WOW WOW WOW! You are a superstar. You have done what most of us wouldn't even contemplate. Well done and you should be proud! Hope there is an ice cold beer and juicy steak at the end. Congratulations x

WOW WOW WOW!!! You achieved, what most wouldn't even contemplate. You should be very very proud! Well done and hope there is a cold beer and good steak on the other end. Well done! x

A truly phenomenal achievement! You did it! Awesome just doesn't come close!

Seriously it was nail biting watching for an update through the night, pressing refresh, refresh, still not finished...... I could feel the pain and wishing every moment that strong head of yours would win. You did, hooray, Jesus, it was an almighty sigh, then I could eventually get some sleep. Well done rockstar!

You are amazing . Well done. Enjoy that beer.

Waiting to hear that it's over and you're drinking that beer!

Well done Stephen, glad you made it! Xx

Well Stephen, like you say, you didn't have to enjoy it - you just had to survive it. And you did. Congratulations and well done. I anticipate you will make the final 10km :-) A wonderful achievement and one you will always remember. Well done, lots of love. David

Amazing Steve. Absolutely bloody amazing. True grit determination and an amazing Will to succeed. Good luck with the last wee bit and enjoy that beer. By Christ you've earned it.

Wow - sheer determination ... Hang In there ...

What fighting spirit and determination! Wow! By the time you read this, you are a very happy man! Congratulations!

That just brought tears to my eyes.... x

Sounds horrific Steve. Well done for pushing through. Hope you recovered enough for the final hurdle! Xx

Overwhelming to read, have no comparison to understand how you describe. Such a strong heart, will and determination, I'm going to Pottinger St tomorrow to buy a cape and a big S for your chest!! Amazing! You got this buddy!

Awesome effort ... unbelievable mental strength and so proud of what you have achieved so far. Never stop believing you can do the last 40km - never, you can and will. Dig deep

Sounds absolutely brutal! Remember the 'beer at the finish line' mantra! In 24 hours you can sit back and bask in the glory of a job well done! Good luck for stage 5!

Mate, I can only imagine how miserable yesterday's 'rest day' was sitting out there in the 40c+ heat and the nasty wind, hopefully you and the big fella managed to keep your sanity. If nothing else, at least there's now plenty of room to spread out in the tent. And, just so know, in the name of on going tent solidarity, Chris, Bent, and I did commiserate together last night over 3-4 pints, calamari and various selection of African game; nobody was missing the tent... We drove Stage 5 on the way out of the desert yesterday. In years past, I would've looked at it and said, "ha, screw you Mr Desert, I'll conquer your ass, no problemo". But, by the time you'll have read this, you'll know how tough this stage is / was, and I can say I don't envy you. Good luck, put your head down and keep marching. Look forward to welcoming you back here in Swakopmund where there's limitless beer and real food! See you soon, honey!

Steve This was always going to be the killer stage. It was very unlucky that the wind and the sun both decided to turn up on the same day. Can'r begin to imagine how hard it must have been, except as you say bodies were dropping like flies and this in a group of people all prepared for this run in these conditions. Fantastic effort to stay the course and keep pushing. Guess you don't really know what you have in the mental "tank" until you need it. Congratulations on finding it and using all of it. Resting after something like that must be dificult, but you are on the home straight now. Well done and keep going David

Great job Steve! Keep up the effort! Hope you're having a restful day.

32nd place!! You absolute rockstar! That beer will be well earned, especially as the live tracking was mentioning 45 degree heat. Can only imagine the mental strength it took. Bloody well done!!! On the home stretch now!

Fantastic job Steve. That must have been a brutal stage. The fact that you have jumped 14 ranking places means that however hard you found it, you survived and coped better than many. Big kudos Juventus and Real Madrid won first leg of CL Semis 2-0 and 3-0 respectively, so looking good for the final Try and conserve energy today, you are through the worst of it. Well done

Wow, life experiences, sounds amazing and can't wait for more stories when you get back.

Am enjoying reading your blog and can imagine through your words what an experience it is... Keep that old body going, it's doing you proud and keep your mind strong with thoughts of beer....x

Hi Dad, Sounds like you are making good progress so far, glad the calf isn't giving you any grief as of yet. Had a look through some of the race photos and the seals look incredible so can't even imagine what that was like to see in person. You will be very glad you were in the middle of the desert for the old firm game, brutal doesn't even cover it. On the bright side Boston are only two games away from their own dismantling courtesy of Lebron so you have that to look forward to when you get to the other side! Instant soap sounds like an absolute treat, god help the other people in your tent if there is no deodorant in the camp. I have been checking on your ranking daily, and whilst I don't expect you to be leading the race I do expect you to have broken into the top 50 by the end of today's stage. Let that fuel your fire for tomorrow if you are still 51st. Love, Richard.

Hi Steve, Glad you are still in there swinging. Red Sox played 3 games against the Cubs, Friday to Sunday. Won first and third, lost the second. They then have 4 games against Baltimore of which 2 played so far. They lost the first and won the second. Season is sitting at 14-12 just now. I have absolutely NO idea what any of that means of course, baseball really not my thing:-) After Baltimore thay have a 3 games strecth against Minnesota, starting Friday. Hope this helps. Hope the Long March goes well, thinking of you David

Sounds amazing Steve, especially the seal colonies! But brutal on the body, glad to hear you are holding up. Xx

Cold one waiting in Singapore for you! Amazing, really, keep the blog coming, brilliant!

And what a superstar you are! It's wonderful to read your updates on that spectacular country. You are a warrior and good luck with the big one. Africa isn't always gentle, but always kind. Good luck x

Awesome work that man! Day 3 done in a great time, too. Just the long march to go. You've done this distance so many times before, it's where you come into your own. Go steady and go nail it!!! Good luck

Steve Didn't know if you wanted sports news on the blog or in an email. Final score 1-5, equalled our worst ever home defeat. Fans unhappy, mainly because no evidence of a plan, shouting for investment or another manager. But most realistic. Can't spend what we don't have. Miller has signed a 1 year extension. Summer recruitment will be important, but also moving on dead wood. Went to casino to watch Anthony Joshua v Klitschko. Good fight. Joshua put him down in 5th, but wasn't massive. He got up and counter attacked, Joshua hanging on by the end of the round and then VK put Joshua down in 6th, big time. Not sure how Joshua survived that. Neither man going for body shots, just jabbing looking for a KO. Klitschko was looking ahead moving into the later stages, then in the 11 Joshua caught him with a sweet one. Put him down and didn't let him recover. Donald thought ref should have stopped it there, I didn't. But when WK went down second time I think it should have been stopped. Few seconds later ref jumped in to stop it. V good victory. Joshua big man in town now. Yesterday, Man U drew w Swansea(Shaw off with a sore leg after 9 minutes, Mourinho fuming) and City drew at Middlesbrough, didn't help either chase top 4. Chelsea won, then Spurs beat Arsenal to leave Wenger 6 points off 4th with a game in hand. Glasgow lost narrowly at Leinster 31-30, Edinburgh won the battle of the crap teams, beating NG Dragons 24-20 to end a 9 game losing run but extend an 11 game losing run for the Welsh. Those 2 teams are just ahead of the Italians. Russian GP grid started Vettel, Raikonnen, Bottas, Hamilton. Bottas took the lead on the first corner and kept it for the whole race. Hamilton didn't challenge, Vettel pressed but couldn't catch Bottas. All Black captain Kieran Read has broken his thumb, just weeks before the Lions tour. Murray lost in semi to Dominic Thiem at Barcelona, who then lost to Nadal who claimed his 10th Barcelone title in the final. Glad Day 1 went well, here's to more of the same Week won't have as much sports news, let me know if you want it by email or on the blog As you obviously didn't get the above emailed to you yesterday, I have put on blog. Liverpool won last night, 1-0 at Watford as the race for CL places goes on. Tonight is CL Semi, Madrid derby Glad things are going well, stay strong David

Well done​on stage 2 Steve. Brilliant stuff and love the updates. Have shared with some of my mates who all send their wishes. Great result for rangers at the weekend. They were fortunate it was only 5.

Solid result for day 2, fantastic effort! Hope you're managing to rest ok and grab some sleep. Good luck for Day 3!!!

What a great start yesterday! Wow well done today! Try to grab longer sleep tonight. All the best!!

Well done Stephen, looks amazing! X

Well done Steve First Day done. That was the hard part, all you have to do now is do that again. And again. Repeat as necessary. But the first day lets you know you can do it. Good time too, that must be better than you had planned for. Suspect after a night or two you won't be hearing the snores, the wind, or even WW3 :-) Stay strong David

Great result for day 1! Hope the wind and sand stay cool for day 2! You got this!

Off to a good start, Mr. Wise! Good to see your blog getting headline coverage in the Race Updates...! Watching and rooting for you all!

Hey Steve, hope Day 1 was s bliss! Enjoy and best of luck!

Hope it's going well and you're enjoying yourself. Keep up the good work and well done so far!

Go Bro:-) Hope Day 1 is a smooth stroll for you. But remember to pack water, not beer!! David

You'll do 39k like a boss!!!

Lots of those emojis will be right back ya, ya bloody lunatic haha!!

God's speed ! Stay safe, stay strong ...

God's speed Stephen! Max and I will follow you online. Stay safe, stay strong

Don't be a pussy! Get it done!!!

ALL the best Sonny Jim. Be strong

Hey brother, I hear you. Everyone I work with have given me their version of pep talks in saying that I need to really go all out and try to compete when all my goal is is to finish. I have taken a gander and looks like I am one of the few who are going these types of distances, back to back, for the very first time in an organized race. I am just grateful for the experience and want to finish...and eventually complete all the deserts HAHA! So excited to finally meet all of you! Everyone thinks I am crazy for doing this so I am pretty stoked to meet other folks who are just as 'crazy' as I am. Safe travels! Mac

Who knows, maybe you'll reverse that. How's your packing going? I barely have space to walk around in my Hong Kong flat as it 's full of gear and backpack (s!). I think I'll buy a big plastic tub and label is "RTP stuff" for later, like a couple of my friends do, although lots of that gear might just disintegrate in the desert?? Look forward to meeting you soon! Riitta