After a very lazy day and night at the final campsite I awoke still incredibly tired and was delighted to hear that the last stage of the race had been shortened significantly to only 6km. Basically a victory lap, but a reflection of how hard the last 48 hours had been. We packed up camp and were driven to the start line of the final stage and after the first proper course briefing we had received in a week we were off on the slowest victory lap of all time. I hobbled home with Macka and as we crossed the finish line we were immediately presented with the extremely heavy but impressive Gobi March 2010 medal and a beer

I am rather conscious that my last blog was rather downbeat. For that I apologise, but it really was the lowest point of the trip and wasn

I want to be upbeat about this whole experience but today has been a real low point! We were up at 2am to get on a bus that took us to the start line for 6am. The reason for the early start was to avoid the heat and up until checkpoint two that was the case. However, the final 12km were very tough, and it wasn't until I got back to camp that I realised how much the sun can take it out of you!
 
It is now 5pm and have been back 4 hours, after arriving in 100th position just behind Jimbo, who was my marching partner today! And despite the unexpected luxury of another wash in a stream I still feel horrendous, and am now seriously concerned about tomorrow, when we will only be half way into the 61 mile (99km) stage when the sun is at its hottest! On top of this my blisters are still pretty bad and my heels feel like they have been battered with a hammer!
 
We are staying in an old Buddhist temple that has been converted into a museum (slightly random) which is again a nice change from the usual campsite, but the floor is made of marble, and I have the thinnest sleeping mat, so probably not going to get the best night's sleep.
 
I am rather conscious that this has not been the most positive of blogs, but I just can't tell you how tough this race has just got. We have been incredibly lucky with the weather so far, which has mainly been fairly cool, but as we head into the Turpan basin tomorrow everything is going to change. I can only hope that my body is able to cope and I make it to the end of the stage, as then I'm fairly sure I can finish this. At the moment though the jury is out...

Woke up today with severe pains in my right achilles and left ankle, not ideal at all and the only way through it seemed to be run rather than walk, so off I went! That is until checkpoint one, when after 5-6 river crossings my feet were drenched and my blister taping needed to be dealt with. After that my pace really slowed down, and ended up completing the 20 mile stage in just over 5 hours and in 84th place. Macka again blasted through the stage in 42nd place and Dixey was also back in good time. Am a little worried for Jimbo though, whose knee is really playing up and slowing his pace dramatically. The focus has to be on getting everyone to the finish line now.

 

We are staying in a village tonight rather than a tent which is a welcome change, and a little stream has enabled us all to have our first wash since Saturday... nice...! Tomorrow is another 20 odd mile stage, and in order to avoid the worst of the heat we are having to get up at 2.30am to then get on a bus to take us to the start line for 6am! Madness. Terrain and injuries permitting though we should be back by lunchtime latest, giving us plenty of time to rest before the 61 mile stage on Thursday, which is starting to fill me with fear!

 

Gutted to hear that England lost to Germany! Typical... perhaps the squad should be made to do an ultra marathon as punishment! Maybe that is a little harsh... I wouldn't wish it on anyone!!

End of stage two, another 20 miles and am still in the race!
 
I managed to get a reasonable night's sleep, but was rather nervous about how today would pan out considering how broken i felt at the end of stage one! However today was ok. We started with a similar terrain to yesterday which was far from ideal but after checkpoint one (15km) the course flattened out and we were able to get some miles under our belt.
 
By the time we reached checkpoint two we were only 7km from camp, a massive relief, and with the exception of a river crossing the terrain was pretty good. So all in all a better day than yesterday, resultng in a far better time of 4 hours 20 minutes and a position of 50th!!
 
The rest of the team did incredibly well, with Macka storming in about 20 minutes ahead of me, Jimbo only a short time after me and Dixey taking the race to the professionals with an incredible 15th place!!
 
The key now is looking after my body as the blisters i mentioned yesterday are now really rather big, and although it seems a fairly minor problem, in comparison to some of the other injuries around camp, my real concern is that if they may get infected, i could get pulled from the race which would be a disaster!
 
Anyway, to give you a feel of what is left in store for us this week, tomorrow we have another 20-25 mile stage followed by a similar day on Wednesday, but what is really concerning us all is thursday, where we attempt a 61 mile stage, which could take as long as 30 hours! The heat will also be horrendous, so the aim over the next couple of days is to save as much strength as possible for the aptly named "The Long March".
 
So i better go and try to stomach a freeze dried spag bol! Yum!!

Well here we go everyone!
 
We arrived in Urumqi on Thursday evening after a fairly easy joiurney! Amazing considering we had such a nightmare getting a visa to china in the first place! Anyway rather like most of you reading this, i had never even heard of Urumqi, let alone knew where it was, so i can tell you that Urumqi is in the north west corner of China and has a population of 2.5 million! Why it is here is another point entirely, as it is surrounded by desert and further away from the sea than any other city on the planet!
 
The town itself is a mass of high rise buildings with no obvious town centre, making it very disorientating. On top of that, the roads are complete mayhem!! despite most of the roads having two or three lanes, there seems to be an ongoing competition to see how many cars can squeeze into the width of the road, as we found out in a taxi on the way from the airport to the hotel!!
 
Our stay in Urumqi basically involved eating as much food as possible, which Mackaness took to new levels. Am pretty sure the hotel were regretting offering us the buffet option when we arrived! We also managed to squeeze in a massage at at a hotel which was convenienty right next to ours. I can assure you though that none of us received a "happy ending" despite the place being named the "Romance Pleasure Palace".
 
On Saturday afternoon, after a fairly drawn out registrtion process all 168 competitors were loaded onto buses and driven to our first campsite. We stopped off on the way for a welcoming ceremony, that included some rather intersting dancers, who obvioulsy hadn't been paying attention when i was cutting shapes in Embargos the other weekend, and the worlds longest speech from the local tourism minister, which when translated into english, last about 25 seconds! Typical!
 
After a fairly sleepless, and extremely cold night we were up on Sunday at 7am for the start of the race at 9.30am, And i am now sitting in the cybertent at the end of the first stage, and currently lie in 62 place!! We did 20 miles today, and i'm not going to lie... i am feeling pretty broken already. My shoulders are extremely sore, and i have the beginnings of some rather epic blisters forming on my feet! I even have one under the nail of my big toe!! Lovely!! The thought of getting up gain tomorrow is already filling me with dread but it is now a case of mind over matter, and am just going to have to grin and bear it! tomorrow we take on another 20 miles, and holefully the heat will be similar to today, which was bearable at about 25c, but am seriously hoping for a less mountainous terrain!
 
Let's hope i make it and am able to blog again tomorrow...  
 

A massive thank you to Matthew Mackaness who has saved the day. His valiant efforts over the last 24 hrs mean that we now have visas and are good to go. What a relief!!

We depart this evening and all going to plan we will be in Urumqi on Thursday evening, giving us a couple of days to acclimatise before heading into the desert on Saturday afternoon.

It will also be our last chance to pile in as much food as possible before we have to revert to the rather less appetizing freeze dried food that will on the menu for the rest of the week!

Thanks again for your support.

Next stop China...

Well, here we go! First time I've been to China, first time I've run a marathon, and first time I've blogged! To say i am a little bit apprehensive at this stage would be an understatement!! Not least of all because I am still without a visa!! 

Anyway... we can but hope, and will be waiting for our messenger at Heathrow Terminal 4 tomorrow with our fingers crossed that all has been resolved, and that we can board the plane to emabark on what should be an epic adventure!

I just hope I've done enough training! I'm sure i will soon find out...