Hi Everyoneo,

Thanks again for all of the encouragement. You have no idea how much it helps. :)

I think stage 5 was about 74km.

I started off on a good note.  I ran 1.5 hours non-stop then did 9 minutes running and 1 minute walking until the dirt track ended after about 23km.  We got to a sandy track and crossed two small creeks just enough to get wet feet. Down the track I was walking one flag and running 2 and this went well until the next checkpoint.  After the checkpoint it got really interesting. We crossed another salt plain and stumbled over salt humps for a few km. My jaw dropped when we got near a huge sand dune and saw that the people walking up it were just little specks.  It had to be the height of a 25 story building.  Luckily the  sand was firm so I just zig-zagged my way up and that took ten minutes.  By now it was noon and hot and I was really out of breath when I got to the top. Once over the top the landscape was surreal. It was like I was on another planet.  I took some pictures and slowly descended then cam to the edge and saw the checkpoint far below.  Coming down the side was tricky because it was steep and slippery.  At the checkpoint I took on extra water so I left with 2.5L because it was 14km to the next one and the hottest part of the day.  I had gone about 40km by now.  After the checkpoint there was a slight downhill so I started running 2 flags and walking one.  The route to the next checkpoint followed a dry riverbed and it went on and on and on.  I started to get really sore feet especially my right foot when it felt like the skin had peeled off the ball of my foot and a few toes.  I walked the rest of the way to next next checkpoint and the doctor helped me fix a few nasty blisters enough for the remaining 19km. I walked most of the last 2 legs (19km). Either it was a steep uphill or the powerful winds were against me. By now my feet could feel every little stone on the road.With about 12km to go we went by a minefield left over from a previous regime and I did my best to stay on the safe side of the signs.   In the last 10km one of my tentmates caught up to me and we power-walked until we met another tentmate and the three of us walked the rest and agreed to cross the line together.  We came in just after dark 12 hours and 15 minutes after the start.  In the last 10km we watched a thunderstorm develop and it had some wicked lightning.  Twenty minutes after arriving at camp the storm hit and it rained for a few hours.  The tents are not waterproof so they came around a put plastic over them.  About 50 people were still out on the course so they collected them all and they took them out this morning to finish.  In my walking parts yesterday I met some fantastic people (Japanese, a Swiss,a Kiwi and a Calgarian) and without them I wouldn't have been able to run short sections with them.

I had a crappy sleep (not much different than the other days).  This is our rest day for those who are already done the stage.  It was nice to sleep in.  I went in the shade behind the tent and checked my feet.  I worst part are the two blisters on the outside of each heel that are under thick skin. I have a few infected ones between my toes.  I have a few more on the balls of my feet and I don't think any toe was left undamged. 

Tomorrow we have a short run of only 8-9 km ito the finish line in the town square of San Pedro de Atacama and pizza and beer after.

I have no idea where I am in the standings. After stage 4 all I wanted to do was finish.  There are some amazing runners here who are much more capable than myself.

I've taken over 600 pictures since this trip began. I have a bit of video too.

For the rest of the day I'm going to relax.  After the last 5 days I'm exhausted. It's a nice day here (current time is noon) .  We are in a place called Valley of the Moon just outside San Pedro.
 

Cindy:  I got a pic of the spider.  It's the most photographed spider in the Atacama.

This stage was dedicated to Carol, my long-lost 3rd cousin once removed, who has been my biggest supporter on this adventure from the very start.  Thanks Carol!

Today's thought: "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone."  Neale Donald Walsch

Bye for now. I'm only a few km away from getting a 2nd desert medal.  It will be sweet.

Steve

Hi Everyone,

Thanks again for all the emails and blog comments.

Today was a tough stage mentally and physically.  The first 10km was over sand dunes and up hill for a long time on big hunks of shale rock followed by a descent into a small canyon and then a climb on hands and knees up the other side.  You need to be part mountain goat in this race. Then we came one of the prettiest canyons so far.  The sides were vertical and the floor was lush green.  We followed the edge down to a small town to the 1st checkpoint.  At  the checkpoint we had to leave with 2.5L of water because it was 14km to the next one.  It was ok for running but after a few km my hip started hurting and I could only walk. After a few hours I made it to the 2nd checkpoint  and then the fun began.  More water to carry. More salt flats. 18km of them. They are some nasty in places.  If you trip you will be cut to pieces in the salt.  It took me about 3.5 hours from that point to the camp. So of the 38km today I walked about 25 of them and came in after just over 7 hours.  That was good for 71st place today.  I'm disappointed but I don't think I could have moved any faster.  he The camp tonight is STILL on the salt flats.  We are camped between two huge sink holes that are about 50' wide and many people are swimming.  The sink holes are named Los Ojos de Salar which means eyes of the salt plain (or something like that!).   I finally saw a lizard today.  Each day we are gradually getting closer to sea level.  We are at 2,316m or 7,598'.

This race is tougher than Sahara by long shot.

My feet are a little worse each day.  I think it's because of the volume of walking over rough ground.  This afternoon I took my socks off and found almost all the skin is gone from my baby toe.  The doctor's exact words were "EEEEWWWWW" then she cut off the hanging sking and showed me how to fix the rest.  The doctors here are fantastic.

Last evening another storm blew by us and left us with a nice rainbow to see. 

Carol:  I'm not dawdling at the CP's!  I do my business then I'm outta there.  I only sat down in one today because I had three bottles to fill up and some salt pills to take before leaving.

Lynne:  It wasn't my tent.  I'm the only Canadian in there and I'm the tidy one.

Tomorrow is the big day.  It will be about 75-80k and I get to start off with new socks.  Hopefully I be back in time to send something but I won't be back until about 10pm at the earlist so I don't if the cybertent will be up at that time.  I'll try best.

Today's stage was dedicated to my supporters and running friends.

Quote of the day: "It's very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners.  Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants you to quit." George Sheehan

By everyone.  It's time for supper and to fix my blisters and get my equipment ready for tomorrow.   It's going to bea long grind.

Steve

Today was a brutal day. It took me about 7 hours to go 40km.

It was only runable for about 5k.  The first part was salt marsh and the gound was like a ploughed field.  Then there was a trail for about 5k followed by small sand dunes, then about 15k of ankle breaking salt flats (think ploughed field of huge salt crystals),then about 15 k of sahara-like desert (littered with rocks of all types).  In the last leg of 11km (took 2.5 hours) we climbed into  and out of 3 big canyons.  Even the final 200m to the finish line was brutal.  It was straight up a steep sandy hill.  Near the top I could barely put one foot in front of the other. I think I placed in the high 40's and was not far behind some others. There is a huge group of us all around the same ability so I'm not lonely like I was in sahara. We even did a river crossing today. This camp is a about 100m higher than the one we left this morning.  We are now at 2453m or 8048'. 

The damage:

The velcro is half off my left shoe thanks to the salty marsh we went thru.I think I can manage it with the sole strap holding it. I haven't been using the sole straps because they will just get cut to pieces on the rocks.  If that doesn't work then I hope today was the worst of the sand or i'll just have to suck it up.My feet are slowly getting worse.  The twisting side to side and back and forth from stumbling over uneven dirt, rocks and salt mounds is not doing them any good.  Running is a whole other foot motion and I don't get as blistered from it. My ankle is hurting a bit too.

The big excitement at camp last night was a huge spider that wandered up the main street.  Usually the tents are in a semi-circle but since we were on a road they were setup along the  edge of the road.  The spider had giant furry legs and it's abdomen was the size of my thumb.  I might reconsider my preference of sleeping by the door.

It's dark when I get up in the morning and while I'm waiting in the outhouse lineup I stare at the incredible night sky.  It is something to behold (the sky, not the outhouse).

One person from our tent is out of the race.  She missed the cutoff at the last checkpoint yesterday.  The other 8 are still healthy but a little tired.

Hank:  We are living in the lap of luxury out here.  We have 3 porta-potties!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.  I think it's because the ground is so hard to dig pits.

Doug:   I like my Harry's hat!

Gavin:  Yes it is a tough field.  There are many right around me.  I struggle just to maintain my spot.

Today's stage was dedicated to my children - Thomas & Rachel.  I love you both.

Today's quote: "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from a safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."  - Mark Twain

I'm going to check my feet and have supper.  I'll be back tomorrow.

-Steve

Hi Everyone! 

I survived another stage. Yay!   Four more stages and only about 180 km to go.

Thank you so much for all the blog comments and emails.  I look forward to the afternoon when the cybertent opens to see what is new.  They really inspire me so keep them coming. I need to allow each of you to buy me a beer when I get back :)

 As I type this blog (2:30pm) the beautiful Andes mountains are on my left and a huge salt water marsh/lake is on my left.  It's hot in the sun but nice in the shade.  A beer would be nice right now.  Tthe cybertent always has music going too.

Yesterday afternoon we had fierce winds that came up in a few minutes and we had to hang on to our tents/shlters to keep them from blowing away.   The sky was black beside us and luckly a huge storm skirted by us.

I had a few more blisters yesterday than I thought.  I patched them up and they don't look much worse today.  I'm trying to dry my feet out after the many river crossings.

So today.......

I finished in 39th (i think) after doing about 33k in 5 hours. The course was shortened a bit due to flooding in some canyons. There is a huge crowd about a km in front of me and I can never catch them. My heart rate starts to redline so I back off.  Today's first few legs were spectacular. Rocks rocks rocks climbing climbing and rivers rivers were the words for the first half. We ran along a canyon crossing the river many times.  Sometimes we could just hop across on the rocks but a few other times we were knee deep in very fast flowing brown water (dangers lurk beneath) so we had it take it slow.  Later in the stage we were almost waist deep in a river.  After the canyons we climb out onto a plateau that seemed like it was hundreds of metres about the floor but we were rewarded with wonderful views of the valley below.  After going along the ridge for a while we came to a huge sand dune so it was over the edge we went and we gleefully ran down (seemed like a few hundred metres) and then entered a dry canyon and then I realized it was the same canyon I walked up on Thursday.  This took us down to the main road that goes into San Pedro.  After crossing the road it really started to get monotonous.  We ran along the dry open creek forever, through a muddy salt marsh for 5km and then along this dead flat road for another 5k to the finish.  About 2km from the finish I met a american (steve) and an south african (mike) and we did 1 and 1's to get close to the finish then it was a mad sprint (8-9min/km :) giving it all I had ...which wasn't much ) to the finish. We were passing those rocks like they were standing still.

The good news is that I'm always the 2nd person back in the tent so I get my choice spot (near the door).  The #1 guy in our tent in the Strathern son who is doing great.  Yesterday he was 6th and today he was 7th.

Hank:  Megan Stewart is my Atacama wife.  People think we are married and we don't doing anything correct them. Yesterday when she came through the finish I said "Oh there's my wife.  She's finally done" and ran over and gave her a hug.  Alina was looking very confused at  this point. She is in my tent but she sleeps on the opposite side.  I have trouble reading my blog comments and emails because her's are mixed in with mine. BTW,  Alina was asking about you. Don't worry I said only good things. 

I'm still wearing the same shirt/shorts and will wear them all week.  I'm changing my socks tonight after 3 days.  My current ones are quite brown from the river crossings.  My gaiters worked well today. They are a nice shade of brown now from the mud and brown water.  I should have worn them yesterday.  A sleeping mat is nice to have here unless you enjoy sleeping on a gravel road each night.  The one I have is like an accordian so I can lay it flat or fold it to make a little seat. I's made a good choice getting that one.  Some asians in our tent have nothing and one uses a water bottle as a pillow (so we get to hear crinkling pastic all night long).

I think I'm gradually getting used to the elevation.  I think it helps that the course drops a few hundred meters each day.

Today's stage is dedicated to my mother Patricia , my father David, my brother Mike and my twin sister Shari.

Today's thought: "The task ahead of you is never greater than the strength within you"

Bye for now everyone.  I think about all of you. Now get back to work!

Steve

.At the check in yesterday my pack weighed in at 21 lbs (without water) compared to about 23 lbs at the Sahara Race.  We then drove 1.5 hours to the fist camp.  As soon as we got to camp there was a thunderstorm for a few hours and the rain came right through the tent. They put plastic on the tents but it flapped in the high wind all night. It stopped then started agin at midnight and there's been none since

rocks rocks rocks rocks rocks darn rocks.  Elevation elevation elevation elevation darn elevation.  I've seen enough rocks to last a lifetime.

Yay!!!!!!!!!

 I finished stage 1 in a time of 4:12 which was good for 42nd place(I think).  My 42nd position is a bit disappointing though.  I came through the 1st checkpoint in about 35th and went downhill from there.  The rocks are something to fear here.  My left ankle is sore and I rolled my right ankle nand had to stop for a few minutes before continuing.  The elevation is not being nice to me.  We started this morning at 10,500'  and I just could not keep up the pace.  I was running slow but it felt like I was running a 10k race. We didn't cross any rivers.  So far my feet are doing OK.  I'll wear my gaitors  tomorrow because ther is supposed to be more sand tomorrow.

The scenery is absolutley stunning.  We ran through some dry river canyons and over lots of ground that was strewn with many rocks of all sizes. There is not very much sand so far.  It reached the high 20's today and this morning it was about 5.  Tomorrow the distance will be about 42km and some of the legs will be difficult. Today's stage was about 32k and all legs were 'moderate' so it will be much harder tomorrow. The description for tomorrow is 'slot canyons'.

Today's stage was dedicated to Hank who got me to Sahara Race and supported me so well on this one.

Today's quote: "Only those who risk going to far can possibly find out how far one can go" TS Eliot.

Bye for now,

Steve

Hi Everyone,

In 10 short hours I depart from Toronto for San Pedro de Atacama via Miami, Santiago & Calama and it’ll be the longest trip of my life.  I’m all packed and have only a few minor things to do in the morning prior to the 15 minute drive to YYZ. Hopefully my gear and I make it to San Pedro Wednesday evening as planned.   I’ll breathe a giant sigh of relief when I flop on my hotel bed (if it hasn’t floated away in the past week).

It has been an adventure just getting this far.  Months of training, learning, researching food & kit, sourcing kit, menu planning, buying food, packing, re-packing, re-packing, re-packing, and some new last minute requirements due to recent rain all added to the fun.  Participating in the Sahara Race last October helped a lot in terms of what to bring and what to eat.  I just hope I haven’t forgotten anything and if I did I hope I can source it locally.

I wouldn’t have gotten this far without the support of a network of friends in all areas of my life.  They include friends at work, running friends (near & far), friends in the army, my parents, and my family.  Thanks to all of you!  I hope I can provide you with some entertainment for a week.

My next blog will probably after I’m done Stage 1 on March 4^th.

“Nobody is going to finish this damn thing for me, but me” – unknown

“Too much knowledge can hold you back.  Ignorance on the other hand,  now that is something that can get you to the finish line.” – Mark Will-Weber

“Do not fear to step into the unknown for where there is risk, there is also reward.”

Bring it on! The sore feet, the rocks, the sand, rivers and the high altitude. J

Hi Everyone,

With only about 28 days until I depart for San Pedro things are coming together.  With a quick trip to the grocery store for a few small items my food will be complete except for some beef jerky I will try to find in Chile. I cloned (saved me hours of work) my menu from Sahara, lightened up the calories down to the minimum and replaced some of the sweet stuff with salty stuff. I love peanut butter so I saved some 20g (120 calories) pouches from my army rations and they are going to be savoured each day.  I have all of my other kit and thanks to Sahara Race 2011 all of my sewing is already done (more hours saved).  The mandatory forms have been sent and I even have a few hundred thousand Chilean pesos on order from the bank.  I would like to tell you that I have been running 100km weeks with my pack but that has not been the case.  I had to take a 3 week break from my training due to a pulled groin muscle that happened on our slippery sidewalks around New Years.  On Saturday I did about 25km with a 20 lb pack followed by an 8km road race on Sunday.  My groin feels good so I’m going to crank up the distance a little bit to get some more training in. I would like to get a 30km run in this weekend. There isn’t much time left and I would rather show up under trained than injured so I’ll need to be careful.  The roads and sidewalks around here have been frightful due to alternating rain and snow.  Sahara was much nicer to train for!

I’m really looking forward to this great adventure.  If it’s only half the fun of Sahara then it will still be great.   This time last year I had no intention of doing any ultras so to be doing two 250km races on two continents I never thought I would ever visit is amazing.

I hope everyone shows up in San Pedro at the peak of health and fitness.

Only 100 days and so much to do!  I went for my first run with my pack last weekend and it went well.  I must still have some fitness after doing the Sahara Race in October.  I won't get out this weekend and it's too bad because there is some great weather (for this time of year) in southern Ontario.

I had such a great time in the Sahara Race that I owed it to myself to do another one.

I'm really looking forward to traveling to South America in March.

Is anyone planning to arrive a few days early?  How are you going to adjust to the elevation?

-Steve