For so many of us finishing was the key. For Nic Kruse, he paid the ultimate price and died this Gobi March. Day 4 was a tough tough day. Nic, sadly did not make it.

I was fortunate enough to spend some time with Nic during our training weekends in Hangzhou; on the plane up to Urumqi; we shared the cab to the hotel; and we talked at nights end each night.

Nic was up for it. Nic was a talented young man, committed, dedicated and loving the Gobi Adventure. Thanks Nic for all your smiles. Thanks to Gates, Jobs and all those IT superstars that gave Nic his enthusiasm for technology - he died with technology in his pack. He was special young man who I enjoyed greatly.

To Fay and Nic's family - my sincerest condolences. Nic died doing something he was truly enjoying. May be rest in peace. David Caselli

Oh yay - I am still in the race and looking forward (aka trying to recover) for the last stage tomorrow. I has taken me 12hrs to be able to walk (hobble) across to the cybertent, so tomorrow brings a new set of challenges.-- getting to the start line.

 

The longest day was the longest - my feet are torn apart, but the medies have been great. I spent 2 hours getting taped at midnight; it got me through the night.  Here's a quick run down on how I  self distructed over 24 hrs:

 

- Stage 1: cruisy 10kms through the riverbeds. Great scenery constantly crossing a bolder river. I made good time and 4 us grouped up for the long day mission, including Jay (Kiwi) and Declan S (from Shanghai). We set 1.50hr as our pace time and we were on track.

 

- Stage 2: the cruise continued through a 10k jog through the villages. Fantastic, all the kids came out and all the old folks sat on their beds in the streets. Very cool running in tree lined streets. Temp abot 35C and 1.50hr pace and on track.

 

- Stage 3: started going through the moonscape. These were called the salt flats - looked more like a bosnia war filed. Big piles of  sand everywhere; wiht broken down  diggers and toothless chinese workers. Throw in some abandond towns and this place was pretty uninviting. Stage stop to do some preventative maintencance on  feet - the boys go on. Met Fiona (kiwi front runner) out for the count with dehydration - she was mortiifed. Ummm - DC went into the moonscape to catch the boys up.

 

- Stage 4 - moonscape has turned into continuous bad lands. Just sand, salt and salt bushes. The wweather started to spit, and it was  great running. Unfortuneately I was down to a walk as my feet are buggered from the earlier days. SO - here comes the Davey shuffle - run about 200m, walk 100m. Oh yay, we are on the move. Caught 12 people thisn stage and thinking we're on to a winner

 

- Stage 5 - more moonscape abd the sand in flat and endless. Here (now 7hrs in) I run across my second signs of things to come - 3 of the front runners on IV drips intne tent. 2 pulled out and one had thrown up 37 times. Right, clearly not the food, must be the distance and the temp. Still holding solid around 40C and I.m chewing through 2L a 10k leg. Yahooo - caught the boys. The were most impressed, but ....

 

- Stages 6 & 7 - feet are getting sourer and the boys are down to a solid walk. Fine, but my feet are killing me. The salt flats have now emerged into vineyards and the heat of the day hits us about 4pm. We walked through to the aid station and I crashed. It's now 9pm and we're on track, but my feet need work. The boys went on into the night (and finished way ahead - good job lads), while I grabbed a meal and Dr Julie spent 2 hours taping my feet. At midnight I'm set to either 'walk on thru' or sleep. Dr Julie said tomorrow's heat would be brutal, if I can walk - I should. So off I go.

 

- Stage 8 - slow and easy. No way. Buddlied up with Juliet (Aust) and Takasi (Japan) worked through the next 10 kms. Wholly hell, the children (and adults!!!) have been steeling the light sticks marking the course. Frig - 3.5hrs to do 10 kms and I'm thinking 'my race is over'. Keep this up and i won't be making any cut off times. We got to S8 at 4am and there's more bodies and groans - I crashed in my sleeping bag thinking 'I will wake up whenever - if I can walk, I walk. If I can't, I'm out.

 

Stage 9 - 'bing bong, then lights come on' and I'm awake at 6am. Last stage ahead - 10kms of desert dunes. Juliet gets up, so I followed. Well, bugger me,it all started out fine, nice easy sand dunes. Then they just got hugher and hugher, and the track was endless ..... I was crawling up the dunes with my hands, and hobbling down the other side. The 20-50m high, just endless. The great thing - this was 6-9am in the morning - the heat wasn't in the sun and scenery was fantastic. It was like being on the top of the southern alps, but a dessert. FINALLY, the beat of the drum walked me in at 8.38am, 24 hours later. My feet were hot, full of sand, and the pressure in my shoes was huge.

 

Oh yay, I scuffled in and crashed in our dessert tent. What a great camp ground - but ! can't move. 5 hours later I get helped (thanks Colin) over to the medie tent. Another hour of repair work, and by 10pm I'm scruffling again. But unlike the other cap sites, I am not alone - nearly everyone has had there own dramas. Bodies have packed up everywhere, it is the camp of the walking wounded.

 

And then there's the Shanghai crew - Rob, Campbell, Steph, Les all walked in 6 hrs later, 6 more hours in the heat - they were whacked. Declan gunned it and came in 26th (I was 62); while Todd and John were behind. Sadly (but wisely) Angus, Wihard, Jane, Lindia all pulled during the day; All have come to came and are helping the walking wounded. Meanwhile Nic is in an induced coma at the Urumqi hospital, his girlfriend has come up from Shanghai and brother from the States. Our thoughts are with them.

 

Yet another day in THE OVEN has been survived. Tomorrow presents the last challenge, a short 10km dune run. Oh yay.  bring on a good sleep.

 

Thanks to all - sorry for being so slow, will get different shoes next time???????? Over and out. The Kiwi Hobbler.

 

 

Oh Yay. Yet another day completed.
 
The day started with a 10k river bed run. Real ankle breaking stuff. Desptie doing my normal 'wobble ankle dance' I managed to run through this stage well. The terrain was ugly to start with, with a run down a cliff; then we had to take on the bolders. It was just like the central south island, bolders and braided rivers.
 
I picked up Dedi W early on and we came through the first station in about 35th, a great leg and all due to walking on the rocks at Riversdale. I then took the planned sensible option, after 6 river crossings, to dry my feet and swap socks. What a great move. No blisters for the rest of the day! Finally 0-0 on the blister score.
 
Dedi went on to lead Team Shanghai. She kept going and came in as the No 1 women - great effort; followed by Fiona from NZ. The kiwis are doing well - Dr Joe came in 7th, and Fiona may be in the overal  women's lead.
 
The second stage was a huge long run through barren flats on a trail. The scenery was huge, more mountains and people. This was largely slightly downhill, so I trundled along in pursuit of Dedi. What a waste of time... never caught her.
 
The last stage (3) was running up and down moonscapes. I have never run across so many sharp rocks in my life. And .... to cap it off, they made us climb a peak and run down the ridge line. Terrifying .... but 'fast and loose' was the solution. Just like running across shingle screes back home.
 
Finally we popped out of the moonscape to see a nuclear power plant in the distance. Great .... the only problem was we 8kms to go running across light gravel.
 
Nothing lives out here it is desolit. Then .... finally the finish line .... on the edge of a small village. Tonight we sleep in some local houses (mud brick, but great) and got to wander down to a river. I have laid in the river for an hours, slept for 3, and am now back to functioning.
 
And then we get the great news. Tomorrow we have to get up at 2.45am for a 4am bus ride; so we can start racing somewhere else at 6am. Bring on the 6am. It's 40C and I am roasting. Fortuneately I'm hydrating well and I've just got a samll headache.
 
Day 4 tomorrow - 37km before we take on the 99km longest day. The river was great, but the next 2 days sound terrible.
 
So far so good. Today was my fastest day. 32km in just over 4 hrs. 46th and one spot behind that kiwi girl - Lisa Tamati. 4th kiwi home and hanging in there.
 
PS - Rob looking completely under control; Campbell Cave blitzed it today, even did some running; Roger looking very distinguised with his green pajamas and Osama Bin Laden look.
 
All good. See u tomorrow.
 
 
team shanghai
last in

Day 2 was another 30k day, with a bit of heat and water thrown in. The start of the race sorted out the keen one's - two vertical hills. I now know how the high country sheep feel with one leg shorter than the other.
 
Stage 1 was a solid 15k. I managed to come through the station well up te field - but opted for blister prevention ahead of being a hero. The Docs are become my best friends, sadly I'd like to avoid the medical tent completely.
 
Dedi W (from Shanghai) joined me in the injury tent, and we guts te rest of the day out together. We just kept grunting on through this magnificent scenery. The country side is expansive - just like running through the McKenzie. Loads of dried out streams, rocks, dust, dust and dust. However the highlight was fording the stream by the camp - great to see water.
 
While the blister count is mounting - a solid 4 now - everything else is functioning. I only managed to try and twist my angle 20 times, but my swooping rescue tecnigue has let me down. Today reflected my time in the medi tents - 51st in. Not bad - most importantly I'm still in the game. My overall time was 4hrs 19, 1 hour faster than yesterday.
 
Good on the kiwis - Julia Hartig was first women home (must be running with me to station 1 that made te difference, and Dr Joe (from Whangarei) knocked in 7th (to go wit his 4th yesterday)..
 
Overall - I'm alive and kicking. THE BLISTERS WILL NOT WIN.
 
Over and out for Day 2 . Hi to all. Love to Lizzie and JL.

Who took the F out of Gobi????
 
Yep - the FUN has GONE. This is serious, I have no idea how I am going to complete this.
 
Despite saying it would be warm at night, and that it would be largely flat - I will continue to believe the organisers blindly on everything. They are great, but there measurement of 200m vertical was way out of whack.
 
IT WAS GREAT. and I AM IN PAIN. PT - you are so right, I will only finish the race with my feet attached. At the moment the score is 2-0 to the blisters, and one was a stunner. Something to do with running down shingle screes. All good fun, and that's why were here.
 
Gee China's a big place. And we only saw 30km of valleys, tracks, riverbeds, screen slopes ..... just like home. It had that Waiouru and McKenzie Basin feel about - barren, huge and surrounded by snow capped peaks.
 
Thanks One Square Meal - I am still chewing and they were great. 24 to go.
 
Now - for the gory details - 32km became 35km with a slight detour. However, despite this, I came in 44th out of 157. Just a cool 2hrs plus off the pace - it took 6 hrs. This presents a slight problem for the longest day, which has just been extended to 100km. So, the simple maths says I will get 6 blisters and it will take me at least 24hrs - o yay.
 
Thanks - that's all folks. I'm off to chow down a OSM and then off to bed. More fun in the sun tomorrow ...... D
 

With 2 weeks to go I have taken over the spare room and spread out all out all my kit. It all looks remarkably fresh and good to go. I've just made some made a couple of big decisions - shoes and pack. Yep, I have relented and put away the nice shiny banana ASICs and opted for the 'loads of GEL' ASICS - while they feel like boats, I think they will do the job. I did 32km on the Hangzhou Mountain course yesterday and they were great.

I've also relented on the pack front and am going to park the styly Osprey and opt for my $20 NorthFace 100 purchase from the markets. Again, functionality seems to be the final determinant, it seems way easier to run with the frame pack/

Thanks Campbell and Steph for the training run yesterday - a great outing wtih loads of reminders that this is going to be tough. I am constantly remindered that I am merely a water recycling machine - drink it, swet it. O yay, if only I could change this functionality, then I wouldn't have to carry so much.

Nice - looking forward to the adventure. DC

Here endeth a week of firsts - my first marathon, my first mountain marathon, and my first blog. 

Feeling lazy after last weekends Hangzhou Mountain Marathon. I only managed 25km running this week, but had a great 90k bike ride yesterday. So .... maybe an 'ok' week.

Last weekend was great. Managed the Hangzhou Mountain Marathon. What a gut buster. Managed to finish 9th in a solid 7hr:10min, 45min behind the winner. Not bad - pretty proud, but knackered. Certainly the course organisers are a group of nutters and it was a supreme challenge. I guess it all bodes well for the longest day in the Gobi, but without 3000m of vertical.

I've finally found some time to look at the Gobi website and fill in the forms - there you go, I now feel as though I'm counting down. Less than 3 months to go. Now all I have to do is stop drinking alcohol and get on with the mission.

All good .... on, on. Here comes a pleasant walk in the sand. DC