HI all finish the long day 6km down only 8kms to go tomorrow.

It was a very long and hard day almost taking 24hrs,

Feet are absolutely trashed but get a little holiday with the girls very soon.

It is an amazing event and really asks you some questions about yourself.

I cant tell everyone exactly how uplifting it is to get everyones mail and comments.

When I get home I will give a full update on the race, as I am limited on time now.

Heaps of smiles for these wonderful children.

Finish line in sight, we all stink, we are all tired but everyone happy now that it so close.

It will be a slow hobble to the finish line, but I made it.

Love you all and miss my girls, will call you after the finish if I finish early enough.

Thanks again to everyone. Pictures and updates to come.

My 2 friends will also make to the finish.

See you all later.

• Day 3 done and dusted
• another long day but made it to the end
• actually feeling very good and about to have some dinner and go to bed.
• Havent got access to read all you messages today but thanks in advance.
• It was a struggle but picked up a person who wanted to quit, so that gave my day some purpose.
• missing my girls
• one more day to get through tomorrow and then take it from there.
• Love you all and when I get more time will give a full description rather than just BRUTAL!

• Hi all, day 2 done. Amazing day, started with a quick 3km dash to the river which we followed for 8km to the first checkpoint.
• Hitting 3hrs at the first checkpoint type of set the scene for the rest of the day. Long and slow!

· Day one complete.

· Started with a nice and gentle 9km which seemed to fly by.

· The second 10km was a little more difficult as it was run on lose gravel and larger stones, a bit different from the nice soft sand I had been running on in Abu Dhabi.

· Still was “enjoying” myself at that stage, but the feet were taking a punishment on the rough uneven surface.

· After the second checkpoint it was another 5km of the same, then it all started, 8km of continuous climb, no shade and no cooling breeze.

· The “race pace” quickly dropped from 7.5km per hour to 4km per hour, there was times when I was having serious discussions with myself of exactly why and what I was doing here. Go Daddy Go, ringing in my ears kept the feet moving, if only just!

· Then finally came over one more rise to see the next checkpoint, only 4km to go, pain forgotten I even starting running again on the last stretch. Missed my target of 6 hours, but I blame that on the extra weight that I carried after picking up a rock for Dee, didn’t want my wife I was playing favourites between my two girls.

· So I have had my first visit to the medical tent to get some heel blisters taped up, the blisters compliments of the different surface running on, as the is a big difference from running on soft sand and large stones.

· So 4 smiles ticked off today, All good other than the blisters.

· Tomorrow shall be the new experience, starting with saw legs, shoulders, - well basically there is not much that doesn’t hurt right now.

· Love to Dee and Kassie, Thanks to all for the support and wishes.

• Hi all
• At camp one, 14hrs to race start. Alot of nervous people, about to try my first freeze dried meal
• Hoping to get a good night sleep before the 36km leg tomorrow, which they rate as difficult. Had a look through the stages and nowhere is one classed as easy, but it does go to extremely difficult.
• Found 2 pictures of Kassie and Dee on my race camera, so girls you are with me all the way.
• Picked up a little rock that I will carry with me all the way for Kassie, Dee I hope you understand that I can only carry so much.
• Rather cool up here at 3123m above sea level so looking just to go to bed and rest.
• Very happy that I bought the sleeping mat now after finding miny boulders under my sleeping position.
• 10 of us in the tent with 6 of us doing our first.
• Next post will be after stage 1, thank you everyone for your support.
• Bring on the SMILES!
• Love and Miss both my girls.

• Well Tomorrow morning the briefing and gear check in is on.
• After spending three days here in San Pedro Atacama some little things had managed to sneak their way into my pack - "I just might need this" was the justification.
• After a sightseeing trip up to 4300m above sea level, all these items were promptly removed on returning. It is soooo much harder doing every thing up there.
• So after the breifing and gear check in a nice leisurely lunch before jumping on a bus and going another 1hr30min further in to remoteness, as if we weren't far enough removed already.
• Still trying to decide exactly how to approach this. It is usually cool till about midday so thinking of going as hard as I can for as long as I can to get as many miles under the belt before it gets too hot. But then all you do is sit around camp for the rest of the day with nothing to do! So maybe just take it easy and enjoy the sights? But then you end up out on the course and that afternoon sun is quite fierce.
  
• Almost forgot - you know when someone says salt flats, what comes to mind? I had thought of those nice FLATS that they try and set land speed records on - really flat no bumps etc etc. Well today I got a glimpse of what they are really like. Picture a freshly ploughed field but instead of mounds of dirt you have hard as concrete crystalised salt jumping out of the ground between 12-18 inches! It is like trying to run on a bed of coral, so I don't know where they get the FLAT part from.
• Anyway my next post will be after day 1. Thank you everyone that has sponsored me, supported me and wishing me luck.
• A huge hug and kiss to my two beautiful girls back home, love and miss you both

Well the pack is packed and everything else in place so it is almost time to start the 40hr journey to get to the starting line. Thank you everyone for your support and wishes. Operation Smile sponsorship going well, needing $30usd per kilometre over the 1000 kms of the 4 desert races I have enough sponsorship for 370km so far. This means 37 children and their families lives changed forever. The water stations are spaced about 10km apart on the courses, that way I know every time I get to refill the water supply I will be earning another smile for another child. I (or Dee) will keep you posted on my progress through this first race. Thanks Ponti Link for sponsorship/donations http://support.operationsmile.org/site/TR?pxfid=19460&pg=fund&fr_id=1030

Well here we are, almost at the staring line. It has been a steep learning curve to get here. I think I have done enough training to get me to the start line and only time will tell if it is enough to get me to the finish line. Special thanks to my beautiful wife who has create time for me to go for my little 2-3 hour runs. Thank you everyone who has donated to help reach my goal of 100 smiles for the Operation Smile team. Today I will find out my final "pack weight" as I will be loading everything up, hopefully I have managed to keep it under 8kg (without water). Otherwise I will have to go back and cull even more things from the pack. My luxury items are a toothbrush and a camera! But I suppose you could call my sleeping mat a luxury item so it may stay at home yet.... Many amusing stories to tell from training, which I shall put together when this race is finished. As long as nothing goes terribly wrong, it looks like I shall be signing up for the other 3 races........ There was a question about mental illness on the medical check form..... maybe I need to revisit the form..... Will try and make some sense of my posts on here during the event - but can't guarantee anything! By for now Ponti. This is the best place to leave messages for me or you can email me via the 4 deserts website. Dee will also copy and paste my posts here to facebook.