Very long day today through the salt flats. 45k of endless sun without shade. The salt flats are brutal. The constant glare of the sun reflecting on the white ground. Im so glad tomorrow is the last day but im also dreading 73k in this heat. Wish me luck tomorrow. Love to my family, miss you all dearly. Hano I got all your emails thanks for keeping me posted thoughts are always with you. One more hard day to go.. Im too tired to write more as I have to refuel, recover, and get myself to bed. Blisters were under control today apart from one on my heel. My big toes are just bruised now.cause I need as much sleep as I Id better et myself ready to bed because I need as much sleeps as I can get. Until tomorrow.

Last night was pretty hard to get to sleep, not because of the rocks (i have a good air mattress) i guess new surroundings. It got quite cold at night too. We woke up early in the morning, around 5am. Made our breakfast and coffee and ate nice and early. I was a bit nervous at the start because this is my first multi stage race. The environment is very tough. Unlike anything I have ever run on. We started at an altitude of 3300m above sea level which was a little bit tougher when one is trying to run. Everybody set off at a blistering pace, by checkpoint one after a very fast 9k we were siting in 25th place. I got a bit excited I think trying not to lose position. I conked out on this monotonous plateau which was just endless. Running speed at first half of the race was great, we were in a rhythm but I think me going too fast too early started to hit me. That combined with a 9. something kilogram pack and an annoying front pouch that kept hitting me in the stomach. I also got a nasty blister on my big toe which was quite irritating for much of the stage. It is very hard running here and the terrain is just relentless at times. After checkpoing 3 there wasa really a really long climb that went on for km after km. One thing i have noticed here with regards to myself, the km take so much longer. Im currently eat, rehydrating and hoping my blister wont get any worse. Im going into tomorrow with the attitude of going easier and sustating my pace for longer. It is definitely much tougher than it looks i can tell you. WIsh me luck tomorrow and thankyou for my emails. Thanks and much love to H for your continuing support.

Arrived at Camp one at the Rio Grande. It’s a beautiful setting and everything is going to plan so far. Yousef and I are both well, and we are excited to start stage 1 tomorrow morning. The camp is quite windy even though we are pretty much surrounded by walls of rock on all sides. The wind seems to come off from the higher mountains and funnels into this little valley. Its quite nice to have this cyber tent here we even have music on some loud speakers which does lift the atmosphere round here quite a bit. Thanks for the emails I read them just now and it does feel quite nice to hear from you guys, you know who you are. Thanks to my family and loved ones for the emails. It truly means a lot to me. I don’t have any interesting stories to write about today but I will be sure to send a detailed one after the first stage tomorrow. All I can say is the sun is brutal here because of the purity of the sky, the slight altitude, the UV radiation is just off the charts. I might switch into long sleeves and tights tomorrow. Apart from that I have eaten well, got plenty of food and water. Love to all. I will update the blog tomorrow. Thinking of you all back home.

Had a wonderful sight seeing day yesterday thanks to the Kunza Hotel excursion office. Rented a bike and went on a bumpy ride to laguna cejar which is a volcanic salt lagoon. The lagoon was about 18km according to my gps watch and it was just lovely to get out and push the pedal a bit. Upon reaching the lagoon (safety vehicle in tow) they set up tables, chairs and provided us with a picnic. I then proceeded to strip down and take a dip in the lagoon. The lagoon water was suprisingly cold and it was impossible to drown because of the amount of salt. A dog followed us into the lagoon and also swam with us. After some time washed off what i could and we rode back via the town centre to source some snacks. Overall it was a decent 40km crack on a bike which was thoroughly enjoyable. The scenery is breathtaking, literally. I even spotted a small tornado funnel that had touched down and was rising up a good 50meters. 

The afternoon was spent going on another tour to the salt flats to test our shoes and see for ourselves the myth of the dreaded coral like salt flats. They were sharp to touch, yet with some pressurre they crumble a bit. Navigating through them without losing focus will be priority. Its way to east to get your foot stuck and twist it or something.

Evenings at the Kunza hotel have been spent with their open fire at 9pm. Yousef and I sit there each night drinking tea, having some lovely food and just enjoying the atmosphere of being here.

Today we left the Kunza hotel and dropped our gear off at the hotel which RTP set aside for us. Its got wifi, so everything is ok :) We met up with some of our tent buddies from Tent 2, went out for lunch and most of the tent buddies are veterans of these RTP (and other) races. I on the other hand am a newbie but I listened attentively to their banter and stories. What a great bunch of lads and im glad I have such a talkative group. Im confident that camp life will be something to look forward to after a hard days running. All i have to think about is the running part now. Tonight will be spent finalising the pack even though i spent many days sorting my pack back home. Its crunch time now and no space for errors in packing.

Tomorrow we will go to the RTP base hotel where we will get our race id and mandatory checks of our gear. At around 3pm we will be driven to Stage 1 camp where we will spend the night and get ready for the race.

Best wishes to all the runners, and missing my friends and family already but im super excited, feeling fit, and most importantly im feeling relaxed.

Ciao

Beautiful morning here in San Pedro, decided we´d go and stretch the legs a bit and check out the town a little more. Such a classic town, very friendly locals. Talked to some runners from GBR in our hotel, good to start interacting with the competitors.

Not much to report on except the weather is great! lots of friendly dogs chilling out on the roadside. Really looking forward to doing the check in stuff, getting transported up to Stage 1 and getting on with the upcoming adventure race.

On Saturday Yousef Khourshid and myself began our monsterous 35 hour journey from Kuwait to San Pedro. We caught a flight to Dubai, waited a few hours then a 14 hour stretch to Sao Paulo on a very comfortable Emirates airline. In Sao Paulo, Brazil, we caught a flight to Santiago Chile, which was a further four hours wait and four hour flight. At Santiago we also changed and caught another flight to Calama which was a small 2 hour flight. Upon reaching Calama we instantly felt the cool air breeze at 7am. It was a glorious sunrise that morning. The first thing you notice about the region is its above 3000m (according to my altimeter) it felt about right too. I love anything with altitude because you can instantly feel the body getting to work to sort you out. A one hour drive through the Rio Grande you notice the spectacular scenery and the beautiful Volcanos lerking in the distance. The soil is a dark colour which is consistent with volcanic material. Yousef and I got out of the taxi to take a couple of pics, and the lack of sound was incredible. Imagine being inside a sound proof room, and all you hear is the loudness of silence. The altitude thing isnt much of a big deal which can be sorted within a couple of days of being here and drinking enough water. Ive read stories of Diamox and altitude chambers before coming here and I think that just putting more worry on people than necessary. One can climb an 5600m peak in 3 hours over here just by acclimatising for 2 days in san pedro, takin a car up to cerro tocco or something and go for a quick hike up tp the summit and "Bobs your uncle". Incredible place it is around here. A place of extremes. I would like to climb one of the peaks as climbing is a big hobby of mine, however, I am here to run an adventure race and therfore I will probably not do anything spectacular before the race begins. A nice trip to a local plateau over here can take one to 4000m which is more than enough to deal with Stage 1 of the race. 

We checked out San Pedro, lots of nice places to eat. The locals are so friendly. Alot of mountain bikes and horses. The rest of our time is spent relaxing, chit chatting, eating. Yousef and I are totally relaxed and not too bothered about anything except for this reward rest time that we had both earned from all the training we had put our bodies through in preparation for this. To top it all off, I havent really suffered from any jet lag at all, and my body is as normal as it is in Kuwait. Actually id say the food and air is cleaner here which is very comfortable.

There are 5 days to go until the race begins, and I can tell you that we are going to spend the next few days conserving energy, relaxing and not having a single stressful thought. We cam here to enjoy the race, meet lots of great people, experience this beautiful country and make friends along the way. Good luck to all and have a safe trip over here. Looking forward to seeing more competitors. 

Its been just over 3 weeks since my previous post. Things have been going pretty smooth, a consistent stream of equipment has been flying in to my mailbox. Food sorted, clothing sorted,pack sorted, packing still sorting. Training; just finished a decent mileage week, a decent month in January and a solid gradual build up months before that, and one more week of daily back to back to back long runs approaching, cant wait for the tapering down phase.

Its nice to see the number of blogs increasing, I think that this endeavor is more than just a race. Im really looking forward to meeting, running and the post-run camp life with people from around the world sharing one thing in common for that week, and that is Running/Walking. We will all be suffering in some shape or form, some more than others. The thing that we all are searching for is that feeling of accomplishment having volunteered and paid to be literally dropped into a living hell. One of the most inhabatable places on this beautiful Earth, and not only will be we there, we will be running through it, living on spacefood, and carrying only what is neccessary to safely traverse this far away remote desert. I just cant wait to get out there now.

Wishing all my fellow competitors safe training as we wrap it all up and get ready to go.

Its been a short while since my previous post. Training is going to plan and and had some really solid runs this previous week. A 50k long run, followed by 20k, 25k back to back with no stiffness or soreness in the mornings at all which is encouraging. Have tested different packs and am torn between a 20l and a 40l and will most probably end up buying yet another pack either a 25l or a 30/32l!! have ordered all the food and fuel.

With 50 days to go I expect to up my daily runs to 30k back to backs with some intervals or fartleks thrown in once or twice a week. The long run will most likely range from 40 -60k depends mainly on my levels of boredom. Im running with an average weight of 9kgs these days. While im ok with the weight, its not unusual to pick up some grazes and soreness from the constant rubbing of the pack. Id have to say that nipple plasters are something of a necessity these days due to sweat and distance :)

Im running with my friend from Kuwait Yousef Khorshid and its nice to have someone with experience to run with at the Atacama Crossing. (Yousef has completed 9 ultramarathons and his last was the Gobi March in 2012). Yousef is a tough dude so its good to have someone with no nonsense direction.

I have been reading some of the other blogs and I really am looking forward to chatting with some of these remarkable people who have decided to throw themselves into Hell! It seems the Atacama is the toughest of the 4 Deserts series and its obvious why.

Wishing everyone healthy training!

First Post:

I have been running unprofessionally for about 18 months now, most of my running was to aid general fitness for mountaineering. However, after some decent results in regional competitions, running has become a huge factor in my day to day life. Ive been training longer and faster for quite a few months, even running through Kuwait's hellish summer heat. Been pushing it over the summer, and with some track work and much higher speeds i picked up some nasty bilateral shin splints. Took some time off, gained 5kgs and been back to training a month. The legs are fine and I make sure I dont over do it in training. My average mileage was ok first month back, ran about 75ks, then in december started upping the mileage and the frequency. Have run 113kms so far in December, with HM distance being something of an every other day run now, with some extra long runs in at the weekend to get used to time on feet. Gradually increasing mileage, less recovery days depending on lower legs. Also been testing out different kit and seeing what works and what doesnt.

Super excited about this event, main focus for the next few weeks is up the mileage, keep a steady pace, nothing exciting just steady and strong. Testing more kit and nutrition. Preparing the gear, ordering what needs to be ordered. I have also found reading the other blogs useful. Its nice to top up the daily focus for Atacama with knowledge. Reading and watching videos as much as possible in order to try to expect certain terrain elements, atmospheric and climatic elements to this adventure race.

I still havent decided what food to take, of course freeze dried and non perishable. . . nome indo me noodles sound nice to throw in here and there! sleeping bag has been almost decided but mattress is still a tricky one. .  I know i will need my rest and the best possible recovery conditions I can carry!

I shall be updating my webpage/blog soon too which can be found at www.runclimbrace.com.

Good luck to all!