I packed up in the morning after spending an amazing night on the sand in my sleepingbag below a beautiful starlit sky...the best night's sleep I'd had all week. I made the most of the 2 hours before departure to take in the scenery and watch as the sun rose over a distant cliff top. Truly magical.

We made a 2 hr drive back to Cairo in order to make the short 2km trek from the gates to a hill behind the pyramids in Giza. The setting was spectacular. The sun, as ever, was beating down at around 10.30am and everywhere was dry and dusty. It felt hotter than the desert!

By the morning though, my body was trully in shut down mode and I found the last stint a painful hobble to the finish line. My hips were still aching, groin still inflamed and my blisters were sore. At least this time a cold can of beer and pizza slice where waiting as well as a competitor medal, relieved celebrations by the whole group and lots and lots of pictures and memories.......I was actually very sad to be leaving.

It was equally a great feeling to finally call a close on a massive week, full of drama, highs and lows, new friendships and great tent banter. It's still hard to comprehend that I managed to finish all stages. 

John Warren my Hong Kong mate and training partner was also a massive inspiration and help throughout the last 6 months. How he finished with his busted knee is testament to his steel reserve and never say die attitude. Legend.

All that was left now was a ride to the hotel, check-in and celebration dinner.

I got to my room and collapsed onto the bed, which had soft pillows and a comfy mattress...I walked to the mirror and realized for the first time what a mess I was! Sand was everywhere' lips blistered and cracked and I'd not shaved in over 10 days.... It took me 30 mins in the shower and 3 hours in to pool to get clean!

Before all that though, John and I ordered 2 cheeseburgers and mezze platter with the works...........dreamtime.......

A quick celebration dinner and speeches brought an official close to the proceedings. A bunch of us then went for a couple of well deserved drinks and chill out on the terrace.

It's hard to believe it's all over and that I'll be back at work next week....One minute you're in the middle of a barren desert then next, an office in Kowloon Bay! My feet are still in a bit of a state - 8 out of 10 with tape on them. I won't be able to wear shoes for a week or so. I'm currently sat in Dubai airport writing this and because I've not taken any pills today, the injured parts are starting to get a lot sorer.

I'd like to thank everyone for their emails and messages during the week. I've not yet been able to read my blog, your comments or remember what I wrote........I know one thing though - it was emotional and I wrote as honest and as clear as I could remember. Thanks for taking time to read it....if you feel inspired to go on and try something like this, I'd be more than happy to advise on preparation and kit...........I highly recommend it.

I'm going to send out a last call for donations to the Sunrise Charity as soon as I get home and get onto my laptop! Will try and get some pics onto Facebook too

Bye for now

Ryan

YEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAA!   I DID IT!

I got back to camp 2 hours ago on Friday 10.15am, after 27 hours 15 mins of gruelling non-stop hobbling starting 7am Thursday morning. The feeling is amazing as I managed to make the 27.5 hours finish cut-off time by an incredible 15 minutes (10.30am)!  We only have  a ceremonial stage left to do tomorrow of about 2km (to arrive at the finishing line by the Pyramids), so the event is effectively DONE! Amazing……I’ve been totally humbled

The weird thing is I actually still feel really energized that I could go out and carry on. The trouble of course though is that my upper legs are not interested – thankfully. The rest of my tent-mates did really well, including Dan Parr the overall winner, who completed the same course in just over 9 hours! You can see the advantage of having no injuries! John did brilliantly despite his gammy knee and powered  home by around 4am.

Yet again I had virtually no sleep after Stage 4 on Wednesday. I woke with intense pain in the hips and could also feel my groin playing up……I chowed down on a pack of Noodles and then a Power Bar and Porridge mix in order to get as many calories in as possible before the start….As usual, the 85km stage started at 7am and immediately I knew it was going to be a long, long day.

I actually thought we had longer to do the race so I was surprised to hear that the finish time should be no later than 10.30am the following day. In reality it’s a pretty generous time meaning if you kept to a 4 or 5 km/hr pace (average walking speed) then you’d make it comfortably, including short sleep, water stops every 10km and eating. If you’re injured though, like many others in the field, it’s a whole different ballgame and a separate strategy is needed. The 85km we eventually covered meant I had to go min 3 to 4km/ hour, which in my condition was pretty unrealistic.

Many people had decided to drop out over the past few days (either by injury or choice and go home) and re-enter the race for the long Stage 5/6. By doing this, they’re ‘out of the race’ so to speak, but as it’s so punishing it’s a good way to preserve yourself for the big test.  By the first hour I was already at the rear, but my strategy was clear. If I could keep my pace, keep injury free (more like not aggravate the list of injuries I already had) then I might be in with slim chance. 

I was on complete auto-pilot the whole day. Utterly focused and intent on giving everything I had to get as far as possible. The conditions were much the same – baking hot >40c, extremely dry wind, which for most of the race blew straight into your face the whole day. The landscape again unbelievable. The huge expanses of space in this part of the world are incredible. By the end of stage 2, I was safely propping up the rear and managing to arrive by the cut-off times by the skin of my teeth. A can of Fanta of all things was passed to me at the transition to stage 3. A brief stop and I was off again into the Valley of the Whales, moving like the ‘drunken Praying Mantis on skis’ I had become, passing by gigantic rock formations, prehistoric whale bones and exiting up a gentle slope some 6 km long – wind still incessant. It was about 3pm now.

Further up, halfway through section 4 the inevitable happened. My groin sent me a reminder that it was not happy. I immediately had to stop and tried to stretch it out. Nothing was going my way and for sure it was the end of the race. I still had 5km to get to the next checkpoint by 6pm. The ‘sweeper crew’ and the local Bedouin Camel Drover soon got to me and sat with me for 20 mins as I was coming to terms with my race finishing….again, my eyes had welled up in my sunglasses…I was completely devastated to have made it to the final day and only halfway through it. I took some pills, did more stretches and very gingerly carried on literally taking half step over half step with my pack on and tears rolling down my face. It’s not possible to conceal emotion when you slump into such a distraught sense of ‘nearly there’…..

I did carry on, bit by bit, but there was a 30 ft dune I had to get over first. Again, the pain was intense but I had to get up the due to stand any chance of making the next checkpoint…..miraculously I did and the course organizer/owner Mary, asked me if I was good to carry on. I said I would have to physically drop first and they let me inch along the 4km flat dried out sea bed after 15 mins, I was still moving., even going a little quicker. Then the camel drover suggested I stop using the poles and sure enough, I started to loosen up stand more upright….I got to stage 5 late by 20 minutes, but they let me continue because they couldn’t believe I had got there! I took more paracetamol and rubbed in lots of Voltaren cream.

The next section was up an almost impossible 150ft sand dune which rose on both sides to a ridge only just wide enough to walk along…….I was super nervous and determined not to slip. The sun had already gone down by this time and I now faced a 4 hour trek in the moonlight with 2 ’Sweepers’ and the Drover (Saeed)and his 2 camels. The stars were out and were the brightest I have ever seen. Unbelievable. The half moon did its part and shone enough light to enable us to navigate in its light. By some miracle, the groin had settled down and I was walking unaided.
I arrived at the next checkpoint (5) by 10.30pm. Most of the competitors had used this stop to sleep, having been out for over 12 hours. I though had 30 minutes to empty my shoes of sand, dust down, stretch the goins, more pills and cream, eat and take on water. I was in and out and back on the path, this time the rest of the race by myself. Only me, the stars and the glow sticks marking the way through an immense valley and up onto a dramatic plateau and of course 35km of hellish effort. 

I religiously stopped every 100m to do stretches on both groins. It seemed to work and give me confidence and I was soon picking up speed and eating into the kilometers….I remained determined as ever, careful not to count all my chickens as any slight wrong movement have meant curtains. I was full of energy, bounding alone through the Egyptian desert with my nearest competitor around half an hour ahead of me, silver stars in their millions above. Why couldn’t I go faster?? Even if I could bypass the mandatory stops at the checkpoints I’d be cutting it fine.

The hours ticked by, I was making the checkpoints in time, just. More pills, water, electrolytes, snacks and off. Keep going – just keep going. Eventually the camel drover and the ‘sweeper team’ caught up with as night turned to day. I had 18km to go in 2 sections. Both were long sloping sea beds rising to high plateaus and seeming to go on for an age. I had maintained stopping regularly to stretch. I figured it was working and too superstitious to stop. I went with ‘instinct’ the whole race, so if my head said ‘step over there’, then I did it.

I had made it to the final checkpoint…..I couldn’t believe it and I had 3 hours to go before the 10.30am finish line.  For the first time I could actually afford to take my dodgy feet off the gas and then slowed to an awkward gait. The sun was up and beating down. Saeed and the camels were great company, always there, silent, but there. Now and again, Saeed would motion his arm on the best direction through the terrain and I’d duly follow and thank him with a ‘Shukran’.

I had an hour to get to the camp which I could see in the distance by Lake Quran. I made it by the skin of my teeth and in fact I had almost caught a large Korean contingent. I walked closer to the line and the local drummers were banging away, the rows of flags flapping noisily, all the other competitors and race organisere were out clapping and cheering and the Koreans waited for me to catch up so we could cross the line together. I was totally overcome and immediately John, Jude, Dan (all from HK) were out the front giving me a massive applause. Unbelievable.

The adrenalin is still high and we’re now in camp, baking under the sun waiting for the transfer to the hotel tomorrow…………..definitely the biggest physical and mental challenge of my life to date.

Can’t wait to share ………..over a nice cool beer……….


Cheers for the messages.

Have to go and change as my clothes are filthy and I need food……xxxxxx

Lou – will call you Saturday night once we get back to hotel if not too latexxx

Yes 2 trekking poles got me through the 40km Stage 4 as my hips had plans on packing up after the first section. It was totally agonising as I had to adopt a bizarre walk,careful not to irritate the groin even more than it already is. I;ve gone beyond pain as far as the blisters are concerned....I won,t be able to wear shoes for a while! The whole stage took me the full alloted 11 hours and I waited for Jagdish, a Malaysian buddy also suffering chronic shin splints, so we could cross the line together at 6pm.
 
The first section was a couples of hours up a huge sand dune and on to a plateau and I had to keep squeezing my hips (the bit where the thigh bone and tendon meets the pelvis) as they didn,t want to go anywhere. I was quickly relegated to the back where I stayed all day long with Jagdish. We would take over each other, kind of egging each other on.....as you much as you can when as far as the eye can see are massive plains of shale, sand and distant rocky outcrops.....In retrospect you think `I must be mental' to go out there, then you do it as part of the course....it's been a surreal journey so far...
 
The wind was behind us for the first half of the race but then the course changed direction and for the last 20km the wind was head on and brutal- hot and dry and the terrain went slowly up and up.......we seemed to be walking on what used to be a sea bed. It's difficult to recall the scenery in order, but imagine the cinema pics of deserts in Arizona, virtually no plant life, big sand dunes and massive wide open spaces..........or 'planet Tatooine' where Luke Skywalkers inlaws lived (remember the underground house)!
 
My hips gave me hell the whole day. They pain is not sharp, but more a persistant tense dull ache with little will to go forward or up. There's nothing wrong with my stamina, but everything above the knee and below the pelvis is 'packing up'
 
My goal now is all about finishing. Times have gone right out the window due to my injuries. I have 80km left, which starts tomorrow and we have 48 hours in which to do it.....it will be a long, long, long stage and I'm not sure I can use poles to get me through as I handed the ones I used today back a kind Australian girl who sat today out.
 
I'm off to bed. Feet have been duly taped and strapped by the medics and they gave me some ibuprofen for my hips. Will see how they are in the morning. I have not slept more than an hour the last 2 nights - I''m not the world's greatest camper - but it has been windy and sand is getting everywhere and there are 10 other blokes in the tent - go figure! Plus, I'm in serious pain when I lie on my side as the hard sand is unforgiving on my hips....enough sob stories....
 
Hopefully, the next blog you read will be one of celebration, although 80km in hot, arid, bleak desert doesn't seem comprehendable.
 
Thanks for all the brilliant and amazing and funny messages. It's keeping my spirit up. Unfortunately, I'm not able to reply to individual emails until I get back to Cairo on Saturday.....
 
Lou - look forward to the TLC (love to Ezra and Jude) xxx

Yesterday was an unbelievably tough day -42 km. It was so tough I didn;t have the energy to get to the cybertent and post a blog. There;s only so many times you can say I;m in pain and it,s hot. My time was just over 8 hours and I very nearly did not complete the course. I was literally draggin my left leg over the line as I pulled my groin in the last 10km and had to strap it up.
 
The stage started with a long march through dunes and shail planes. Completely desolate, distant escarpments and shimmering horizons....Beautiful in a harsh way. The worst part of the day is 11am to 3pm when the sun is at its highest - very dry air no moisture to be had anywhere.
 
I was in a desperate state as I summited what I thought was the last sand dune only to discover the camp was still at least 5km away...The sun was relentless all day and meant I had to take much longer stops at the of each section. Lots of water is critical as is eating and taking electrolytes, making sure you get all the minerals you lose in sweat.
 
I,ve gone beyond the pain threshold as far as blisters are concerned. Everything is taped up and my feet are in a wretched state.
 
I couldn;t hide my emmotions and I broke down crying as I crossed the line to end stage 2, in fact in several bursts, as I got myself up the last hill and my tent mates cheered me across the line.......but I had made it.......However, my groin was in a bad way and for sure I was not going to make stage 3.
 
So this morning I woke and was sore everywhere. I strapped up the groin and set off. Today was all dunes up and down, big ones, small ones, round ones, soft and hard sand............I decided to lose the groin strap and it seemed to help. My plan for today;s 42km slog was to try and make 4km/hour which is not going to set the world on fire but would see me home if I could keep up the pace. Stage 2 and 3 started at 7am and finished at 7pm, which meant I had 12 hours to get from A to B..........miraculously I made it and came home about 6.15pm.....I started off walking with John but I was holding him back and had to find my own pace.
 
I new the stage would be tough as soon as I saw the dried out carcass of a cow at the bottom of a dune..........It;s hard to describe the pain that I have in my feet, groin and hips...I was in complete auto-pilot throughout the whole day and when I walked onto a flat rock surface it was as if my legs were someone else;s - total jelly....but I kept going through the biting nips of my groin....
 
Luckily I found a rhythm of sorts and it got me through the last 25 km the pinnacle of which was going up a huge excarpment hitting the plateau and heading down for the final section..
 
I finshed by myself with a few others behind me holding the St George;s flag in the wind. It put my time at around 11hrs 15mins, which is some day at the office!.....I am totally, totally shattered and ready for some serious rest.
 
Hopefully, I can make it through the next day provided my groin and hip muscles play ball...
 
Love to all - keep your fingers crossed!
 
p.s.
Miss you Lou, ezra and jude..........can;t wait to see you x

Finished stage 1(just over 37km) in 6 hours 29 mins.....weather got into the 40s late morning early afternoon. Conditions were very dry, hot with the occasional welcome breeze.
 
7am start, with loads of excitement around camp with some people up and ready by 5am! Lot of cheers as the start got under way and the elite runners making straight for the front. Two guys finished in an incredible 3 hours 12 mins, which meant they also missed the hottest and most oppressive part of the day.
 
I made pretty good progress over stages 1 and 2 but I could feel blisters starting to rear their ugly head. I basically ran the rest of the race in a fair amount of pain. I walked the remaining section as a result having to stop in the shade of rocks and Toyota Landcruisers for 5 to 10 minutes at a time to cool down and be careful not to overheat.
 
The scenery was stark, flat with some very long gentle inclines that seemed to go on forever - just what you;d imagine the desert to be like! The horizon would shimmer and become wavy and in parts be almost like a mirror in the distance..............there were many times I thought about stopping and just giving up, but I knew all I needed to do was gather some strength by resting, eating and taking frequent liquids.......the electrolytes, perpetuem, salt tablets all playing their part.
 
By the end I had slowed right down and had to take 10 mins and lie down behind the landcrusier the support team was in as I was feeling a little dizzy......sure enough, after a rest it was back to walking with only 2km left and the sound of drums welcoming competitors as they arrived.......a few air guitars, twirls and airplane movements and I crossed the line.......straight to my tent to recover...........
 
I'm so tired now....I'm going to lie down and have a well earned sleep...........apologies if the above lacks syntax, but I'm totally knackered..
 
Love to all, especially Louise, Jude and Ezra.....I love you xxxx

THIS ONE’S FOR THE KIDS AT SUNRISE CHILDREN’S ASSOCIATION IN NEPAL!

Hi Everyone, 

Arrived safely in Egypt after a 24 hours marathon journey from Hong Kong (basically a 5 1/2 hour delay overnight in Hong Kong). Big shout to Mr. Locke at Royale Asia and Mr. Sime at Emirates for getting me here in style! 

We left the hotel located on the ‘outer rim’ of New Cairo at 1pm and arrived at Camp 1 around 5pm, which is in Wadi Al Hatain. The camp is set up around Southern Lake with only sand dunes, distant cliffs and plateaus to be seen…...that was until the sun went down and the night sky was spectacularly lit up by the stars and a crescent moon…….stunning. 

We were welcomed by the local support group playing some Egyptian beats and chanting some mesmerising lyrics……which was very evocative as at the same time the wind beat through the flags and a wood fire crackled…. 

My fellow tent mates hail from Australia, Thailand, UK, New Zealand and Hong Kong. I’ve just heard England have beaten Scotland and Tonga have beaten France so the day is finishing off nicely as we settle into the first night in our sleeping bags…..to lighten my pack I decided to leave my ground mat behind….only time will tell if that was a wise decision or not. 

It’s 7pm now and we’re due to start the race at 7am. The mood is great around camp, lots of excitement and a real eagerness to get on with the race. 

Thanks everyone for the kind words of support. Will keep you posted same time tomorrow on how the first stage went. 

So that’s me, Ryan Hill, reporting live from a random lake in the desert…..

Spot the Raidlight backpacks....Yes at least two other fellow competitors are bedding down overnight for a 5 hour delay in HK airport..... We already know we have missed our connection but hopefully we make the Dubai to Cairo flight in the afternoon....first test begins....

first a Typhoon 3 warning, then T8 now back to T3............take-off bound to be bumpy, the A380 may even get there earlier.......kit is checked, re-checked and still don't think I have everything........definitely lost my marbles though........bring on the inflight entertainment and plane food......

Typhoon 3 signal in Hong Kong and has just hit Sai Kung at 11pm.....helping me take my mind off the race while I do the final kit checks.....thanks for all the amazing support so far and the monies donated! Good luck to fellow competitors and safe travels......

Is anyone who has run this race in the past taking a sleeping mat?

Not had a drink since July 31st......(except for a Macallan 60yo dram this week at the duty free show in Cannes....I just had to)...bored of waiting and looking forward to getting on with it .......raised over USD$20,000 so far for my charty - Sunrise Children's Association Inc www.scai.org.au  with most monies coming from tremendous support from the Global Duty Free Industry......million thanks to you ....and special mention to:

-Phineas Products - Dan Wright;
-King Power HK's Antares Cheng;
-Scorpio's Stuart Mcguire;
-TDCO's Daniel Kim; 
-Ever Rich' Simon Chiang;
-Premier Portfolio's Kev, Andrew, Gaz;
-Moodiereport.com's Martin Moodie;
-Abu Dhabi Duty Free's Dan Capell;
-Crislu's Bryan Crisfield... .

and all the tremendous efforts to date......

..will be travelling next Thursday/Friday 29th Sept from HK to Cairo via Dubai on Emirates

My first event is 3 months away......I'm training a couple of hours a day before work, mainly running, well plodding, well walking too, on sections of the Maclehose trail behind my house in Sai Kung. I regularly summit Ma On Shan on stage 4 and back down to my house. it's a lot of steps 5Om to 65Om above sea level in 4km. Have built up to carrying 8 kgs incl water and 5 kg bag of rice......I feel much fitter since I started training 6 weeks ago, have lost 7kg and just finished 21km run-plod-trek last Sunday on stage 1 in 2h 4Om (it was 32c and 9O% humidity(. I'm happy with progress. My plan is to build up to 3Okm in July and 4Okm in August........by walking up hills, plod the flat and run/plod the down hills.. Common injuries so far: blisters, toe nails. Old knee injury fixed using Panadol. still using cotton socks and no Hydropel so its my own fault. Fitness: I have not yet been using Nuun or Recoverite. I know I should be, I believe everyone uses products like this? (i am a novice afterall. Advice and Sharing on the following would be welcome -Training regimes -Equipment -Diet if anyone fancies meeting up in Sai Kung to train, please let me know Cheers Ryan