I clocked in the furthest non-stop walking distance in my life today, walked over 73.5 km on varied, disgusting but scenic terrains.  The longest march I have ever done but I felt accomplished reaching the campsite with cheers from the organizers and some of the competitors. 

I started at 8:30am on 3^rd April and reached campsite at around 1:30 am on 4^th April.  The only time I stopped was at the five different checkpoints (briefly for about 5 to 10 minutes each time to fill up my water bag and grab something light to eat), two pee breaks and quick change into my warm attire for the night walk.  In total I would have walked continuously for 16 hours, less the breaks.

This long march started with yet another 7 km of horrible salt plains where I was hoping my shoes, which were tattered from the previous salt plains crossings, were able to hold up.  Fortunately they did not give me any problems.  Neither did I receive any cuts for my little toes were rather exposed from the damaged shoes.

The terrain was more comfortable and flat to walk and jog on after the salt plains.  I managed a brief jog.  Holding my darn camera in my hand did not make the run easy but I certainly enjoyed taking pictures of the superb surroundings and other competitors who ran passed me or those whom I have overtaken.

The morning sun turned into fiery fire ball blasting its heat wave across the entire desert.  Thank goodness there were some brief clouds to save us from the heat.  The terrain turned nasty again after the second checkpoint.  We were made to trek up a massive sand dunes, which I reckon was about 200 metres and inclined at a 60 degree angle.  I swore, I pant and I crept my way slowly to the top.  I turned around and was stunned by the splendid view.

It was 5:00 pm by the time I left the third checkpoints and the sun was hovering above the horizon.  I set off for the last 32 km walk.  The cold set in as the sun set behind the horizon.  Changed into my warm attire, I continued my solo walk into the dark.

I was reluctant to turn on my head torch in the dark for the fear of attracting any hungry predators in the vicinity.  It was only when I started to trip on rocks and lose my balance on uneven grounds that I decided to make myself visible in the pitch dark desert.  I felt kinda of dumb when the staff at the next checkpoint told me that there were no wild animals in this region.

I walked alone in the dark for hours without seeing any life.  I kept walking.  My stomach was groaning I was hungry but I kept walking.  Millions stars glittered in the distance afar and occasional shooting stars to cheer me on.  I walked and walked.   It was pitch dark but extremely peaceful; perfect time for self reflection.  The battery on my GPS watch was drained and I did not have any timing device to keep track of time.  I could not care more about time.  I did not need one.  All I wanted was to keep walking and complete this long arduous stage.

Millions of thoughts ran through my head.  The entire desert and tranquil night belonged to me and I loved it!  I continued my slow walk and took time to reflect on myself, my life and my future.  It was in this part of the race that I have discovered and/or rediscovered my strengths and weaknesses.  I have definitely learnt more about myself.  This is exactly one of the main reasons why I signed up this race for.

I hit my sleeping bag shortly arriving at the campsite.  Too tired and exhausted to have my meal.  The race is about to complete.  All we have left with is the remaining 10 km to run into San Pedro town tomorrow.  I cannot wait to have a beautiful sizzling steak complemented with a glass of chilled Chilean wine for lunch tomorrow.

For over 50 years the sun never fails to shine; for over 50 years, the residents in the desert have not experienced any rainfall.  Today we had one powerful wind storm that blew away some of the tents in the campsite; today I walked head on against strong icy wind and was partially drenched from the light rain.  I shivered as I only had my short sleeve tees and shorts on, and raced on quickly to keep myself warm.  Glad I made it to the campsite to find warmth by the campfire.  Moved up my ranking 2 grades and came in 29^th today.

Today was meant to be one of the toughest stages of the race.  We had to cross the most horrible terrain – the sickening and disgusting salt plains.  You can never imagine how difficult it was to cross this 8 km of salt plains in scorching heat.  Walking on the salt plains was like stepping on million pieces of broken glasses, uneven pebbles and hard rocks at the same time.  Parts of the salt plains were so soft that I could hardly find balance and sank my feet into it; otherwise they were so hard to make walking miserable.  Such terrain was really detrimental to our knees and ankles.  I slogged painfully through the massive salt plains with such difficulty.  The thought of giving up did cross my mind.  My shoes were badly damaged; my knees and ankles were nearly giving way.  I was overwhelmed to complete this stage.

Tomorrow is going to be another tough and long race.  We have to complete over 73 km!  I hope my shoes remain intact for this long march!

I did relatively well today; came in 31^st out of about 71 competitors.  Unlike the previous days, I actually kicked my arse to run today.  The unforgiving sun continues to beat on my tired legs and aching shoulders.  The sceneries, though not as magnificent as yesterday, did offer me some excellent shooting opportunities and I took over a hundred pictures today, I think.

Seriously, this race is not about who has the biggest muscles or longest legs.  It is really a mental challenge than anything else, but of course physical fitness is still necessary.   I struggled to keep in pace with two petite Japanese girls who stayed ahead of me most of the time until after the last checkpoint.  They decided to take rest at the checkpoint whereas I pushed ahead to keep abreast of them.  Not that I was proud to beat the girls, those on the top 10 are aged 40 and above.  A sense of shame and guilt did cross my mind for I reckon I am just too comfortable with my lifestyle back home in .  I am definitely more inspired to do some serious training after this race, perhaps aimed to do the Gobi March in June or the Sahara race in October.

Emotions ran high when the Korean father (who is blind), lead by his son, ran across the finishing line.  This stage must be really tough for them.  I personally found that the terrains today were unforgiving.  We had to cross the uneven and spiky salt plains, which were one of the most horrible terrains to walk on, and climbed (on fours at some point) a steep cliff to reach the campsite.  I struggled myself to overcome these difficult terrains, it must be really awful for the Korean father to go through what I found hard to accomplish.  I am truly amazed by his determination and strong will power to complete the race.

Tomorrow is going to be another tough day for all of us which includes a 14 km salt plain.  It is not physical fitness to bring us across the finishing line, mental toughness is key to stay in this race.

Wish me luck!

Cheers,

PJ

PS: For those who have sent me emails, I have very touched with your encouragement!  For those who left messages on the blog comments, I apologise that I could not read them for the campsite is not wired.  I will read them when I return to civilization this Saturday.  Nevertheless please keep the emails and blog comments coming.

I am definitely darker than before I left home, but just not sure if I have shed off any fats.  We shall see.  Take care!

I was so deeply asleep last night after dinner.  I must be really tired to slept 8 hours straight without being woken up.  The day started off beautiful and everyone remained in high mood.

Like yesterday, we were flagged off at 8 am.  The sceneries in this stage were indescribable!  We went up high mountains (which totally sucked!), rolled down sand dunes, made multiple river crossings, trampled inside beautiful river canyons (which was totally cool)!  The river canyons were just amazing.  I must have shot over 100 pictures just inside the river canyons. 

When we were told of the river crossing and how icy cold the waters were and how badly we may develop blisters, I dreaded to get into the rivers.  When we first came to the first crossing, I was so careful not to get my feet wet.  Skipped, jumped and bounced across a small river like Little Red Riding Hood, my feet were sparred. 

However, subsequent rivers were not as merciful.  This time we had no choice but to dip our legs into the rivers.  The waters were indeed icy but bearable.  And at some point, the water raised to my thigh level.  I wondered how the petite Japanese girls going to manage this.  They must be busy to keep themselves afloat!

Despite having wet feet, I totally enjoyed the stunning canyons.  I was hoping that at least half of the distance for today was in this form of terrain.  Unfortunately, after leaving the rivers behind us, we had to make this difficult ascent before sliding down the magnificent sand dunes.  Surprisingly, my tempo managed to keep me up the steep slopes with good steady speed. 

After the sand dunes, the terrain somewhat became rather monotonous.  The sceneries hardly changed as we were clocking about 20 km on flat terrain.  My mind was switched off totally and my feet just kept on auto-pilot mode and I walked mindlessly to finish the race.

New blisters were developed and more muscle soreness in other parts of the body.  I hope to survive another day tomorrow!

Temperature hit -5 deg C when I woke up to take a leak.  The stars were amazing and the milky way clearly visible.  The stars would have been more awesome if the crescent moon was taken out of the equation.  Nevertheless it was a tranquil moment as everyone was asleep in their tents.

I went back to my tent trying to fall asleep but finding it hard to do so.  Tossed and turned for an hour before heading out to the campfire pit to get some warmth.  Slowly everyone started coming out from their tents and cuddled around the fire.  Despite at wee hours of the night, around 430am, there were endless crappy jokes to crank everyone up!

Flag-off took place at 8am sharp and I was in good confidence to complete the 41.4 km and hopefully before 4pm.  I decided to walk the entire course for the high elevation of around 3300 m above sea level would likely to cause some miscomfort if I were to run.

I walked alongside with Kenneth Johansson from .  He plans to complete the four desert races and scale Mt Everest in one calendar year.  All his races are sponsored.  And guess what?  The pair of socks he is wearing is priced at a ridiculous US$200!  He plans to throw the socks away and I plan to pick them up and sell them on ebay!  200 bucks for a pair of socks is unheard off.  Apparently they are used by NASA astronauts and now the manufacturer is putting these socks on trial on earth.

The walk in the first four hours was superb with cooling breeze and picturesque sceneries.  The terrain was mostly uphill for the first 10km but eventually went downhill to reach the first campsite.  I was doing pretty okay!  After the first checkpoint, I managed to do some short runs to catch up Kenneth (that Swedish bloke) who went ahead during the ascent.  Well he is a mountaineer and I am not.

The second checkpoint came by easy but this time the breeze blew intermittently and at some stages I could feel the heat burning my exposed arms.  After checkpoint 2, the intensity of the heat tripled and the breeze stopped altogether and I was walking at the mercy of the rocky, sandy, undulating and uphill terrains.  Reaching the third checkpoint, the last one for the day, took me longer than I should.  The unforgiving heat had made my every step torturous.  I snailed my way up the canyons and had to stop twice to get away from the heat and the soreness on my back due to a heavy rucksack.  I carried with me the biggest camera in this competition, my Canon 30D, which weighed me down.  Well blame on my vanity to take nice pictures during the race.

Finally the campsite was almost in sight. I quickened my pace to complete the race and came in 40.  Not a bad start but I wonder how am I going to manage that gigantic SLR.  Sigh… blame it on my vanity indeed!

I woke up at 6 am this morning having some mixed feelings – nervous and excited.  Got up my bed, took a nice hot shower and head out to the hotel lobby awaiting for breakfast to be served.  The restaurant was slowly filled up as the hours rolled on, and by around 9am, everyone was up and having the last nice breakfast before the race.

At 11am, we made our way to the other hotel where the staff and volunteers were putting up to check-in for the race and get our rucksack inspected to ensure we have all the mandatory equipment necessary for the race.  Took me less than an hour to get everything sorted; very efficient.

At 2pm, we loaded up onto the buses (one big bus and four mini ones) and were chauffeured to the campsite which was just an hour away from San Pedro town.  The campsite was awesome and the surrounding views were just amazing!  Snowcapped mountain peaks and one distinctive volcano sat just right in front of our sleeping tents.  Blue skies and white clouds in the funniest shapes and sizes formed the backdrop.  I just love this place.

I am sharing the tent with the other two Singaporeans, Paul and Kah Shin, and three funny Italians, Nicholai, Simone and Italo, who have their rucksacks weighed half of mine.  I wonder how they managed to cut their weight down.  No matter how I packed and repacked my rucksack remained as one of the heaviest; 13 kg.

As we were all settling down nicely and neatly into our respective tents, a huge and brutal sandstorm swept across the campsite and blew our tent down!  If not for Simone who was sleeping at that time, our tent was likely to be blown away.  The gust and sand were flying all over and coated my new race tees with a layer of red dust. 

Welcome to Atacama desert !

I flew into Calama yesterday evening and took the transfer with some of the fellow competitors, volunteers and crew to San Pedro de Atacama.  While waiting for the domestic flight at Santiago, my eyes could not stop but trying to seek out fellow race friends.  It was not difficult to identify, from among the passengers, who were from racingtheplanet.  There seemed to have some kind of invincisible bondings.  You can just tell who are in for the race and who are leisure travellers.

However, some were so totally disguised themselves as holiday makers rather than race competitors.  The most noticeable is Mimi (Mimi I know you will be reading this and I have pre-warned you that I will blog about you here). 

For those who have no idea who this Mimi person is, click on Atacama Crossing 08, go to the sub menu "Race Coverage" and click on "Official Competitors".  Roll your cursor to Mimi Anderson (who is so not totally related to Pamela Anderson) and read on her profile.  Tell me what you feel after reading her portfolio.

So I was there waiting for my bag to be loaded into one of the mini vans at Calama airport.  Mimi, with Martin and his wife, walked up behind me.  I turned around and asked if they were coming in for the race.  We took turns to introduce ourselves starting from myself, then Martin and his wife.  But before Mimi could speak, I asked she was here as a volunteer or supporting crew?  She replied, with a doubtedful tone, that she was here for the race and introduced herself.

My image of Mimi, from her awesome profile, was a 'superwoman', someone of Marion Jones physique and perhaps butch looking.  This Mimi standing right in front of me, wearing extremely loud bangles and jewelleries, pulling her bright pinky trolley bag just like the appearance of  Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde, with her sunglasses pushing up her blonde hair just like what Witherspoon would do in the movie.  My jaws dropped.  I was being too judgemental and stereotyping.  I would have never imagine Mimi to look this way!  Deep inside me, I was kow-towing to her. 

Nevertheless, it was interesting for me to make new friends and seeing the reunion of some competitors from previous racingtheplanet races.  Everyone was in high mood and friendly.  I am starting to like this race, not the race course but the humane part of it.

Look out for my daily blogs starting on 30 March.  Hope I have enough energy reserve to write something decent.

Cheers,

PJ

Greetings from Santiago!  I guess like most participants, I will be heading to the San Pedro later the day.  It is 3.14am now as I am typing this blog in the free hotel internet facilities.  I thought if I forced myself to stay awake the whole day upon arriving I could get to sleep and do away the jetlag.  But I found myself wide awake half hour ago and decided to turn on the tv to watch ´Desperate Housewives´ which is showing on the inhouse cable channels.  Managed to get about 4 hours of undisturbed sleep.

Been flying for the last 2 days.  Spent 18 hours cruising across the Pacific to reach San Francisco.  Left Singapore on 24 March 6 am (GMT + 8) and arrived San Francisco the same day at 9 am (GMT - 8).  Spent a day near San Jose to pick up some gears for the race and meet some friends working and studying here.  Had some decent 5 hours sleep before heading towards  the airport again.  Left California at 1140 am (GMT - 8), flew across United States to reach Atlanta at 7pm (GMT - 4).  Waited for 3 hours at the airport before flying southwards to arrive in Chile at 740 am (GMT - 3). 

Total time spent flying and transiting are as follows:

(a) Singapore to Narita Tokyo = 6 hours and 30 minutes

(b) Transit time in Narita = 2 hours

(c) Narita to San Francisco = 9 hours and 30 minutes

(d) San Francisco to Atlanta = 4 hours

(e) Transit time in Atlanta = 3 hours

(f) Atlanta to Santiago, Chile = 9 hours

Total time spent flying =34 hours

Of course this is not the shortest way but definitely one of the cheapest options.  Will be leaving to Calama in northern Chile around 3pm later today and fly another 2 hours.  Will reach San Pedro at around 7pm today.

Am looking forward to meet the participants later the day!

Will update more,

PJ

^{My Gobi trek in 1999.  Now I am looking forward for another adventure!}

My love for nature and adventure is probably one of the main contributing factors for my participation in the race in Chile next March.  Doing something extreme and pushing my physical and mental limits to the max is part of the character and personal development process I would constantly subject myself to.  Hence, I am really looking forward to the race.  Though I still wonder at times why I am spending so much money to fly around the globe (Singapore-San Francisco-Santiago) to 'torture' myself.  I believe this race experience will be worth every cent and effort.

Now I am looking to marry my race with a charitable cause.  Have found a few charities and non-profit organisations in Singapore that I can raise funds for.  I just got to make a swift decision on which cause I will be supporting.  I guess I got to do it fast as time is not exactly in my favour.

Shall update more.

Cheers,

PJ