I have always believed that the best part of any adventure is the part taken to get to the start of it. You have all the wonderful preconceived ideas that everything is going to work out exactly as you planned it, that the equipment bought is going to be fit for purpose and the months of training put in place will give one the flight of foot that even Achilles would be proud of.

mmm... After 11,000 miles of air travel in the back seat of a South American airliner flown by a couple of good old boys who take off and land before their pay cheques devalue

Sunday 5th August 2007 and we are two weeks away from the start of another great adventure. Having been on the Gobi March - 2006, I can assure those who are having doubts about the Atacama Crossing that there
is absolutely nothing to worry about ... bar the distance and that is the same for all of us. The logistics, route marking and organization is simply splendid - you couldn't get lost even if you wanted to.

Talking about getting lost ... I was going for my last long run yesterday on a route in Singapore that I have been using for years - The total distance is about 35km and seemed the perfect route to take so as to test my finally packed bag. You can imagine my plight when I got to within 10km of my home only to find a rather large gate erected in the
middle of the road.





Now Singapore is a fine city and the rules here should on the whole not be broken ... but the prospect of having to run back 25km or gamble and run literal gauntlet was something I needed consider. The threat of being shot, imprisoned, punished, fined and canned in no particular order two weeks before the start of the Atacama Crossing was to much !! ... and I begrudgingly went home the long way.

Tips ... I am almost all out of them and having read everyone else's blogs I think there is already enough info out there bar these:

- Wash all fabric equipment including your back pack: Not for the smell
but rather so that it run in a little more and wont chafe you more than
necessary.
- Travel light: warmth and food is key. My pack is about 10.5 kg excl
water so obviously I don't heed my own advise.
- Start to slow down your training: The work / training mileage should
have been done / reached already.
- Practice getting a sense of humor - it will help from the minute you
leave home.

So as to finish this running blog with a round up of my training mileage
year to date:

- Week from 24 June: 80km - Pack weight at average 9kg
- Week from 01 July: 70km - Pack weight at average 9kg
- Week from 08 July: 63km - Pack weight at average 9kg
- Week from 15 July: 57km - Pack weight at average 9kg
- Week from 22 July: 73km - Pack weight at average 9kg
- Week from 29 July: 82km - Pack weight at average 9kg
- Week from 05 Aug: Estimated 30km - no pack.
- Week from 12 Aug: estimated 15km - no pack.
- Week from 19 Aug: 250km - Pack starting weight 10.5kg

Look forward to meeting you in the Atacama !!

Alex Harkess.

Since my last entry I have been a little behind schedule on the
distances I had hoped to achieve in part due to a fall that I took
whilst trying to get my18lbs lethargic cat in to the back of the car for
a trip to the vet.

Greetings from Singapore,

Sincere apologies for the leave of absence from the blog spot for the
past seven weeks. From my own running perspective this has been a rather
stagnant period where I have been simply trotting around with my pack of
rice through the hot and humid vegetation of Singapore and (touch wood)
keeping out of injuries way. The running log reads a rather unimpressive ...

- Week frm 04th Mar - 45km - Pack weight at 10kg
- Week frm 11th Mar - 40km - ""
- Week frm 18th Mar - 40km - ""
- Week frm 25th Mar - 40km - ""
- Week frm 01st Apr - 45km - ""
- Week frm 08th Apr - 45km - ""
- Week frm 15th Apr - 45km - ""

Yawn Yawn - Well its now time to pack in the training with less than 120
days to go - I have rushed out and brought a new MP3 player, some boom
boom music and a box of Energy Beans

As the monsoon season draws to an end here in Singapore, so the afternoon heat temperature rises today at 35'C. I am starting to make time to venture out for some longer runs in the afternoon which whilst uncomfortable are great for training and in part gives one a respect of what to expect in the desert. This training tactic served me well in the Gobi 2006.

To actively want to return to the U.K. at this time of the year would too many be deemed daft if not bordering on the insane. My travels took me from my current habitat to far away North Eastern Scotland. Surviving the flight was horrible and there were times when I momentarily imagined what Icarus was thinking after his own take off "Will it hold

Since starting this training blog four weeks ago and having covered the race distance of 250km

If there was ever a short blog entry this would be it! Most of this past weeks training bar the 75km goal went out the window. Excuses excuses