So the last day of the race has come. I woke up feeling pretty good considering I have ran/walked 160km. because I was feeling ok I decided to run as much as possible. I made it to the 15km mark before needing to walk. From there I made it to cp2 and entered in the valley of the whales, which is an open air museum with fossilized whale bones from millions of years ago. during this time the heat came out.i don’t know the temp but it was hot enough to make you cramp. I managed to hang on with the two females that are coming 2^nd and 3^rd. they lost me at cp 4 but it was good to hang on for as long as possible. From cp4 the coarse went up to the tip of a sand dune where we had to navigate along the ridge line of the dune. By the time I got to the 50km mark I was starting to derail. I had chaffing, feet swelling, back and leg cramps, migraines, and the Achilles injury. It was not a good feeling but I just had to keep moving.

When I got to cp6 I was absolutely exhausted so I stayed at the cp for 20 mins to elevate my feet and eat. That made a big improvement for by the time I left the c I was ready to run and make up some time. By the time I made it to the last cp I was sitting in 29^th spot which I didn’t want to loose so I sat at the cp and ate some food and then took off with a competitior hot on my heels trying to chase me down. It felt like the longest 9km I have ever run before. I kept pushing until I could see the lights of the camp then pushed one last time to make it over finishing in 29^th spot and a time of 13hr 50mins for the 86km coarse.

The whole week has been amazing and im so relieved to of finished. Tomorrow is a photo finish at the pyramids where it doesn’t count towards the final placings. I am now looking forward to the rest of my holiday through Jordan and Israel then off to the uk to see family.

Thank you to everybody for your comments and support.

Last night I slept well considering my body is aching all over. Camp life after the race consists of just recovering, having dinner and going to bed. I forgot to mention that yesterday it got up to 47 degrees and it was about the same today. At the start I was feeling ok so I ran/walked to cp1 but the Achilles tendonitis has started to come back which means one thing… walking. After cp1 I was forced to walk the remaining 35km through never ending sand dunes. I think I finished around 55^th place in a time of approx. 8 hours. It really sucks having to walk but I just really want to finish this challenge. At least 10 people have already pulled out, the medic tent last night had about 5 people receiving fluid IV’s. There have been some talented athletes forced out due to medical reasons which shows how tough this really is. Day 3 and beyond is not about fitness anymore, its about surviving and managing your body.

Tomorrow will be more of the same walking I think. Thanks for the comments everybody.

Its amazing how different today was compared to yesterday. Even though the disctance was longer today it felt a lot more comfortable with the bloody back pack. The scenarywas amazing! Last night I slept well an sorted my pack in the morning. I ran pretty much the whole 11km to cp1and was feeling good.On the way to cp2 the heat really settled in and started to takeits toll but I managed to push through as my body was feeling pretty good. After the headaches casued by dehydration yesterday I increased the intake of electrolytes which helped. After cp2 was a lot of sand dunes!! I manage to run up some of the hard packed sand but the occasional soft patches really upset the rythem. As it is you have to take short strides to avoid falling in thesand.

I really pushed onto cp3 and overtook a few people which was good. When I got to cp3 they told me I was 25^th position which was a huge moralebooster. After cp3 was 9km of more dunes. These dunes were steep!! The last 5-6 km I had to walk as the legs were gone,but so was every body elses so it was a slow walk to the finish. All in all a good day and 100 times betterthan yesterday.

Thankyou all for the message to date. Please keep them coming.