We have just posted a race report with 150 photos of this great Atacama Crossing 2012.

Valley of Death and San Pedro de Atacama (© P. Gatta)

In the desert of Atacama (© P. Gatta)

Finish line of the Atacama Crossing (© P. Gatta)

Today we ran all the 7km seperating our last camp to San Pedro village = the arrival of the race. I notice that our blog after the long stage never got up so I will tell you the dreadful story... :-) The long stage - 74km I was pretty fine in the morning so Philippe and I started running the first 20km in around 8km/h with small walks in between to feed and drink. I knew I had to profit from the "cool" morning since I would be unable to run in the afternoon heat. The most difficult part in this stage was between check-point 3 and 4, 13km, where we entered a huge salt flat, shiny white, during the hottest hours... Half way in we saw the black sand dune we knew we would have to climb before reaching check-point 4. It was far away and I needed to lack water already since I had to wet my clothes and head to not over heat... Philippe kept me on track minimizing his intake to save some for me if needed. The climb up the sand dune cant have been more than 50m but was tough. Then another 2km before the water refill. Next part was again 13km and the heat was painful for me. I kept on forcing myself to eat the salt mix of chips, biscuits and nuts and drink electrolytes and water. We took salt pills every 1.5 hours. It was slow. I was slow. I walked on the shadow of my husband to escape the worst sun rays... I started to feel pretty scared and wanted to move faster than the 5-6km/h but my blisters gave me hell and as soon as I started to move faster I over heated... We finally arrived to next check-point and we just stayed 5min. to stretch and refill. The last 20km took forever and we were lucky to get some clouds and a hard wind in the back to push us forward. In general I just fixed my eyes on my husbands feet and took one step in the time. My body and feet ached more than ever before but I went in to a strange mental state and went on like a robot. After around 11 hours of course we entered the Moon Valley with its sand dune and vertical cliffs. The sky was menacing and lightening flashed not far from us. A few people were in front of us an yet some others just behind. Sky lightening up and my iPod playing. Philippe kept telling me how many kilometers that rested to encourge me. We came in to camp just after dark and a little more than 12h of running/walking. I had people congratulating me and I felt my tears falling. But I felt empty. Drained. I spent 45min taking care of my feet while Philippe (who's feet where perfect) made some recovery drinks for us and prepared the dinner. The rain started to fall and soon we had the news that eventually we would have to abandon the camp (tent poles attracts the lightening) and walk further away. All I wanted was to sleep... Luckily we never had to evacuate but many participants were stopped and driven to camp to avoid the storm and lightening. Waking up next morning I felt - damn proud and could easie take in what I had accomplished. To be able to do this I needed thorough training and meticiolous planning of protein, electrolytes, suger and water intake. This was possible thanks to Philippe that gave me a specific training agenda and his experience in these races to prepare me mentally. Because this race is 30% physical and 70% mental if you ask me. Get prepared to ache, be bored on never ending stretches, strong sun... And the reward was to run hand in hand into San Pedro today with Philippe that made this race for me, in my pace. Assisting and supporting. Thank you. Je t'aime.

Done. The long stage was...long. But first I would like to add that as a moral booster we had the camp between 2 lagoon wholes and we could all swim and makeb sure we felt good before the long stage the day after!

 

What can I say about the long stage? We ran slowly the first 20km with short walks in between to feed and drink much. All flat on roads. Then we entered the salt flats that for the first time during the race was really white = HOT. We had around 13km to do before reaching the next check point including climbing up a high sand dune. We were short of water and I kind of panicked q little, but Philippe was a great support and we ended up just about in time to refill. The next part was again 13km in the worst afternoon heat, and I found a trick to stay less hot - walk in the shadow of Philippe! It actually helped! Then we had dirt tracks again for the last 20km and I was incapable of running. That's when it becomes long... Philippe took loads of photos!! ;-)

 

We got closer to the camp, traversing the Moon Valley with its sand dune and vertical cliffs with a huge thunderstorm just a few km away. The lighteneing was far too close but at the same time impressive in this scenery. We entered the camp after 12 hours, just before the rain swept over. The organizer was really worried that the lightenenig was so close and we had to stay alert to leave the camp due to all metall bars in the tents. EXACTLY what you feel like after 12 hours of race...But all went ok eventhough they took the decision to stop the last runners to run into the Moon Valley. They finished their km today while we had a rest.

 

Tomorrow we have 11km to run to San Pedro where we have pizza razzia!!

 

Must say that this race has been very hard and I am proud to be a finisher. Also - thanks to Philippe that trained me, assisted me and supported me the whole way through. I wouldn't have done it alone.

 

*Anna

 

Well, we are almost done, just 11km away from a shower, the first one in a week if we don't count the storm. 11km away from proper food and drink after a week of dried food, bars and chips. For many this race is the hardest of the 4 deserts and the Marathon des Sables. I don't know but it is for sure a very tough one, taking place in a beautiful landscape and sharing that with Anna was a very intense experience.

We have one more day to wait and we will be in San Pedro, even if we are tired we can't sleep and the heat in the tent is hard to stand. So it is time to start thinking about the next challenge...

 

Philippe.

Yesterday it was traffic jam in the cyber tent so could not update the blog. But here we go:

 

Yesterday was hell. We started with 4km in a messy salt flat and the feet rolled around and the trail was difficult... Needless to say that I suffered from all my blisters on that surface. We walked it all. Later we had a dirt road and could gain some time. We want to gain time, not due to the ranking but to esacpe the heat that is hardly bearable after 13:00! Then some more salt flats and I couldnt take it any more... I walked just behind Philippe, who tried to find the best feet placements with tears falling down my chins. What do I do here? Some reward though after approaching the camp where we passed a beautiful oasis and huge sand dunes. Camp was great and a doktor took care of my feet. We had no extra time but prepare our dried food meals, clean up a little and prepare the next day - and go to sleep on the floor in the tent with 5 germans and 2 french.

 

Today was - HELL. Bigger than yesterday. For me, no fun. We had 2 straight lines to do and mentally that monotone style kills me. In the salar we had 13 straight km to do in the heat between 13-15:00 on crusty salt flats or half hard mud floor... Painful and horrible. Philippe was all fine and kept spitting (yes) water in my neck or on my hat to keep me cool. He filmed and photographed a lot and appreciated the day of 39km.

 

After today I start thinking that the long stage of 73km tomorrow will not work for me. Staying in the heat for yet another 4 hours (it is hot until 19:00) might be beyond my capacity. And then I will pull out. No hesitation. I will pray for some clouds tomorrow to help me finish.

 

Philippe is preparing our late lunch (16:00) so he says all is good ;-) He takes care of me and we run together the whole time.

 

Thanks for all cheering ons and for the finnish sisu shipment, received Mervi!

Firstly, thanks for all comments and engouragements, but the swedish ones are unreadable, please write in english ;-)

 

Today we had a FANTASTIC day of 35km. After yesterday's heat ad the hot winds at camp I started wondering what I do here. I got the answer today. We started with traversing a river multiple times in a beautiful gorges to later run above the Dead Valley with brown cliffs and a green oasis at the valley bottom. Then we entered the new extreme sport of sand-dune-racing-downhill! That made my day and helped me through the warmer parts of the salt flats in the end of the day finishing next to the lagoon Cejar. Wow...

 

Blisters hurt but that was just for a while when running. I have bigger and more evil blisters now and I regret not bringing my flip-flops... Generally feeling great!

 

*Anna

 

well she said it all, this stage was amazing and constantly changing. i hope we will have more like this in the coming days. That said crossing the river multiple times at the begining of the stage and running in the sands was not too good for the feet. i still don't have any blisters but it tough for Anna. we spent probably 30minutes to pop them all. i am also having fun with the camera; i took already 240 photos in 2 stages and lot of film too, running around Anna like a fly. :-)

Tomorrow will be longer and tougher, more crusty salt flat and rough terrain. stay tuned...

 

Philippe.

So, first experience and impression is:

-          Rain storm first evening at camp 1

-          33km in fantastic scenery

-          Wind storm at camp 2 where we had to hold the tent to not loose it all!

 

The weather has been very chaotic and the last hour during the race was very warm. We ran pretty much during the 4:40 hours and Anna ended up with 4 blisters and Philippe (who had the role as photographer) is ridiculous fine. Tomorrow will be a tough day with 42km and hot weather and rough trail for the first 20km to finish in the Salar of Atacama.

 

Thanks for all the cheering ons!! We read the email late but receive them all. And remember, no news are good news – the internet tent is popular and our prio is to feed and rest ;-)

*Anna

 

So far so good, Anna did pretty well for this first day. As she said the conditions have been rough, not to mention that we are above 3000m. also as always on this kind of race, it is not finish when we pass the finish line because we have to take care of the blisters, cook, eat, etc. with the strong wind we had today, this has been an interesting experience too. ;-)

It is 6pm, the last one just arrived, after 10 hours on the trail, respect ! now we finish our diner and go to bed, hoping that the weather will give us a break.

 

Philippe.

All is packed, prepared and verified. In a few hours we'll take the bus to the camp 1 where we'll meet our tent mates, have a dried food dinner and go to bed early, still smelling good. That will change tomorrow. The stage is 33km (already shortened with 2km) and we might have rain and thunder, meaning the stage can be modified at any time. We just have to go with the flow!

Sand storms, tiramisu and test runs in the hot sun. That's our last days in San Pedro de Atacama. Filled up with additional calories (tiramisu and brownie) we visited the salt flats of Atacama and ended up with a spectacular view of a large, red wall approching us - a sand storm. On the sides of the wall - all volcanoes with snow and flamingos in the lagoon.

Philippe and I have now been in San Pedro de Atacama (2400m altitude) for 2 days. Yesterday we went jogging in the morning and were happily surprised how relatively fresh the mornings are. That changed of course around 11am... Next up was re-packing all food in small plastic bags, one per day. Our decision is to use a 40L pack to fit all material inside the pack, whereas many seem to opt for much smaller packs with stuff dangeling outside. The evening was spent on a guided tour in the Moon Valley and the Death Valley with magnificant sunset on the volcanoes including Lincancabur. Today is restday with me trying to stay some in the sun to get the first suntan to hopefully not burn my swedish skin too much during the race. I am still hestitating on using shorts or 3/4 tights (as sun protection)... Tonight we go to the Atacama Salt Flat for yet some spectacular views!

Last weekend Anna and I ran 20 km with 10 kg pack as the last “long” training before the Atacama Crossing race in Chile. This week and next will be much lighter with one last interval training and a few more jogging, still with 10 kg weight.

When the race will start on March 4th, I will have run total of 1,000 km and 30,000 meters of elevation gain since I started the specific training for this race in November. Except a tendinitis on the left foot, I feel rather well and long to start the race. Anna will reach a total of 750 km in 4 months which is probably her new record.