What a 24 ours the long march turned out to be.  It's over now - i reached camp in the sand dunes at 7:15 this morning not before time.  So much for 99km, word is spreading from those wearing GPs devices or pedometers that we actually covered 110km or more.
 
It was a tough day as expected but I cannot write much as the computer is low on battery so I will give you the salient points.
 
1. Most of the day was overcast which never normally happens here at tis time of year.  I even felt a drop of rain or two along the way.  The sun came out about 5:30 so I only had to hike in it for 1 and a half stages which was a godsend.
 
2. my game plan - focus on hydration, nutrition and steady pace - worked for 75km and then I fell apart. I was in 45th place at 75km and struggled to finish in 60th place having ahd the rest for 1.5 hours at both of te last two checkpoints.
 
3. the course consisted of road after road and was quite boring in reality whch made some ofthe torture worse.  The best bit was the 5km of sand dunes which came at the end (when I could not appreciate them). I hit them, together with Mal and Jim form my tent, just as te sun was rising and the affect was very dramatic.
 
4. Spare a thought for the 60 or 70 competitors wo finished after me as thye have been hking in the sun today.  We have struggled to stay in our tents in temperatures of nealry 50 whilst others have been toiling away.  Mark and Steve in our tent came in this afternoon.  Amazing effrots form both of them
 
5. I finally used my ipod whilst walking.  Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Lady Gaga, Gwen Stefani all made the trip easier.  I am convinced that led Zeppelin 3 is indeed the best rock album ever produced.
 
Gotta go and let someone else blog before power runs out.  i am back, safe and looking forward to getting this race done tomorrow.  The legs and feet have had enough.
 
Thanks for everyone's support and message.  Mackenzie - youramazing facts have been ralyed to most racers at some point this week!
 
Cheers....

What a day and thank heavens we are done.  Campsite is the Uigher Ghost Town, an ancient Bhuddist village with pretensions of being  future tourist trap.  Could be nice as long as visitors don't need to take the same route we did to get here.  They have put us all in the museuj to sleep.
 
I had a horrible night and only slept about an hour.  In hindsight tentss would have been better to sleep in than the village houses as there was no air circulation and our room was stuffy.  We all tried to get our heads down by 7ish and some managed to sleep depsite the telephone going off in the room and the generator chugging away outside our small window.  We were up at 2:45 and buses departed for the start at 4am.  Managed a little sleep on the bus which took us to the local winery forthe 6am start.  Can't report much about the winery unfortunately as it was dark.  It didn't strike me as particulalry bordeaux like though.
 
So the race....Started slow with Big Mal as both of our feet are in horrendous shape.  I think leaving them taped all night did not help as they seemed swollen.  The first stage was a bit of drudgery as is was along a road for the most part and the scenery was very dull.  Looks to me like there are a lot of power stations being built around here.  From checkpoint 2 the scenery was much more desert like, albeit depressing as all you could see was open space.  mal and I crqacked on and made up a couple of places before being passed by Lucy Tang who was on flier.  The frist surprise of the day came about 2km out of checkpoint in the shape of a significant climb up expansive sand dunes.  Mal went on ahead as he had the pace in hime, but I struggled up the hill and limped into the checkpoint feeling very sorry for myself.  After a quick refill of the water bottles, I chased out of the checkpoint leaving quite a few runners behind who needed a rest. I should have taken my time though as the last 12km were pretty tough (and labelled "difficult' in the course plan). most of the stage was uphill through tiny canyons and over a ridge.  I stuck on Lucy's heals and then swapped places with her through the final ascent - probably about 2 km or so up a winding canyon.  Having reached the top of the ridge, I guessed it was downhill and put down most of my remaining water and tried to keep a strong pace donw the very sandy snaking canyon.  The final surprise came with Jacquelline flying past me with lucy on her tails.  I felt like crap but thought there was only on e way to get home and out of the sun and that was to follow them.  Couldn't match Jacquline's pace but Lucy and I crossed the line together, in about 60th place.
 
I have alot of work to do now to repair my feet which are in awful shape.  Tomorrow will be apinful but I'll just  try and keep a steady pace for the day. The heat will be horrendouss but that is what we signed up for.  Water management will be key.
 
Off to the medical tent and then have some food. I want to get as much slepp as possible today as my body needs it badly.  Unfortunately it is currently 35 degrees in the museum.
 
Next update after the long march.

Day three over and things are looking ok.  Temperature was a bit warmer so I managed to get some sleep. It was disconcerting to get some rain though.  I never expected that!
 
It was an incredibly quick day today which really surprised me.  A load of people set of at a fast pace along the first 10km which was along a giant river bed - very uneven underfoot and 6 or 7 river crossings to contend with.  Malcolm and I set off at a relatively gentle pace as we both had issues with our feet.  I spent an hour or so taping them up and borrowed a pair of Injinjis f(toed socks) from Malcolm to fill up the shoes and was relatively comfortable.  We figured that we would start to overtake a few people as the day word on but it never happend.  After emerging from the river bed we hit a 11.5km section on road which was a dream for runners but tedium for me.  I kept a  solid pace but still lost a few paces.  Dave O'Brien from Ireland and another contender for the 4 Deserts Grand Slam this year joined up with us to help the pacemaking.  Luckily the last stage started with 5km of rolling sand/slate hills and was followed by a 5km downward path through the desert to the campsite.  We decided to open up and  I ended up running most of the stage to gain some ground.  The hills were a fantastice relief for me and i was able to power across them.  Finished in 4.5 hours in 60th place.  I am stunned bythe placing given the fast time (for me) but it was a very fast course today so there is not alot I can do about it.  The weather stayed very cool (and we even had a few raindrops) which helped with the times.
 
Camp tonight is in a local village so we all have space in some houses rather than tents for a night. The bad news is that we are leaving at 4 tomorrow morning to get bussed to the start.  We have finally reached the oven and tomorrow is expected to be very hot.  My sore throat has disappeared and I am hoping ot be able to pick things up a bit but will have the the long march on my mind.
 
Off for a meal and an early bed time as I am knackered after actually running.  Thanks for all your messages of support, they really help. Until tomorrow....

Day 2 done.  I am writing this blog with the benefit of reading any e-mails or blog comments that may have been sent today as they have not been uploaded yet so don't expect any witty responses.
 
Starting with the good news - I survived the night without frostbite. That is the end of the good news. 
 
It was an interesting night - cold as predicted.  I decided to take a sleeping pill, which is a rare occurrence for me.  My physician, Jacqueline Furness (the same Jacqueline who did such an outstanding job sewing my shoes on the way here and then taping my back to prevent pack chaffing, prescribed a pill that she bought in a pharmacy in Happy Valley.  After an hour or so I was a bit disappointed to be wide awake, so put the iPod on and listened to some 80's hits and finally nodded off for a couple of hours.  That was about it for sleep because I was too cold from then on in.  I was a bit frustrated by the lack effect of the sleeping pill so I asked (genuine) Doctor Steve in our tent what the problem was.  He informed me that Jacqueline had given me an anti-depressant, not a sleeping pill.  At least I'm happy.
 
Today's stage was relatively short 29km starting with a 14km mini-King of The Hills.  The pack went out fast which surprised me and  tried to hold on to a top 50 position.  Big Malcolm and I decided to run the stage together.  I struggled to keep pace with him on the hills as he legs the height of a redwood tree.  Things settled down at the en of the stage and we spent the next 15 km largely on roads which was pretty boring for both of us (I caught up with Malcolm coming out of checkpoint 1).  The rest of the stage was pretty boring and we just tried to keep up  decent pace.  A nice and cold river crossing cooled the feet off a bout 3km before the end.  We finished up about 48th place which genuinely surprised me as I thought we running at about 60th. 
 
The bad news is I picked up a load of blisters along the way.  My shoes are slightly big and the feet have not swollen up yet so they were moving around a bit too much.  Jacqueline has been hard at work threading them to help them drain and I am hoping they will get no worse tomorrow with a bit of care.
 
Overall not too impressed at the moment as  I went harder than I wanted too and my feet have paid the price.  I am of to the tent to get another one of those pills from Jacqueline now.
 
Until tomorrow, one step at a time...

First day finished and all is pretty much ok.  Had a good day on the course but it was definitely a game of two halves.  The first two stages totalling about 17km were pretty much flat and along a road - ideal running territory and not much good for me.  Tried to hang in there and just plugged away with a solid pace.  I think I left the second checkpoint in about 55th place or so and then the fun began.  The last 15km was described as moderate/difficult and "rolling". It started with a steep climb (William Furness got a good shot at the top) and then it definitely rolled, straight up and down which some longish ascents up creek beds. I was in my element and just decided to keep  a solid pace and not to stop for anything.  Dragonback lunchtime running club helped here despite their recent slacking offf as the weather has warmed up in HK.  Got to camp in jui said t under 5.5 hours in 36th place. Happy with the place but now a bit worried I overdid it for the first day. (Pete - I know I said I would chill for the first two days and will ease off tomorrow).  Scenery was amazing and weather has been nice and cool.  We climbed 500m today so camp will be cold tonight.
 
A bit about yesterday.  Check in went smoothly, pack slightly heavier than I though it would be but no drama.  However drama did not avoid me for the restof the day.  The first bad news came when i was on the bus and told that we would only have small water bottles for the race.  This is a problem as I was expecting to eat all my hot meals out of cut up water bottles.  Eating could now be an issue for the race.  The second drama came in the form of tears in the stiching of both of my shoes.  Jacquleing Furness came to the rescue and sewed them both up nicely on the bus thanks to the needles and thread doanted by Fooster.  (Carflottta - I know I said they would be for popping blisters but thye have come in really handy!).  Finally camp last night was very cold and I was not prepared.  I woke up in the middle of the night with a sore throat and runny nose.  I'm hoping my drug stash will keep the infection at bay.
 
Off now to do a bit of stretching and eat something.  More to come tomorrow.  One stp at a time...
 
P.s. Gunether family - fantastic e-mails.  Please keep them coming.  I'm working on the answer now.

Here comes my first blog from China. Consider it a practice run...

Arrived in Urumqi yesterday evening with no drama whatsover so I am happily ensconced in the Yin Du Hotel with all my equipment and will be spending some time this afternoon going though my pack and fine tuning the equipment and weight distribution.

The good news is that we are hearing word from the course that temperatures have been mild for a couple of days and there has even been some rain.  I doubt that things will remain that way (they only receive about 1cm of rain a year in these parts apparently and there has also been a few extremely hot days on the course for the race team) but I will keep hoping.  I am feeling more confident than I was at this stage before the starts of the last two races so I am hoping for a decent showing.  It is all about confidence and pace when you get started.

Si Robertson sent me the best motivation speach I have seen for something like this and I keep replaying it in my head - "..the inches in front of your face - that's what living is!"

Finally, please don't forget my charity as it is what this race is all about for me.  By pushing myself to the limit over the 4 race series I would like to raise as much as possible for the Hong Kong Cancer Fund.  When you have a moment please click through to my charity page and you can then find out all you need to know about the great work that the fund does supporting cancer patients and their families.

http://www.cancer-fund.org/scripts/diy_detail.aspx?diyid=92 

The next blog will come after the first stage.  In the meantime I will pray for continued rain and mild temperatures.

ps - Pete Lee - I'm still stretching but I still hate it.

The feet are healed and the leg soreness has dissipated so I thought last weekend would be a good time to ramp up the effort for Gobi.  Nothing too challenging - ran about 15km on the Round The Island Trail until the balls of my feet started to ache.  Spent Sunday morning on my bike down at Shek O which was loads of fun and a great change from all the trail running.

This time around I intend to mix up the routine a bit and try a lot more cross training duirng the week and save the hikes with backpack for the weekend.  Best laid plans, etc....