Yeah. The "big day" has ended and you sound as if you could go and do it all again. Well done and congratulations on being able to pull out what was needed to keep you going. I hope the last stretch is a ball and that the frivolities are thoroughly enjoyed. Well done Mike - now for the next one!!!Much love to you and Kate xxxx

Epic. What a week you've had. Hope it all stays together for the big finale and you finish feeling strong... compulsive vomiting we can do without! Looks like all that time on the sand at Barrow has done you the world of good and enabled you to bring it home when you needed to..There are some great times in there, well done! Outstanding effort sunshine xx

Hello Mick...great effort champ! The dizzy spell must have given you a bit of a fright...glad the medicos were able to rebalance whatever was out of kilter. Your Mother was most excited to read your "mention in despatches" of staging a great comeback and that the family science wiz was there to greet you...GoodonyaKMMS xoxox! Mind you...as a witness over the years to several memorable occasions where you were able to stage what I would describe as a "miraculous" recovery when required after a heavy night, I was not too concerned... :-) ;-) By the sounds of it you had a quite respectable stage5 ?..still waiting for the results...it's just gone 2pm Fri 6 May Namibia time as I write this. Hope all goes well for the final sprint tomorrow...looking forward to seeing you at the end of the month. Very proud of you Mick...big hugs to you and Kate. luv Dad

Mick, I understand how tough a messy day can be ... stay focussed on the things you can manage. Electrolytes? check. Water? check. Day 6 food? check. Manage the manageables and let go of the other stuff. Been there in the black hole back in Atacama 2014. You are doing a great job!!! Cheers

Wow! what a recovery. I can see the smile from here. Well done darling for not giving up and being able to push along against great difficulties. Very proud of you and ecstatic about your race. Enjoy the moment. Hugs to yourself and to Kate of course. Much love xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxo

ps it's Kerry not mum - I just realised my monniker could be misinterpreted, although my unique style of dribble probably not ;o)

Well done for getting back up sweetheart - I did wonder when I saw your time what had happened - whether something had gone awry or whether it was just a stinker of a stage. Glad to see that you managed to pull it together and get yourself through. My fervent wish was that, without wishing ill to any of the other competitors, the laws of karma would prove true and you would make it through the long day swiftly and in good health - without resorting to skullduggery and shortcuts ;o). It appears you have done it you little ripper! You were mentioned in the official write up: "Mick Hogan of Australia also completed the stage; after a tough Stage 4, Mick made a remarkable comeback and was greeted at the finish line by his sister, Kate." Hooray! We're very excited for you to be finishing so soon - you really have got the hang of these things and appear more confident and capable every race you do. Looking forward to your walk in the park finish and enjoying every second. Much love from your tropical cheer squad xxx xxx xxx Big love too to Katie Mary - you must have had a very busy week trying to corral your lab rats and keep control of the results. I hope you get the data you need to finish your big ass assignment! Looking forward to talking to you both when you're done and dusted xxx

Go "Magic Michael", what a terrific experience so far and so fast. Well done. No doubt you are on the next stage by now but am here willing you along. Looking at the pictures the desert seems to offer so many colours and shapes and distance and sand....Before you know it there will be more the next day xxx Very proud and happy for you and all the work you put into getting fit and able for this challenge. Wonderful. Bless you and a big hug coming your way.xxx

Well champ, as we settled into a roast dinner and nice red we were thinking of you rolling along taking in the scenery...:-) great results for the first three stages...seems like you've found your groove so to speak...all's well here. Kez, Rick and the boys have settled into their new digs and enjoying the nearness of the beach. Luke is recovering from his "surprise" appendix op... and Patrick is enjoying his USA trip. Gabrielle is off to China shortly for Dragon Boat championships and Catherine is preparing for her uni exchange semester in Maastricht. The Eels have been hit with a significant salary cap breach ("sustained rorting over 4yrs involving $3m...") which looks like claiming the scalps of 5 top officials including the CEO...as well as $1m fine, 12 comp points, 2016 Auckland Nines title... no doubt they'll also get a rude letter from the NRL explaining it all... Carlton have lost one of their star draft recruits for the year due to glandular fever...bugger! Well you're no doubt well into the latter part of stage 4 as I write this.. hope all is going well. luv Dad ps: (Mum sends her love also...she's thinking about whether to exercise the keyboard now or wait until later:-)... can't rush big decisions!!

Go you good thing! Powerhouse! Great to see you enjoying the runs - long may it continue. The boys and I have been trawling though the photos, and loving the scenery and the different types of people all running. Michael would like to cuddle a seal, and has declared several of the men to be looking very handsome in their bright clothes and racing sunglasses - you may have a companion on future runs - as long as he gets to wear the gear! The main complaint is you do not feature in enough pics so they suggested you need to go stand in front of the camera...just your style, I'm sure ;o) In other news, the budget got handed down last night - keeps all the cuts from 2014, tries to fly under the radar so they can campaign on something else and pretend this one never happened. Election expected to be formally announced this weekend. In the US, following the Indiana primary, Trump beat Ted Cruz, who the last few days has been declared to be the Zodiac Killer (the so far uncaught serial killer in the US). Cruz today withdrew from the nomination process, so at this stage, it appears Trump will be the uncontested nominee for the GOP. Bernie Sanders came out of nowhere and beat Hillary in Indiana, and is refusing to go away. Nothing Bill and big Mal can throw at each other is going to top this, and I am quite glad it is so. As an aside - you can now pay to go to a camp where they spend the afternoon making music with dj's and then settle in to watch several hours of horror movies...finishing up about 1 or 2am...then they have actors roaming through the camp scaring people with chainsaws. Bet you never though of that as an interesting way to spend your weekend..maybe Ted Cruz might look into it now he has some spare time. Well that's it for now, the boys are chasing each other with lemons and an egg whisk - looks like things could get ugly. Keep on keeping on - we're cheering for you all the way. Big love to Katie - I hope the research is going well, and she's not missing the race too much! Stay strong - love you!!

Go Mick! Powering on awesome pace!! Starting to heat up out there. Good luck for tomorrow

Well done you beauty. It seems you had some v interesting finds along the beach and yes, seals are smelly. Great to hear you are feeling ok and everything seems to be working as it should. Hope the next day goes as well and doesn't throw out any toooo serious challenges. Thinking of you and cheering you on. Much love xx

Hi Mick, You don't know me but I am an Aussie who finished the Grand Slam in 2014. Enjoying reading you blog .. it takes me right back into the desert(s). Stay strong and remember to build momentum through to the Long Stage. Cheering you on. Footey

Hey Mick, Just wanted to say great stuff on Stage 1! I'm enjoying the race from windy, overcast and cloudy UK... wishing I was in Namibia to cheer in person. Keep up the hard work. I love your Aussie accent story - still often have to ask my husband to repeat himself!

Hi Darling, great run on the first day and hope the 2nd went well. I saw the picture you posted of all your gear lovingly laid out in a very tidy manner and thought "He can do it." I envy you a little in you being able to visit a place so eerily beautiful and sandy, a place rarely seen except maybe from the air or from pirate ships -look at that sand! Trust your shoes and gaiters are doing the trick for you. Very proud of you and looking forward to hearing more tales from the desert. All good here and the children arrived safely. It will take some time for them to orient themselves to a totally different situation but it will come good and there is a lot of goodwill towards them. Fergus ran a scorcher of a race, Dad has the details. You are in our thoughts and prayers,and maybe you could practise your pronunciation over the miles travelled, just to make the time go by quicker. Lots of love and a big hug to you and to Kate when you catch up. xx

Good to see yr blog! I'm not surprised the lass thought you spoke Chinese...Cleophas roars with laughter and agrees with her!! Important stuff first: a. sent email to you... admin task re Morocco complete and in system b. Fergus blitzed it. Came in No.6!! 17:55:48 which is 5 hrs better than a few yrs ago... do we all improve with age :-)?? c. Blues 10.12 72 Bombers 8.9 57 ...... d. Kids arrived on time. You can imagine the scene. Yells, laughter, lots of joyful tears, all piled onto Hope like a rugby scrum. She sent them to bed at 6am ... we'll drop by tomorrow (Tues) and organise a sched for next week or so...schooling, flu shots, how to catch the bus... Hope you keep well. Keep on truckin' !! Luv Dad