A blog - long overdue!
 
Not entirely sure where to start on this - compressing the whole week in to one! It's fair to say that days 1-4 all sported the same dominant characteristic - gritty. I could have hung my hat on failure of the 78 km fifth stage - an opinion I would imagine you all sharing - but for some reason we all managed a relatively smoking performance! Ben and dragged each other through to come in just before the light faded in the evening and Hugo and George did an even more gritty performance against nasty joint pain and rolled in smiling ear to ear by torchlight afer midnight! The last finishers came in at 1pm today.....
 
Computers are being shut down, will try to get back on later....
 
Take care all x

Hello again!
 
And welcome to the final installment of my particularly short blog.
 
Food has just taken a serious turn for the good - cake and beer! I have now decided this race is a doddle. One beer.... an easy heart to win. Spaghetti Bolenese and Lasagne obviously sound like fantastic options which we would all take on meal after meal, but couple serious excertion with the fact that they are freeze dried - and you have a nightmare! Ben, Hugo, George and I have all been refining our bartering / trading techniques as we circumnavigate the camp looking for exchanges. Spag Bol for a Vegetable Tikka has been my least successful trade to date, born of desparation I think... Anyhow, with just 10km to go tomorrow and my confidence renewed courtesy of a single beer (no change from the norm I hear you chuckle) I have decided there is no further need for freeze-dried food and I have got a third helping of cream cake (provided as a celebration of Racing the Planet's 20th race). EP - Jojo I'm sure you were thinking!
 
Given that we have spent in excess of 40 hours on foot this week, I feel the need to talk racing. We all came out with not altogether certain aim of completing the course - which I can assure requires grit above and beyond the levels we normally exercise. The 4 of us have had to dig very deep at times - Hugo has overcome some pretty serious knee problems to complete the course, George - probably the most determined of all - has left Boots short of painkillers to nullify the gyp from tendinitis in his ankle. Ben, my pacemaker, has had Marlow (Rod you are to blame) knees to contend with and I, whilst proving to be the ultimate athlete (please take pinch of salt), rejected all food for 2 days. The racing itself was simply a gritt off. The winners would run 80% of the course and the slower ones would walk the whole thing - for those of us somewhere in the middle the art has been in perfecting the yomp - a tool used to great effect by experienced practitioners. The distance has been far from the primary challenge - moreso the terrain, which is rarely flat and always has had terrible footing - the primary cause of blisters as your feet hit the ground at nasty angles and so on. But on the flipside, the scenary has been breathtaking, and on an incredible scale. I suspect that I will bore most of you with the excellent photos taken by Hugo (photograher in chief) at some stage.
 
So blisters and sores! Many areas have certainly paid the price this week. Let your imagination work. But the feet are the real nasty - personally the best I can boast is a blister 2 inches long on the outside of my left heel. Nice. The other all have their fair share too.
 
On the subject of company, both Hugo, George, Hugo and I have been blown away by the atmosphere in the camp - really very friendly and encouraging. But in particular we lucked out in our tent - not a hint of Yared Dan anywhere! There are 8 of us in total, which leaves 4 to talk about. Diana, the female race leader - plucky little Irish girl, physician. Very bubbly. Shirley, another of the Irish with a stoic attitude and willingness to chat your socks off in entertaining fashion. James, a farmer from Cheshire - master humorist, usually crude, occasionally not! Dave - a top 20 finisher aged 51 which is quite remarkable. Otherwise, an unwaivering source of encouragement and advice. South African. Their experience led to us dumping 25% of our ruck sack weight on day one - thank God!
 
Anyhow, my patience with 2 finger typing has now expired, which leaves me to thank you all for your generous encouragement over the week and to apologise for not having updated you more frequently!
 
Much love
 
Ian