Well what a huge week and it has all come to an end this morning with a short stroll/run into the piramyds to the finish line and a much deserved pizza and coke. There was no official times for this mornings run so the placings did not change at all. I want to say thanks to everybody for there emails and messages over the last week they helped so much to get me over the line every day. Wendy, I hope to see Andrew tomorrow morning but apparently visiting and egyptian hospital can be difficult. My email address is [email protected] please email me and I can give you any information I have on him. Thank you every one it has been an awesome experience Brad

well first an apology for not giving an update for the stage four the other day,struggled a bit on this day so was shatter at the end of the stage.
 
Stage 6 The Tethis Ocean March
 
86k's of the best and worst the Sahara has to throw at us, it was going to be a long day and my main goal will be to survive and get over in the best shape possible. the day started at 0500 with tapping feet, packing bag, breakfast followed by a run the desert. 0700 was the start seeing everyone run/hobble over the line heading towards the Valley of the Whales some 20k's ahead of us. the terrain for the section was fairly flat with hard packed stony surface with check point located in the middle somewhere and fairly straight foreword apart from a strong head wind that would persist for most of day. Check point 2 was at the entrance of the Valley, and conveniently had a shop that we could purchase a cold coke from which really hit the spot.
 
section 3 was through the valley of the whales with a fairly hard packed surface  leading to some more stony surface as we left the Valley and out in the desert again towards the check point 3. Once through this check point we were given rolling dunes followed by a long  long stretch to the next check point 4 which was conveniently located half way up a dune so as you could see it for the 2k before it while still battling the unforgiving head wind.
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once through check point 4 we were instructed to climb the dune and turn left which required us to climb the rest of the dune along the narrow tip and with the previous head wind now attacking from side causing an unsteady feeling. once descending this monstrous sand dune we headed toward 5 which would provide the option to put my feet up and get some hot water to try and make  my freeze dried meals more appetizing the .. this section was a mix of soft and hard pack with still a head wind which had now picked up a notch and made it difficult to see and move forward .
 
on reaching check  point was glad to see Frederic and Xavier from tent 5  all relaxing and putting there feet up, describing a treat I allowed myself 75 minutes at this point to refresh and refuel my self. at 1900 I decided to head out in to the Egyptian night and nock off the final 36k for the day, feeling like some company I teamed up with Sarah and Deborah from Australia and Sanya from Thailand who had good pace all day. for these sections we decided to try and keep a pace of about 5k/hr and have 10 minute check point.
 
Sticking to this plan the group moved quite quickly through the course and get back to camp at 0345, meaning a solid 20 hours running and walking. though the desert. we did  allow a few little pit stops and a moment to  take time to admire the stars at night which were pretty awesome
 
today  (Friday) is a rest day in camp and very hot with every one trying to find the coolest place to rest to tired bodies before our last night in the desert and a 0800 bus ride to the pyramids where we will do the last section of our marathon run. At this point we will return to our hotels and get the well deserved showers that we are all longing for and to wash the last of the desert from our bodies.
 
To every one who has posted and emailed me over the last week thanks so so much and really appreciated it as it has helped me get through this grueling event.
 
Simon, thanks mate for your encouragement this week, just to let you know Andrew unfortunately retired himself from the race and has been in hospitable for the last few days trying to get his sodium levels back up. He is doing well and coming along nicely, he had a huge week here and has some (typically Andrew) huge finishes before this.
 
Matt and Sean, thanks guys, hope you are both well and training hard, hope to see you on one of these races again soon, maybe Gobi 2012?
 
Yas, love you with all my heart and I will be home very soon to hold you and be with you. Miss you so much.
 
Ian, only you mate...... Thanks to Mandy and Holly for their inspirational emails and thank you for being you mate. see you at dinner soon or the 4desserts maybe.
 
everyone else thank you so much and keep in touch.
 
Brad

well another 43km down and dusted for the race, another rather good day with 3 section straight up with a difficult rating, managed a good start until just after check point 1 when my cursed stumpy wombat legs let me down in the soft sand. the course was sand dune after sand dune after bloody sand dune (yes Ian I took a photo for you mate) struggled a bit at this stage but every one else was struggling with the heat so manage to drop only a few places, no official temps given but they are talking mid 40's in temp for the highest.for the day. still in relatively good shape and spirits with my feet holding up nicely, just a few extra blisters at this stage so very happy.
 
Tomorrow is another 40k.s but with moderate ratings so hopefully be able run a bit more, really enjoying the race so far with so many good people here.. I officially do not like sand any and would be happy to never see it again.
 
Mandy & Ian and Holly, thanks so much guys for the messages, keep them coming they are awesome.
 
Martin, mate, having a ball here and really wish you could be here ,Andrew is missing you dearly too. I have put Andres advice to my game plan and has helped incredible. Hope to do it all again with you in Gobi mate.
 
Yas, not long now just a few more days and I will be home, hope you are relaxing at home by now. miss you so so so much. love you forever
 
see you again soon everyone.
 
Brad

well had a reasonable good day today so am pretty happy with myself, the course brief was for 41.7kms of joy with the final 3 section of  the course to be difficult. so far am really enjoying the course even with all the bloody sand that is here, the feet are holding up ok with only 3 small blister showing up so far and seem to be acclimatized to the heat as well so this is proving to be a big bonus for me
 
Sleep seems to be eluding me at this point as we seem to have someone that snores worse than me so might sleep out of the tent tonight to try and get a bit of shut eye.the tent as always is filled with and interesting bunch of guys all with very interesting backgrounds and a long list of physical achievements that make very envious
 
Simon and Ali, thanks so much guys  for the well wishes Andrew and I are having a great time out here and definitely adding to the list of war stories between us . Wish you 2 could be here guys as I know you love to return here.
 
Yas, thanks bubba, missing you so much....... Twirls ? i know nothing about your missing twirls. Hope you are well and have a good break, can you take the 2 envolopes of mine of the room when you go home please. love you with all my heart. see you soon
 
until next time everyone, thanks so much for the support.
 
Brad

1 day and 37 km down and feeling good.with just one small blister so far for the race so pretty happy with the day. unfortunately there seems to be an abundance of sand that is making it slow going so far, and the temperatures are in the low 40's as well that is also adding to the enjoyment of the race. Tomorrows course description is 3 stages difficult with sand dunes and soft sand and more sand so am going to try to enjoy it as much as possible.
 
Thanks to every ones well wishes and inspirational races,emails they are great and will keep me going for the hard stage of this race keep them coming please
 
Ian, we can do 4desserts when I get back to Brisbane if you  like, I will even let you choose the restaurant mate, even though I have a pretty good idea which one you will want to go to.
 
Yas, miss you sooooo much and I will be home soon to see you and hold you. love you with all my heart.,
 
 
until my next post every one keep sending messages and take care,
 
From some hot horrible part of the Sahara
 
Brad
 
from

Six months again as i was leaving Chile i remember promising to myself that i would not be ever be doing another one of these crazy races, little did i know that i would find myself here in my donga in the middle of the desert relaxing and packing and unpacking my bag and checking my equipment and preparing to head to my next desert. Tomorrow I fly Telfer-perth-singapore-dubai-cairo touching down refreshed and ready for my next great adventure to begin. So everyone stay tuned and in touch, send you best wishes and support via email and keep looking at my blog for the nightly update as I will do my best to keep everyone informed with my progress. See you in sahara Brad