, a mining town in the middle of nowhere, we met up with even more competitors and you could really feel the excitement buzzing around the place. 

After some spectacular views from the plane we arrived and were picked up by Sergio to take us to our hotel for the evening. Nom Mum, if you are reading this DO NOT panic, but apparently whilst we were on the hotel in San Pedro there was another earthquake..! No damage done to us, fortunately..! The hotel is absolutely amazing, shame we are experiencing this luxoury before we go out into the harsh desert terrain, but what can you do..! We were greeted with a glass of Pisco sour, something that took me right back to our South America rugby tour in 2007, brilliant..!

Have now got some time to kill, will do nothing too strenous, may go to some hot springs, can´t complain..! The only bad news to bring is that the course has now been made even tougher by the fact that we start a day later, due to the difficultly in reaching San Pedro for some, but still finish on the same day..! Not good..! Not much else to rerport, but the excitement is really setting in, in a few days I´m positive it will be nerves though...

lots of love to you all

Sam, Shaz, Kudu