Stage 6 done.

Race completed.

Writing this blog from the plane on the flight back to London, will post it asap when we get home in case anyone still checks and hasn't heard the results etc already.

 

I was going to sign off with thanks but i can see this blog getting a touch lengthy so instead i’ll begin by thanking the following in no particular order:

·         Everyone who has kindly donated to support our causes since we started planning this adventure.  We have raised over £20,000 and as mentioned many times we have been consistently blown away by your generosity.  Many of you have donated multiple times.  Thank you.

·         Paul Kennedy and our friends at New Balance – you guys have been amazing throughout.  My trainers served me admirably through the 250km.  I will send you some photos.  Sadly, they asked not to make the return journey to London, preferring a quiet burial in the Urumqi hotel room.

·         Rowly for all of your advice.  We followed much of it to the letter and it worked well.  You were the first person ever to refer to “sock systems”, we survived that shock and it got us to the finish line.

·         Soph and Leachy – if this was in order you would be right at the top.  Couldn’t have done this without your unwavering support.  Never complaining about the hours we spent pounding the streets and parks of London.

·         Everyone who sent us messages (supportive, abusive and humorous) while we were out in the desert.  It made a huge difference.  Brandty often had a tear in his eye.

 

I will be brief on the final stage as it was more of a victory parade than a race stage, 6km in some blazing sun to the final finish line, some medals, a lot of photos and even more love, plus a couple of cold beers and some food which has never tasted so sweet.

I understand the website shows us all given a one hour time for the stage as a few people took a wrong turn and did the wrong distance.

So the results from the long stage stand through the finish.

Not seen the full results or website but think Brandty and I finished around 42nd. I think that is respectable, we can hold our heads up. 

People with books out not too many places above us (Brandty has one in his bag but I won't say whose to save his embarrassment but she is a kiwi and her first name begins with an L.....) so not bad for a couple of lumps like us. Should have got it signed though mate!

After the race and seeing the last man over the line (happened to be Jimbo, the man who really is to blame for my entering the race having told me about its existence last year in a pub. Mammoth effort from him, been struggling with injury all week and pulled out during the monster Stage 5, but still dragged himself through the final miles despite a lack of medal at the end) we hopped on coaches for a smelly5 hour trip back to the hotel in Urumqi.

First showers for a week. Scrub for 30 mins then start scrubbing all over again.  Official weigh in sees Brandt lose 4kg, Carmichael sheds 5kg.  It was there to lose.

Then down to supper and the awards banquet. 3 awards for our table. 

Dan for the overall win and Amanda for third place in the girls, plus one for Emma for just being an all round legend.  More on those efforts shortly.

 

But the elation of being back in civilisation, clean shaven and surrounded by some new found and some long time friends was deeply saddened by news relayed to us that Nick Kruse, the competitor found in a world of trouble in the searing heat of the dunes of Stage 4, had not survived the ordeal.

This clearly rocked the entire room, all of whom were aware Nick was in a coma but were obviously hanging on to earlier positive reports of progress and hoping he would recover. The emotion amongst competitors and guests during the minute of silence was pretty palpable. I had barely known Nick, we met just once down at the stream in the Uighur village after Stage 3, a few hours I guess before we all set off on what would be a fateful stage of the race for him. Seemed like a nice chap, asked me to remove my sunnies so he could actually remember who I was rather than just have everyone hidden behind sunglasses and buffs/hats to keep the heat off.

Anyway, our thoughts are with his girlfriend and family. I am sure we will find a way as a group to offer any support we can give.

That Stage 4 really tested people as the heat got up and the desert bared its teeth.  The two Chinese athletes running in 2/3rd spots and chasing Parr were found passed out by one of the guys in our tent, Stu, and had to be dragged to the finish so it wasn't just the slow guys who were struggling and I chatted over brekkie the next day with an Alaskan marathon runner who had decided not to start the long day on the basis he had kids and had scared himself up there in the dunes with Nick. Not sure I have ever seen a better decision made and I told him as much.

 

So after all that the rest of my thoughts on the event will seem a bit irrelevant but I am going to give them anyway.

 

It seems to me that you need a mixture of 5 things to complete a race like this: luck, physical ability, strategy, spirit and a cause.  The more you have of one, the less you need of another etc.  On the whole i would say we were pretty lucky, we managed to stay injury free and didn’t have too much foot trouble when we were out there.  Possibly some of that is down to strategy but that kinda makes the point.  The one thing i would change if i ever end up back in a desert would be my pack weight.  I would take the minimum mandatory calories, i just didn’t have the appetite for all the grub i took.  Mind you, had i gone with a 7kg pack instead of 11.5kg (pre water) then Parr would probably be dead now so maybe on balance it wasn’t a bad call.

 

We were also luck with our tent, Tent 1.  It isn’t easy being in a confined space in that kind of heat and in those conditions with 9 people.  Especially if you are a bit grumpy and miserable with an allergy to camping.  Fortunately, i am all sweetness and light so none of that was an issue.  A couple of thoughts on the gang that shared my tent (private gags can be explained on application):

·         Parr.  Machine.  Scavenger supreme.  Field destroyer.  Not sure i have every witnessed a performance like it.  To win the whole race was nothing short of incredible.  Dismal chat though, must have run too hard.  Would have looked better running in white leggings.

·         Brandt.  My running shadow.  So solid back in the pocket.  Could not have completed without him and would have had far less fun trying.  Took as much food as me but actually ate it.  Gobi wife. Would have looked better running in white leggings.

·         Jude.  French but saved due to having 50% non-Gallic blood.  Always smiling, even when asleep i noted, which is slightly unnerving.  Gastric issues didn’t stop him nailing the long day, right up the leader board.  Strong. Would have looked better running in white leggings.

·         Stu.  Disposable pants and baked potatoes.  Enough said.

·         Andy.  Miserable, anti-social git.  A man after my own heart.  We didn’t actually meet him til the awards banquet but his wife made everything clear.  Actually asked to be in a non-English speaking tent, preferably with Koreans.  More staff than kids (and he has a few of those!).  Would have looked better running in white leggings.

·         Amanda.  So small she thought getting from one side of the tent should be included in the race kilometres.  Tough (on the outside), did 90km of the long day on her own – i could not have done that (mentally or physically).  3^rd place, brilliant.  An ox.

·         Luisa.  Run 250km but look like you are going out dancing.  A pack weight to match mine but without the food so must have been beauty products.  Was on the course for some good hours but always smiling regardless.  Rack.

·         Emma.  The worst blisters of the lot and still never once complained.  Our man on the inside – always knew the facts before even the camp rumours had started.  Wanted Simon Taylor at Number 8 in a World XV – drugs kill you know my friend.

 

So that is it.  Race over and back to reality.

Repeated questions about whether there is a next time.  For me that is one for another time.  Right now got to get back to the things that matter most.

Thanks again to everyone for your support.

One final mention to Nick Kruse’s family – we are all thinking of you guys.

Nick out.

Monday 5^th July 2010.

 

 

After some time for reflection.

 

 

I last wrote in the blog, a few hours after we had finished the long stage, somewhat struggling in the heat of day. I may have come across as being a little bit ‘through’ with the desert. As the sun dropped that day and the stifling heat turned into a warm orange, friendly glow, the competitors gradually emerged from their tents. They began to relax over their supper, knowing that they only had a short stage to go. They had certainly done the hard work.. I began to realise what a spectacular location we were camped in, amongst the dunes. It was a truly beautiful environment. Although I was still sporting my rather fetching red ‘cankles’, I had far from had my fill with desert.    

 

 

Well, we both finished the Gobi March on Saturday morning after a final stage that turned out to be something of a parade. It was a wonderful feeling to finish and gradually over the last few days, our achievement has sunk in. We have spoken a lot about what one needs in order to complete the event strongly. What we came up with was: 40 % preparation and conditioning, 30% mental toughness/presence of mind and 30% luck. You certainly need to score in all three of these areas, to finish well.

 

 

The race banquet on Saturday night was set to be a happy affair. Tragically, we found out at the start of the awards ceremony that Nick Kruse, who had collapsed in the flaming mountains on Wednesday and had moved into a coma, passed away on Saturday. Nick’s collapse had had a profound effect on the competitors, and of course his death compounded this. It forced all of us to think deeply about what we were doing within the desert and the risks associated with desert multi stage running events. So many of the field were truly touched by Nick in the few days that they made his acquaintance and particularly his enthusiasm for the environment he was in. Carmichael and I ran into Nick Kruse in the river, trying to cool off after stage 3. He was full of stories about his journey that day. He clearly died in the prime of his life, doing something he thoroughly enjoyed. We shall remember him for that.

 

There are clearly inherent risks associated with being in the wilderness, particularly the desert. Events like the Gobi March try to take these risks into account and we as competitors try to manage these risks. Without them, the event would be a totally different beast and in these days of health and safety, surely all the poorer for it.

 

 

 

What I am left with now is the memory of an incredible experience; a wealth of precious memories; and a handful of new buddies, who, somehow I know will become long standing friends. I am delighted that Dan Parr took the title as an amateur, leaving several more ‘corporate’ sponsored competitors in his wake; a quite remarkable achievement.

 

What struck me most about this event was how a team ethic is so desirable in these sorts of multi stage events. I felt it amongst the entire field; everybody was so supportive of each other. I also felt it on a smaller scale within our tent. We were so keen for each other to do well and get through, that we all helped each other. Tent banter went a long way to keeping morale sky high and we all finished. Lastly, Nick and I ran as team for the entire 250km of the Gobi March. As Nick has said, we were ham and eggs. Who knows how we would have finished as individuals? Would we have finished? What I do know is we certainly wouldn’t have had nearly as much fun without that esprit de corps. It is this camaraderie that will feature centrally in the memories we shall look back on, in years to come. Thank you Nick for letting me run in that ‘pocket’ and for your incredible support.

 

 

I feel privileged to have had such a life enriching experience in an incredible natural and richly cultural environment.

 

 

Eric Shipton summed up my thoughts quite succinctly in 1943 when he wrote:

 

 

 

‘He is lucky who, in the full tide of life, has experienced a measure of the active environment he most desires. In these days of upheaval and violent change, when the basic values of today are the vain and shattered dreams of tomorrow, there is much to be said for a philosophy which aims at living a full life while the opportunity offers. There are few treasures of more lasting worth than the experience of a way of life that is in itself wholly satisfying. Such, after all, are the only possessions of which no fate, no cosmic catastrophe can deprive us; nothing can alter the fact if for one moment in eternity we have really lived’

 

 

Until the next time,

 

 

Dan over and out

 

 

Email: [email protected]

 

 

 

As always i'll start with the thanks for all of the emails and blog comments, so many of them and all great to read, apart from Wattsie slating the blogs.  Wattsy my friend, sorry to say i am going to ignore you.  Like London's female population...!
Great to hear some views on the World XV too, some rather interesting choices.  We will have plenty to discuss tomorrow as we are expecting to be out there for 24 hours or so, depending how things go.  I am sitting next to DP and Brandty right now as we are all blogging so we have already had a bit of debate/laugh and run through the various sports scores.  Am hoping to hear that Muzza is through, Fed too preferably.
 
So, today.  I would describe it as rodding hot.  Now we are really cooking.  Three legs to today's stage, the first wasn't that great, my legs just didn't seem to have much energy and the landscape wasn't the best.  So i thought we could be in for a long day.  But then towards CP1 it started to improve a little, which is good because the 6am start was aimed at giving us a shot at not having to be out in the full heat for too long.  Put the iPod on for the first time and we found a bit of a zone.  It turned into proper desert stuff, just what i had imagined and was able to just crank out some yards.  The second leg ended with some brutal fine sand dunes, proper lung-busting stuff!!  That brought us back to reality but was good to finally hit the terrain that you see in all the footage even if it was killing us.  Anyway next i was running along and feeling a bit unusual so i decided to write a poem in my head, thought i would write it for you below to see what you think.......okay okay i said it was hot but i haven't lost it!!  Bet some of you actually thought i had started doing poetry.  No.  What i did was keep running, just me and big Brandty today.  Third leg was less eventful but more dunes, canyons, all sorts really, spectacular stuff that i can't do justice to in words.  And it was getting super hot!  Brandty was legendary again today, think we are ham and egging well (to coin one of dad's golf phrases).  He is the sense, making sure we keep enough in the tank but i am making sure we give it a go when we can.  Got to have a bit of competition, this is a race....
So we are done, took about 5hrs 45mins.  I also clarified something for myself with the lads today, the distances we are talking about are as the crow flies just in case you are thinking they are not long enough (Dog!), so they take no account for the gradients.
We are staying tonight in some kind of temple which has been converted to a museum.  Bodies everywhere, people just trying to recover and deal with the heat.  Even now we are out of the sun, it is blazing, not sure how on earth we are going to get any sleep in this.  Freeze dried spag bol is not too appealing either but got to get the calories in.  I still have zero appetite.
There is a reasonable amount of trepidation in camp about tomorrow.  99km in this heat is going to be pretty tasty.  As i said, i think we will be on the move for 24 hours, if we have no issues, and that means no way we can avoid the heat.  Even danny boy will have to face the heat tomorrow.  he won again today so we are hoping he can hold out through the long day.  Two of the Chinese athletes chasing him today were found passed out by Stu (another quick fella in our tent) and he had to drag them to the finish.  But even if they are shot there are a few other experienced guys tracking Parr so it is going to be tough.  But he looks strong.  But we haven't lost the perspective about why we are here.  So i am just going to think of it as a morning jog.  And an afternoon jog.  And a night jog.
Some people are still not back in from today's stage, that is almost 12 hours and there was a flurry of activity just now with a requirement for the stretcher.  Hopefully it was an over-reaction.  A different lady just came in too and got a massive standing ovation, what an effort.
So, i have just offloaded a bit more food.  The first time i have totally unpacked my ruckie, not sure what i was thinking but must have been planning to feed the Red Army!  Anyway, more of everything for Parr and Stu, hopefully that will help tomorrow.  Me and them.
Not sure when i will next blog as if we are successful tomorrow it could be a very odd time of day that we return and i guess we will crash.  Anyway, i will let you know how we go.
Think the blogs are getting longer every day....sorry about that, especially you Wattsie.
This is it.  The biggie.
Wish us luck.
Nick
 
PS - Soph have fun in Newmarket, hope Oder has fun with all the kids!  Will be thinking of you guys.

Stage 5 done.
So Brandty is ahead in the culture stakes from this blogging game is he?  Well, find some culture from this stage.....it was, quite simply, epic.  But it was not long on culture, this was as gritty as it gets (for us anyway).
Not sure I am quite ready to put my thoughts about the latest installment into words but will have a go for those with any interest.
Mentally we haven't recovered from what we just pulled ourselves through.
I feel like we have just seen first hand examples of physical exertion and the effects it can have that neither of us can possibly have encountered before.
It is 1pm on Friday with us.  We are at a camp in the middle of the sand dunes having arrived here (staggering) at 04.57.  We had been on the move for nearly 21 hours.  Out on the course, it was, and is, carnage.  158 people started this race, around 100 are back at camp and about 30 odd have pulled the rip cord and binned race, or had that scenario enforced upon them.  People are still coming through the line into camp now (including the last from our tent, Louisa) meaning they have been out there 29 hours.  And it is above 50 degrees today, the sand burns your feet if you don't have your slippers/trainers.  In contrast to that, the chap who won the stage is sitting opposite me now, an Austrian who is trying to chase down Dan.  He took 12 hours and 15 minutes. He just said he thought for the first time in his life he was going to die as he came over the final miles of sand dunes.  Scary.
Dan would have won, he was killing the Austrian and the Chinese athletes but he got lost in the dunes and gave away 1-2 hours, coming in 10 mins after them in the end.  Still has a lead overall going into the final stage tomorrow, so fingers crossed this race will be his.
Some of what we experienced yesterday has put a different perspective on what Dan is doing out here.  It is phenomenal, truly.  It leaves people completely puzzled as to how he does it.  This is not a bit of uni sport, he is destroying an international field of ultramarathon athletes.  Destroying them.
Okay, back to our race.  Men with real packs, rucksacks too.  After the drama of the end of Stage 4 (sorry if I alarmed anyone, it was a poor decision to include that in a blog but I didn't engage brain as it was unfolding as I typed) we were due to start at 6am for the 99km Stage 5.  Sadly, they only chose to tell us they had changed the start time to 8am at 4.30am, after I had already eaten my freeze dried brekkie - not ideal pre race prep.
Anyway, we set off and the first couple of CPs came and went quite quickly so through 23km we felt strong.  Post CP3 (probably 33km or so) we entered what I would describe as desolation, salt flats which were just endless. In fact the whole day, all we did is plod along tracks which seemed like they would never end.  Brandty in the pocket, loving the salt formations.
Then we rolled into CP4 and who should be sitting there....Jimmy the Danish bloke I mentioned previously.  Ironic really because when we were chatting at Camp 2 I had joked with him that I would reel him in during the long day.  And here he was.  He wasn't feeling great but went with us to CP5.
At CP5 we ran into Stu, one of the chaps from our tent who is running in the top 10.  So another very real surprise, what on earth was he doing at the 53km mark with us??  We set off with him towards CP6 but he was not in good shape, tried to give him some food and some Café Nero chocolate coated coffee beans. It wasn't working, poor old Stu was puking and then dry retching most of the way.  Brandtos was in the pocket.  Eventually we got CP6 in sight but Stu was cooked, I couldn't believe it, so sorry for him.  We tried to persuade him to give us his pack and let us get him to the CP so he could get a IV drip and then decide later whether or not he had to pull out.  But it wasn't happening.  A jeep came past and Stu got in, game over.
CP6 was interesting, another one of the top guys lying down with an IV, at this rate the two fat lads would be challenging for the lead!  We were still okay (relatively) at this point but the trip to CP7 (76km) was so long.  We had done the Thames path 50 miler in 13 hours 22 minutes but we were through a similar distance in a faster time at this point, which was surprising, even though to CP4 or so we  benefitted from pretty overcast weather.
From CP7 to the end this race took on a different complexion.  I have never experienced such fatigue, mental and physical.  I am not going to try and do justice to this part of the race, we were toast.  It was dark so we had to follow glow sticks, we had picked up another English lad, Sam and the three of us just tried anything to keep ourselves moving forward.  12.5km to the final CP8, just before which I had started to feel some interesting stuff happening to my feet.  I dreaded to think, but I have looked now with the medics and it could be a lot worse.  Brantos was in the pocket.  So was Sam.  It had taken 90km but finally I knew what it was to walk at Brandty's pace.  Leachy, you know what it is like to walk to the shops with him, let me suggest you never do it after he has been out for a quick ultra.  Take a pillow if you do.  We were not flying.
The final stage to camp was 11km, 5km of God knows what and then into the sand dunes.  Quite how we got our legs to pull us through those dunes I will never know.
I could not have done this without Brandty.  Nor would I have wanted to.  To those who did it on their own my hat is off.  Amanda in our tent, for example, did it on her own and I find that staggering.  Even though our chat stank it just made a difference not to be wandering around a desert in China on my own because the situation, combined with lack of sleep and extreme physical fatigue, made it all a bit too weird.  All day, all 21 hours, our approach barely changed.  Brandt in the pocket.  Individually we must have gone through loads of lows but we managed to hang on.  The glow sticks in the dunes seemed like they would never end.  Just one moment where I was afraid, after CP8 I started to feel a little nauseous and my fear was that if I went down the way Stu had gone it wouldn't matter how mentally tough I thought I was, could I possibly blow up so close....?  Fortunately it passed, managed to get Sam chatting about cars, realised immediately this was a winner when he asked me what I thought about the number and position of exhausts on the new F458.  Nausea went.  Also continued to see the odd person, bumped into a 57 year old chap, he is trying to complete all 4 deserts this year and he had a hernia on Stage 1, just as we went up that near vertical climb I would have mentioned.  When I asked if it hurt he said yes, when it pops out...!  Seems he has just been pushing it back in.  Nut.  Anyway, there he was pressing on like an ox and happily chatting to me about why we were here, Camilla's accident etc.
Sorry there isn't much humour above, this was a gritty stage.  We just need to try desperately to get our legs and feet into some kind of shape to set out again tomorrow......apparently 22km across dunes! Ideal.  But at least if we make that we are done.
Next time I see this kind of heat there had better be a pool and a few waiters kicking about.
That's it for now. Off to grab some rest.
Wish us luck for the final push.
Nick out.
 

.....the longest day.
 
So, the news from China is, having set off at 8AM yesterday, Nick and I walked through the finish line of the big stage, just before 5AM this morning.
Yesterday was without doubt the hardest thing I have ever done, by a country mile. Bizarrely, I write this blog from an open sided tent in the middle of a set of sand dunes, a wind blowing reminiscent of hair dryer.  We are both bruised and battered, but also content in the knowledge that we nailed the big one. It will surely live long in our memories.
I crossed the start line tucked in behind 'the machine', known as Carmichael and almost twenty one hours on our feet later, he was still making sure I was in that pocket. Without his relentless support, I may still be out there now. Many are still on the course.  My thoughts constantly turn to those out there. The sand is too hot to walk on and there is a heat haze, hugging the sand. The drum is being beaten periodically, as people come into camp. I hope that welcome sound becomes more frequent; I understand temperatures are now topping 53 degrees Celsius. For someone who sweats when he so much as drinks a cup of tea, you can understand my predicament. I will draw this blog session out as long as possible because the cyber tent is relatively cool and then I'll go and try and find a small slice of shade next to one of the tents.
 
So, the big one. We were well rested and had prepared well. After waking up for a 6AM start, news reached us that we were to actually set off 2 hours later. I went back to bed. To nobody's surprise, I was still scrabbling to get my kit together as the 3 minute warning was called. I was still slapping on the sunscreen as the gun went off. We set a good pace in the first section, in and out of the river in the bottom of the valley. We changed to a fresh pair of socks at checkpoint one and continued a solid pace through a town, including a high street that seemed to go on for ever. Local children were both excited and bemused to see a steady stream of tired looking runners in strange desert suits running through their town. After those initial two stages we moved towards the salt flats as we dropped down to the second lowest place on earth. Unfortunately, there was little remarkable about the next 60 (sixty) kilometres. Monotony was the hardest things to handle. Utter monotony of landscape and of activity. We trudged on and on.
 
We reached checkpoint 7 (76 km) at 9.30pm, dead on our feet. Our legs were spent, our backs crying out for mercy and we daren't even take our shoes off to check our feet. There was an option of resting there. We decided that if we stopped, we wouldn't be able to get moving again. We picked up a third musketeer, Andy, and pushed on. The trouble was, at the pace we were going, we were still about 6-7 hours away from camp. We began to climb slowly out of the basin through the vineyards, narrowly missing an international incident when Nick suspected a local boy of moving some of the glow sticks that lit the trail. The small cross eyed Uighur boy was given a comprehensive lesson in Anglo Saxon English. My chat had dried up completely so unfortunately Nick was having to keep us moving and our spirits buoyant. All three of us were suffering.
 
The course had a sting in the tale. The last 6 km were over sand dunes and I don't mean the kind of sand dunes that surround our shores. These were bigguns - The English Patient style. We turned our head torches off and climbed, at times with our hands and feet, illuminated by the moon. At any other time, it would have been incredible. We pushed on in disbelief as we reached the top of each dune, only to see the glow sticks stretch on before us. As we entered the dune section I was amused by the thought that school speech day would have been starting in Highgate at that moment. I tried to weigh up which was the bigger feat of endurance, but speech day came and went, and we were still in the dunes.
 
Just before 5AM I heard the beat of the finish drum in the distance and we dragged ourselves up the last few dunes to complete our longest day. We collapsed into our tent exhausted, stinking and covered in sand. We descended quickly into a deep slumber.
 
Thankfully we have a rest day today to try and give our legs some recovery and turn our attention to our maltreated feet. I am over the desert now. Time to come home. One more stage to go. By hook or by crook we'll get there.
 
Thank you for the emails and blog comments and messages of support. I have to admit to having very watery eyes reading some of them. I am pretending I have wind blown sand in my eyes, oh where are my shades? Love to all. Go Murray.
 
Dan out
 
PS. Glad my god son is a chip off the old block Duzza.
 
PPS. Just for the record: Our All Time Animal XV
 
Forwards 1. Buffalo 2. Hippo 3. Rhino 4.Giraffe 5.Elephant 6.Brown Bear 7.Lion 8. Silver Back Gorilla
Backs 9. Hyena 10.Tiger 11. Cheetah 12. Horse 13. Springbok 14. Jaguar 15. Condor

5.30pm Wednesday 30th June, Camp 5- Uighur Ghost Town.
 
Day 4 is complete and we are now over half way, in terms of distance. Today was all about consolidation, to save ourselves for tomorrow. We started , after a coach transfer, at 6AM. We came into camp together at 11.45 AM, in real heat. We are both well and feeling strong. It's a real toss up between going a little slower to conserve our legs, against completing the course before it gets too hot. We both received an insight into the real brutality of desert heat, today. Thankfully we were religious in making sure we regulated our water, electrolytes and food. Many others have suffered more today and I am hugely grateful for the fact that I am feeling fine.
The first section today was a real slog into a headwind, over a boring plain, at dawn. At the first checkpoint, we both cracked open the ipods and managed to lift the pace through some quite spectacular deep red rock formations. Chat was pretty scarce today and our All time world Animal XV will have to wait until  tomorrow (great idea Hugo).
At the end of the second section, we got our first real experience of dunes. Our gaiters came in handy as we shimmied down some quite steep faces. My dune descending is sadly no more graceful than my off-piste skiing. We pushed on after the second checkpoint a little slower, under an ever warming sun. We climbed and we climbed and eventually navigated our way through a labyrinth of gullies, for about an hour. As a water began to run dry we yearned for camp. Photographers/ film makers on the course are always a good sign that you are reasonably close to camp and when we saw some, we managed to lift our pace down a tight canyon to camp. To our relief, we are not in tents tonight. We are in a man-made village of what are basically mud huts. Normally, tourists are wondering around. Tonight it is crammed with ultra distance runners of different builds, all with a penchant for manmade fabrics. We are sleeping in the museum among some pretty unimpressive artifacts. If it remains really hot, we can sleep outside.
Tomorrow is the big one, so thoughts have already moved towards how best to prepare. Largely, we need to do what we have been doing already, only for about 3 times as long. It is hot here, really hot, so we await what contingency the directing staff might put in. I don't expect much. Apparently this Is just the nature of desert running. Both Nick and I know it is all about finishing, so we are not going to do anything silly. This time tomorrow, we should be about half way and hopefully things will begin to cool down, as night falls.  It is going to be an epic.
 
We seem to have slipped into a routine very quickly. Get into camp, get our feet raised for 30 minutes, drink the recovery drink, banter about the day's race, gossip about other competitors, eat our noodles and have a rest and then blog before supper. Tonight, we can look forward to Pasta with Lasagne sauce - how exotic! I could murder a steak. I suspect Beijing may not have enough crispy duck for us on Sunday. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We need to earn it first. 100 km through the Gobi desert tomorrow - it could be up there with the beasting I received from Big Simon Brunskill on the slopes on Ventoux last summer. Let's hope we have something left in the tank. I know we do.
 
Loving the emails/messages we are receiving. Glad someone is reading the blog. Love to you all.
 
Dan out.

Today was certainly a day for the fat lad. We got in at 4 hrs 29mins for a stage slightly longer than yesterday's. Fortunately it remained overcast for the morning so I felt pretty good. It was another amazing route. The first bit took us down the river bed, including 6 river crossings. It was incredibly jarring on the knees, which many struggled with. Nick and I found the terrain okay so we were able to maintain a steady pace. After an inspired decision to change to a fresh, dry pair of socks at checkpoint 1, the course took us up onto a high plain flanked by mountains. The environment began to change dramatically, becoming ever more barren.  This was more like the scenery I was expecting to see in the desert. We pushed on solidly because we felt strong. The final section took us over a spectacular set of gravel dunes and then down onto the flattish plain where we are staying now. The final 7km seemed to take forever. The camp was a welcome sight.
 
To our collective delight, we are actually staying in a Uighur village, so no tents for us tonight. The upside is we have a roof over our heads and a comfortable piece of floor space. The down side is, it is incredibly hot in the walled village. The sun came out soon after midday, so the slower people in the field really got a taste for the temperature it is likely to be tomorrow. Racing the Planet must have waved some cash in front of the locals and convinced them to move out of their dwellings for the evening; a bit like the residents of Wimbledon around tennis fortnight, I guess.
 
We will be up for a 4 AM bus transfer to the start tomorrow, which should be at about 6AM. Hopefully, if we can run well, we will be in before the really brutal heat of the day. So much in this game is about luck so if you get to the start line each day feeling healthy and strong, you have to count your blessings. We have to tackle each stage in turn, but it is certainly hard not to think about the fifth stage, which is now 100km (60 miles), including the final 30km over the dunes (probably in the dark). I am excited and petrified at the same time. It will clearly be a real test.
 
Spirits are high still, it is amazing how resilient people are. I hope this remains the same as things hot up in the next two days. It is interesting how your priorities change out here. Things very much come down to basics: staying healthy and injury free, making sure you are eating enough, keeping hydrated and trying to keep your feet are in good order. After all of those essentials are taken care of, trying to keep clean. Let's just say, there is a friendly swarm of flies keeping me company as I pound out the miles across the desert. I managed to get into the local stream tonight which was blessed relief - a recovery ice bath, Gobi style. I also managed to rinse  my honking kit. I have a great set of tent mates, who you get to know unusually quickly! I have also begun to appreciate the culinary value of certain foods I wouldn't think of eating in London. Supernoodles taste amazing out here, for instance. I also cannot recommend hot & spicy peparami highly enough. Apparently it's an animal.
 
Enough of my ramblings. Great to receive your emails this evening (esp. LLH). I am glad period 1 - 12T enjoyed the blog. Tom Rees et al, boy have I got some photos to bore you all with in September. You are going to be all over them.
 
Love to all. More from me tomorrow. Same place - don't miss out.
 
Dan out

Stage 3 done.
First of all, thanks for all the blog comments and emails, i have had them all.  Nice to hear that Oscar thinks i am still on the plane....to be honest you can tell him Daddy wouldn't mind being on the plane!  Just kidding, we are fine and in good spirits.
Good to hear all the sports news too, thanks!  Who won the grand prix?
I will tell you about today in a sec but first i should confess that the truth about yesterday was that i felt pretty terrible post race.  I mentioned the quad cramp but that definitely reminded me that i could be fallible, i could see the muscle in spasm (as well as feel it).  I also just generally felt a bit average.  But the effects during the race were relatively minor so no major dramas.  Didnt want to put it in the blog yesterday until i had sorted it.
Anyway the point of telling you that is that the difference between yesterday and today was marked.  Today we took about 4.5 hours i think and it was good overall.  Brandty had his strongest day, even setting off in front at one stage....a break from his normal position just in the pocket!  First leg was along a river bed with 6 wet crossings and a lot of rocks, really difficult to get any rhythm but very easy to break an ankle.  That is pretty standard, conditions underfoot are varied but really testing.  The scenery changes a lot and so does the weather.  We got lucky today but those who took longer got caught in some fierce sun.  It is very hot right now as i type and yet it is almost 7pm.  Second leg today was good for those of us who prefer the flat and went quickly.  Third leg was over dunes mainly, but more gravel than fine sand so manageable.  Think the sand dunes await us in Stages 5 and 6...!  Only issue today was them telling us at a random water stop that we had 5km to camp, we set off like hares (well, sort of) but the reality was it was 7km.  Trust me, that makes a difference.  We ran from CP1 to the finish with Charlie (brit from Jimbo's group) and Sam, an Aussie girl who is one of the people trying to do all 4 of these races this year (this being the second of the four), incredible stuff.  They were legends, we made a good team today.
We are in camp now and it is really different, normally we are in tents but today we are staying in a village and the locals are putting us up in their homes, so we are 9 to our room (all from our tent, 6 boys and 3 girls) and it feels like luxury!  We have some mats to lie on and everything.  There is also a stream so we have had some vague semblance of a wash and it was so cold it worked as an ice bath treatment too, much needed.
The downside is that tomorrow we are up at 2.45am to be shoved on a bus and driven to the start, which is kicking off at 6am (versus 8am today) on the expectation that the desert is about to show us what it is made of.  The heat right now has people talking about tomorrow being brutal, probably c40km but with heat possibly hitting 49 degrees.  Nice. 
The terrain is getting more and more what you guys would expect in a desert, i think tomorrow and obviously the long Stage 5 will really ask a few questions of us.
Parr won in another frankly astonishing time today and Soph don't worry i will tell him what you said but the winner of this race needs to come from our tent and i could offload all my food and hire a bike and i still don't think i will be troubling the leader board.  Lots of skinny types out here, some with film crews etc but to be honest i would like to see what the combined bench press would be of the top 10...!  Brandty and yours truly will probably always be better either at a bar, or under one. Talking of skinny types, there is a fella here (second behind Danny boy) who insists on wearing a boiler suit about camp.  Anyway he has a film crew and is sponsored by Red Bull but i don't think that makes is acceptable.  Then there is a chap called Jimmy who we met yesterday, lovely Danish fella who is a contender but was puking everywhere after Stage 1 when he came in after Parr.  Turned down a IV drip though because he wanted to compete fairly....!  He also told us a crazy story about falling when out running in the desert 3 years ago preparing for this race (he was planning to complete all 4 deserts in one year) - he had no phone but crawled 20 minutes to a taxi he had paid to wait, with a broken ankle and dislocated shoulder.  The driver wouldn't let him in the cab until he paid him all the money he had because of the blood...!  Anyway, nice fella.  If I hadnt known Parr for 30 years or so i would want this guy to win.  He doesn't have a boiler suit, or if he does he left it in Copenhagen.  Everyone has a story.
Better go as this is definitely far too long and am sure any of you reading are bored to tears.
Thanks again for the emails/blog comments!! Soph, hope you and Bobby are having fun in Suffolk - give him a chop and don't worry about us, we are fine.  Keep emailing, it is really nice to hear from you guys, he will think this was a long run when i reappear (which it is i suppose).
Cheers all.
Nick out.
 
PS - one for Chris.  We have had a bit of discussion about World XV to pass the time.  Today one of the girls in our tent piped up when we got to Number 8 and suggested Simon Taylor.  Sunstroke i guess.  Anyway, i was picked at 10 and centre, the debate was whether it was better to have me cover both and play with 14 men or to let someone else in.......can't remember whether i was debating on my own at that point.

 
Afternoon sportsfans, I am writing this again from another amazingly spectacular spot. The cyber tent seems to be the breeziest and shadiest spot in camp, which is welcome relief from a rather punishing sun. I sit here now in a camp, which is pitched around an ancient burial ground on a raised river terrace overlooking a huge river bed, currently occupied by a rather underpowered trickle.
Day two is complete and we are both still standing (although perhaps in a rather odd way). Quite remarkable, I would say. It was another tough day but it was another beautiful route. In terms of difficulty, it was a bit like yesterday, except, back to front. We started climbing straight away and the first section continued to be fairly testing, up hill and down dale. We toughed it out and got to the first checkpoint a little earlier than expected. Typically, after learning my lesson on the long stage yesterday, I took an extra bottle of water today and of course had a bottle spare, at the end of the section. How I love carrying extra weight up numerous hills! The second section dropped down into a huge, dry river bed. If I had had the energy, I would have bored Nick with my personal theories of how the river landforms may have been formed. Instead we settled for picking our current rugby world XV and then our All time world XV. The things you do to pass the time on the gentle inclines. I will save my theories of landform development for my departmental colleagues at school, on my return. I'm sure they can't wait.
We pushed on and dropped down and crossed the river. We climbed up to camp and eventually finished in about 4hrs30. Nick wasn't looking quite so fresh as he does normally, but he had done some magnificent wing man support in getting me over those initial hills.
 
Our bodies are holding up, just about, and we are trying to focus on refueling and recovering, for tomorrow's stage. As Camilla (Milbank) wisely says, it's about tortoises and hares....by that token, I guess that makes me a donkey.  At this stage, so early in the race, I know we have so much to do. We'll keep plugging away and doing our thing. We are not fast but as our great ultra running guru, Paul Rowlinson says, 'finishing is winning'.   That is certainly true. It is an amazing journey through some quite quite breath taking scenery. At the points where my eyes are not full of sweat, I have been enjoying the ride.
 
The tour continues. Things are only going to get warmer and sandier.
 
Thanks for the emails folks, it’s great to read your chat. I am delighted to have missed the footie. Love to all.
 
Dan out. 
 
 

Okay, Stage 2 done.
Not sure I can tell you a whole lot more than Brandty must have already given that he was just away from the tent for about 2 hours.  I presume he has given you a thesis...!
Took us about 4.5 hours today.  On paper an easier day than yesterday, it was similar but in reverse, so the first leg today to CP1 was up and down and longer, the second two were shorter and not as hilly.  We also had our first river crossing today but it wasn't long before camp so fortunately the wet feet didn't have too long to get us into big blister trouble.  Tomorrow is river crossing tastic I believe.
But despite feeling good at the start today (weirdly through the hills) I don't seem to be quite as full of beans about it being better than yesterday as the majority of those about camp.  Just didn't have loads of energy in the second half, first potential blister issues etc.
Then into camp I just haven't felt fantastic, no appetite, but been back a while now and starting to pick up so am sure I will own Stage 3.....
Parr better be looking over his shoulder, I am not going to continue to allow him to complete the stages twice as fast as me!
In reality, I suspect the gap may increase.
Brandtos looks strong tonight, seems in pretty good shape all things considered.
Heat picked up a bit today but still a bit of breeze so no complaints.  We are going to drop down from tomorrow and we are heading to the Oven over the next few days so I think we need to enjoy the ability to breathe while it lasts.  That said, in camp today it is pretty warm, tent feels like a sauna.
Had some pretty tasty cramping in the quad whilst trying to get my feet up to recover, am hoping by tomorrow it is fine, if it ends up like day 2 of jurassic the rest of this race could be interesting.
Heard the footie score.  Dreadful.  I think Rooney et al should be made to run marathons in the desert as punishment.
More Wimbledon news please.  And yes Dad, the rugby scores would be great.
Thanks for the emails, nice to hear from you guys.  It's 6pm with me so 11am with you in the UK, most of you will be tucking into the delights of Monday morning at the office.....enjoy!
Think that's about it for now.
More tomorrow, with luck.
NC

I am writing this blog from what must be one of the most beautiful 'temporary' internet cafes in the world. The tent has no walls, there is a cool breeze coming through and I can see mountains in every direction. I need no other confirmation that I made the correct decision in signing up for this desert caper.
 
We arrived in Urumqi on Friday evening to cold, torrential rain, which was slightly confusing to say the least. Had we brought the appropriate gear? Was this going to throw our whole race preparation and plan into disarray. Sufficed to say that things have since warmed up somewhat, and the rain stopped well before we departed for the desert.
 
As I arrived at our first camp and set eyes over our 'competition' for the first time, en masse, something  dawned on me - I wasn't actually going to win this thing. In fact, judging by the amount of Lycra clad whippets I saw before me, I would be doing well not to be swept up by the camel that scoops up competitors at the rear of the course.
 
After a broken nights sleep, today finally dawned and the gun went on stage 1. I think we were all delighted to get things under way. Stage 1 was billed as a 'moderate' stage designed to break us all in. it was split into three sections. The first was reasonable: straight up the bottom of the river valley with amazing vistas of the Tian Shan mountains on both sides. I think we all hoped that we weren't actually going to turn left or right at any point. We went off pretty hard and when I realised we were fractionally in front of New Zealand's premier female ultra athlete, I suggested the pace we were setting was perhaps a bit brisk. We sensibly slowed. Section 2 turned left and we began to climb. The terrain changed and we gradually moved up through a rather lush valley. We soon hit section 3, all of us feeling pretty good. At this point we perhaps underestimated the 'moderate' nature of the final section and didn't pick up enough water to see us to the end. The final section was breathtaking but certainly undulating and lasted a lot longer than we had anticipated. We learnt a valuable lesson about how much water to carry; it also served to remind us how testing the next few days are going to be. We wouldn't have it any other way....ummn. We eventually finished just before 6 hours; a solid start but we have a long way to go. I finished looking characteristically broken, Nick ' I don't sweat' Carmichael finished looking fresh as a daisy.
 
Tomorrow's a similar sort of day terrain-wise, and in length. Things start hotting up on Tuesday as we drop down into a river valley heading towards the Turpan basin.  Now I must go and see what food I can off load, to see if I can lighten my pack. Now it's not often you see The Brandt passing up food.
 
Love to all at home. Good luck England, tonight. Can you let us know the footie scores? Enjoying your emails.
 
Dan out. 

So that is Stage 1 done.  32km today.  Sounds pretty easy.  It wasn't.
Bit of a mixed bag really.
Started pretty well, the first two legs to Check Points 1 and 2 were relatively flat and the heat was okay so we were cruising.  Relatively.  We even ran for a while with the Maori female athlete of the year for a bit.....she has completed Badwater (google it, Death Valley event for real nutcases) a couple of times and various other crazy stuff.  The Brandt knew it all, he had done his background checks.  Anyway it was evident after a couple of miles that she was a bit intimidated by our athletic achievements (as well as our muscles and outfits).  So we graciously slowed down so she could press on ahead.
Then came the 3rd leg....which began with a nasty near vertical climb and basically turned into a bit of a reality check.  Not too hot but loads of up and down.  Mostly up.
It was supposed to be 15km to Camp but it felt a heck of a lot more and we all seemed to run out of water having been fooled by the easier early legs.
Scenery throughout was unbelievable but am sure the Brandt will be waxing lyrical about that so enough said there from me.  Check out the photos on the site if you get a chance.
Anyway we did it in something sub 6 hours and since then it's just been a case of trying to get some food in and start recovering.  Think we were probably just about top 50.  But today really made us realise that there is such a long way to go.
No need for an IV drip today, which is a good job because the head medic told us this morning that in order to qualify for one you have to throw up twice in front of the doctors and you are not allowed to put your fingers down your throat!
But given this was an "easy" day it does put the whole thing into perspective.  It is only going to get longer and a lot hotter.  Stage 5 is 99km...!!
So i have already offloaded a load of food, just didn't eat it today so am not gonna carry it all just for the fun. Parr and the other tentmates have been grateful recipients of flapjacks.
Parr actually won the stage!! Unbelievable.  He did it in 2 hours 50.  Staggering.  Dan Parr is an old friend of mine for anyone reading who does not know him.
Think that is about it for now.  It is starting to get pretty cold so off to find some warmer gear and prep myself for another freeze dried food bonanza.
I wish you could see where i am typing this from, it is surreal.
Camping officially sucks though.  There must be a gap in the market for ultramarathon stage racing from five star hotel to five star hotel.
Next time i log on i will be hoping to hear about an England victory!!
Nick out.
 
PS thanks for the emails, Clem and Melissa!!  And as for the rest of you.....i won't say it as Brandty is telling me not to swear.

We're here, in Urumqi. Flights were fine, pretty much arrived on time yesterday at around 7pm local time. We're 7 hours ahead of you guys in the UK. We have been through check-in where they make sure you have all the mandatory kit in your pack etc. My pack was 11.5kg and that is without water!! Brandtos somehow managed to weigh in at sub 10kg but we are about to go and rectify the situation - some of my food won't be making the trip and mobile tuck shop Dan will be adding some. Even the little man weighing the packs told me mine was too heavy. He'll learn. Parr is here and on good form. He is taking a very different approach to the Brandt/Carmichael methodology - aiming to run with a pack of c7kg, which means very little food.....! He will be scavenging. Its around midday with us and we are due to leave for Camp 1 at 3pm so we are waiting for lunch. The plan was to grab a massage but the place is shut, hence this blog, which comes to you courtesy of Emma who has lent us her laptop for a few minutes. Lots of keen looking competitors about. Some girl opposite me right now eating some funny stuff and taking pills of some description. Everyone is clearly weighing the others up, thinking about who looks like they will shift a bit and assessing what kit/gear people have. Brandt and Carmichael are more interested in what is on offer at the buffet....needless to say there are some pretty dodgy options, chicken feet for breakfast were given a wide berth. Save that for lunch. So next up is some lunch and then a 2 hour drive to Camp 1. Tonight we tuck into the first load of freeze dried food and prepare for kick-off tomorrow at 7am sharp. Weather was raining when we arrived yesterday in Urumqi (!!) but much brighter and hotter today. Everyone has a different view on what the weather is going to be like out on the course but am sure it will be pretty tasty. By the time we get done with tomorrow's stage you lot will be waking up and preparing for the Germany match. Make sure we get some reports on the footie and Wimbledon. Bit wrong of Sepp to schedule his event for the same time as ours but these things happen, SW19 have a fixed date so can't really blame them. Soph - enjoy the wedding, send them my regards and obvious apologies for absence, i hope they have a great day. And give Bobby a chop for me. That's it for now. Nick out.

It is under a week to go now until the off. In fact, this time next week, (hopefully) we will have finished the first stage. I have just noticed it is 45 degrees in Turpan today so perhaps it is fair to say that some pre-match nerves are beginning to build.

 

 All our training runs have been completed now, our kit has been tested and prepped and Nick has almost completed his master spreadsheet of kit for the event. I even have a visa (thanks to Lucy R-B’s mad dash to the Edinburgh consulate). I am putting off the moment when I have to try and fit all of my kit into my back pack and try and lift it. I seem to have garnered rather a lot of food to take with me across the desert. I suspect my tag as the mobile tuck shop might follow me to Asia . A good way to make friends, I guess.

Thursday was the night of our London Quiz night fundraiser. It was great to see so many familiar faces and I think everybody enjoyed themselves. We even managed to make ca. £2200 for FOCMA. I think it is fair to say that both Nick and I have been staggered by the level of support we have received for our chosen causes. For this we are both hugely grateful. So thank you for your support in so many different ways – you all know who you are.

We have undertaken a varied schedule of training since November. The training has been hugely enjoyable; brutal in parts, but mostly great fun. I am now looking forward to getting out to Urumqi and knowing all I have to worry about is preparing myself for the race, trying to get through it, and at the same time remembering to enjoy it.

As someone told me just after I signed up, ‘the Gobi March will be life enhancing and for some it is life changing’. I am excited. Bring on the desert.

 

More from me, from China .

Dan out.

Just testing the blog.
Stiff legs today for both of us having completed the London Marathon yesterday.
Next major event is 33 miler in May, Marlborough Downs Challenge.