Successfully completed Stage 5

Done with stage 4 and in good spirit! Glad to be back in warmer (hot!) weather...

Done with Stage 3, and by far the coldest day...it rained all day and the wind was unbelievably strong/cold, especially in the afternoon and it hit the slower ones real bad (aka me and probably another 60-ish people). I was just being reminded by a fellow competitor sitting next to me that tomorrow might well be worse! Oh well...

We have completed approx. 118 km thus far, and we have just 132 left...Tomorrow's 40 km, and if we are strong enough tomorrow, we will take our major test on Thursday - the double marathon day (Stage 5)... Stage 6 will just be a short 10-12 km to the finish line, and will not pose a problem once we are done with stage 5. Fingers crossed!

Lee is superb, very strong...he should consider a career switch! Eden struggled a little, his knee is giving him heart-ache...Alvin is strong; he and I ran out of creative profanities though, when we were both hit on the head by almost gale-force cold wind for a couple of hours! It is not fun...I got really angry and I moved even faster!! Move or die, not much of an option...

I feel much stronger today; still having a cold but much better...I have earned myself a massive blister, with an entire skin approx.. 4-5 cm (diameter) ripped off my left feet. Went straight to the medical tent to get it fixed but it is a huge raw wound...it is gonna be even more painful every step of the way for the remaining stages... I am seriously concern about it but I guess it is what it is; will just have to suck it up and press on...I am accountable to my 'donors', will give it my best I promise!

Mamami, missing you and Tasha...hope all is ok back home. CSP...!

Alright gotta go eat my crappy dinner and rest...Wish me luck, I need it!

Ken

Done with stage 2...completed 40k today...it started snowing just before we started the day. It was an extremely painful section 1 of stage 2 for me...10.8km and it took me 3 hours, which is painfully slow...! Still having a blocked nose and I cant breathe and I had to stop along the way many times to breathe! Loads of snow, cold and steep...Had to climb a couple of hundred meters to get to the Tianshan temple...from 2200 meter to 2700 meter above sea level... I panicked for a moment when I looked back down seeing the sweeper a couple of hundred meters down the mountain...have never been so close to a sweeper in my previous races!! The doc gave me some medication at checkpoint 1, it helped cleared up my nose a little, which is helpful for the remaining distance...Anyway, just a short note...I need to go lie down...I am shivering and cramping a little...this race seem tougher than the Sahara...I am struggling with the cold and the altitude...tomorrow, we will cover 42 km...wish me luck! I hope I feel stronger tomorrow...

Lin, Alvin is OK...he is strong.

Mamami, I am OK...don't worry...

Ken

Done with Stage 1...