The Gobi March is now over....

The medals have been handed out. The Banquet Hall has cobwebs. The airport lounge is bare. The desert is quiet again. The athletes are in 40 countries... The volunteers are in their homes. Racing the Planet staff are preparing for Ecuador.

I am home .

The hardest physical 25 hours of my life

Barren. Brutal. Bloody hot...Finished stage 4.

I am in position 145 as of yesterday but today I will have moved up the field a bit as I came 2 hours under the cut-off time. Cool.

Today was hot. A SIZZLER! We moved away from the mountains and the rain. The further we ran the hotter it got. Cracked clay. Another 3 dead animals that I saw in the distance. Ran with 2 groups and then on my own for some 38 kms. We have finished 156 km so far. Tomorrow is the Long March and 80 km.

No raincoats today. Yay! My pack is a whole 1.5 kg lighter because of eating dried food and using health products - toilet paper, etc. Yay. My knees and feet are sore. Aw...My feet are so swollen they cant fit in the shoes which I bought 1 size bigger than what I normally wear.

Scenery: I have taken some great photos I think. I also have a small rock for you Geoff. Just gotta find it.

The solitude is good and its great spending time on your own but its monotonous after 5 or 6 hours day in day out. Today I ran for 10 hours and was on my own for 9 of them. I sing to myself. I make up maths equations. I imagine the Black Caps winning the cricket cup - which they obviously didn't. I have to keep my imagination busy. Rodney Thorne I need your legs...Mine are in a state of disrepair.

Right...I have to go bed as 80 km beckons. Why am I here? I am looking forward to it with great trepidation...if that makes sense. No blog tomorrow AS I will be running through the night. Keep me in your thoughts and prayers. I will need them.

Cheers friends and family.

Just And I mean just. Yesterday on Stage 2 checkpoint 2 I was running and in my element. I passed 30 fellow athletes and all the Point View training had paid off. Checkpoint 3 was a different story as they all passed me.

Today...I was running for survival and avoiding cut-off times. I was third last home and I cried.....I HOWLED. The pain. The agony AND the fact that I made it. I only made it because the weather was so bad that it affected all the athletes and so they gave an extra time period. People here are very supportive and we are here for each other. It is emotional watching people come over the line at checkpoint 4 and seeing every emotion under the sun in 2 minutes.

The desert is barren, very very cold but tomorrow we move into the Gobi proper and then its going to heat up.

My gloves are broken. My poles are starting to break at the ends. Equipment and body is breaking down. This is so tough....I have never been through such prolonged agony.

Seen 9 dead animals on the trail. I love the silence of the desert...but there is always the reality that we are in a harsh and unforgiving environment.

3 stages down - 3 to go. Till tomorrow.

This is going to be sort of short, my friend John is doing the typing. We had altitude, heaps of snow, tired sore muscles, back ache like you would not believe. Twice today I thought, "What the heck am I doing here?" But it's one step in front of the other, and I met some awesome friends, like Amaya, Alexis, Edwin, Riz, David and Julie. They've been awesome and supportive!

China, is MASSIVE. And the desert area is huge. Everything from snow to gravel, to rivers, quarries and heaps of rocks. My feet are sore, as are my knees, and shoulders. Heck I'm sore EVERYWHERE. The locals love having their photos taken with you, and today, some local policemen offered me some green peaches. Not to offend, I chewed on them, ran around the corner and spat them out. It's cold, I'm tired, I'm going to go to bed.

Stage 3 tomorrow.

Crazeeeee, Insane, Altitude......but I finished stage one.

So...this event is hard. Snow, freezing temps, wind, before all of that...rain. Lots of it. The course is tough. 4 checkpoints. First one was easi-ish, second one was tough and climbing. The air is thin -you are at altitude. Third stage was long...and the 4^thstage was the Dune Of Barkhol...I will say no more. Walked past 3 dead animals. I limped across the line aching in places I didn't know existed.

Other athletes and competitors are helpful and social. That's good. They encourage each other. So now I have eaten. I am going to bed - exhausted. The good equipment that I have is brilliant and makes life easier. LED LENSER and Leatherman and Cheeki bottles. The bad equipment is already broken...

The organisers are incredible. Very supportive.

I know this has been short but I really just want to collapse and sleep. Tomorrow is Stage 2.

Cheers

The torture stuff has arrived and I am ready to go. Ready...

Wowwee.....

It is 12 days to go