Well the race of all races is over and I am a little dazed & unsure where to start. That being said I will attempt to summarise the magic of today and how I am feeling now that I have completed the Grandslam. Quick note there is the potential that I maybe gushy, emotional and a little dramatic in this blog - I am feeling the combination of a runners high on rocky sea legs. It 1:20am and 60s music is in the background whilst half the ship is up boozing and the other half are in their cabins fast asleep.
 
I firstly wanted to say a big hello to the students at Dawul Remote Community School, Doon Doon Station who have been following me. Thank you for your lovely messages and support!!
 
I was incredibly zonked last night and collapsed into bed very aware of my sore knee - which I think was a result of toight hamstrings. The Rickstar and I woke to the ding dong sound of the PA making the breakfast call. We stumbled out of bed and the buzz in the dining room was the presence of Orca Killer Whales out the window.  The boat stopped for a few hours as we watched the Orcas and eventually humpback whales circling the boat. I did this viewing with Lady  (Lucy) Tang and Devrim in the Captains Deck and I was given the honour of making my own announcement on the PA when the Orcas began to play/attack a penguin. This deferred our start time as we still had another hours journey to the Island. The boat arrived and the course team headed into the zodiacs around noon and we were given the initial briefing that we needed to be prepared to run until 9pm. I had been expecting a short day so was a little apprehensive about another long day until it clicked in my mind that this was the final stage of the RTP series. BIG DAY!!
 
Packing the gear and getting dressed for a day in the snow is a lengthy task. Hydropel, layers of clothing, zinc all over the face (which made me look a little grey), hair in pigtails, buff * 2, glacier goggles, gloves, ipod, boots for the zodiac crossing AND then preparing the drop bag. Once completed I went to the dining room where you were able to see the course team setting out the course. Gahhhhh!!!!! it looked pretty intense and it included some VERY sizeable hills & deep deep snow- in fact it took the course team over 25 minutes to mark one hill. Time was passing and I grabbed one of my spare freeze dried meals and chomped on that as it was approaching 2pm- not an ideal time to be starting a run.
 
We got onto the zodiacs at 2:30 and the race began at 2:55. I was conscious of not drinking too much water today as the only portable toilet was on shore, over 500metres away from the course and down a steep descent (I think everyone held on today). We were running at Dorian Bay which is a penguin colony and the give way to penguin rule was well enforced. Ryan Sandes appeared to blend in with the penguins in his black and white get up and they seemed to know they shouldn't stop him. As we were running there was a guy on skis cruising around, it looked like such a hoot. As I made my way up the ridge one of the RTP called out to me as there was a mini avalanche over on the mountain to the right of me. It was not in anyway going to impact us but it was definitely worth turning my attention off my foot placement to have a look.
 
The first two laps of the course were the toughest. The first 10 runners were asked to line up because it would be very difficult to overtake before the snow was broken up & a path created. I was unable to run for the first lap as was everyone else except for a competitor who wore snow shoes! To be honest this stage was not really a runners course due to the snow and the constant hills. Maneuvering your way through the course required absolute focus and I took a few tumbles along the way.
 
I am unsure of how many laps I did today but 
I crossed the finish line hand in hand with two fabulous women- Diana Hogan Murphy & Mirjana Pellizzer and the ever steady David Pearse. We all started the day on the same mileage so for someone to take a definite lead they needed to make a ballsy move pretty early & keep with it. Surprisingly I was feeling pretty strong up the hills today and there were a few moments when I was tempted to give it a crack and see if I could create a lead. However my experience from this past year is that the finish line is all the sweeter when you can cross it with the comrades you have shared the week with.  With two hours to go we had a little discussion and made the pact to finish the day together. I am in awe and amazement that I was able to keep up with these three machines & actually lead the pace for the majority of the day - especially as I feel they are in another league physically to me. RTP will find another way to differentiate us in the first, second and third placing - probably based on average lap times (which for the last two stages will be close if not exactly the same).
 
The finish line was quite surreal and it still hasn't sunk in that I have finished the race. We dillie dallied around after the race and subsequently the cold weather picked up and we nearly got caught in some horrid weather going back in the zodiacs. Lucy Rivers, Simone Bishop, Ryano, Stan Lee, Jen Steinman, Sevan and I clung to each other as every bone in our body was frozen. I was unable to feel my feet and my hands were completely numb. Crazy again how quickly things can change out here. I arrived back to my cabin with Ricky already in bed trying desperately to get his body temperature back up. I stood in our wee little shower for over 20minutes - so happy we had this luxury. Over 3 hours later & the body isn't feeling any pain but I'm sure I will be hobbling around in agony tomorrow.
 
We are now heading back to Ushuaia, which should take a few days- making one tourist stop tomorrow. We are also trying to beat a bad storm that is brewing.
 
Thank you so much for everyone that has written to me. This has been a big year and I am so happy that I have completed it successfully. I read all of your comments twice today and they brought a tear to my eye both times!! Thanks to everyone who has donated to my chosen charity and another call out for those who are able to donate. Jump onto my website http://www.samanthagash.com and you can donate to the Royal Childrens Cystic Fibrosis Research Trust on the donate button on my homepage.
 
Epic blog I know..
 
Big love

I am writing this blog from a very exhausted yet exhilarated state. I definitely cannot guarantee there will be a coherent line of thought expressed. I have just completed a 11 hour stage where I managed to complete 75kms. The greatest mileage covered was by the amazing Ryan Sandes who pumped out 100kms. Followed by Paolo (Italy) who completed 82.50. The least amount covered today was 45kms.
 
You may have read from my last blog that we were meant to go out in the afternoon for a second attempt to run some kms. The weather didn't get any better so we spent the rest of the day on the boat. Although it is frustrating getting all of the gear on - for the second time in one day, I had pumped myself up for some more running in the snow. Last night we cruised to Deception Island and the plan was to do a long stage beginning at 6am. Luckily the weather permitted the zodiacs to take us to land and despite being in a mild blizzard the race started on time. The route was completely a mind game with a 2.5km circuit. This meant you were constantly crossing people who were headed the other direction and also looping people if they were slower than you. It was quite a magical feeling running in the snow and I was happy with my gear selection which kept me relatively toasty. The countdown went off and we were on our way. This was one of the most toughest runs I have ever participated in. Obviously there was the mental element of continually looping a 2.5km circuit- boredom is one word which can adequately sum up that feeling. The other element I was confronted with was one of competition. On a long day in other RTP events you don't have much idea where other people are, so you are pretty much pushing & motivating yourself. Very early in the day the three top women, which included Diana (Ireland- winner of Gobi 09 & 3rd placed in Atacama 10), Mirgana (Croatia- 2nd placed in Sahara, Gobi & Atacama) and myself were incredibly close to each other. This race is based on the amount of loops you do so if you were thinking competitively you didn't want either of them to be a loop ahead of you. We pushed each other to the max and we kept the pace up so that all of us are now placed within the top 12 competitors of the field. Unbelievably I am now equal sixth which is a very bizarre and unusual place for me to to be in. Although we were competing against each other it was incredibly friendly and everytime we passed each other we would embrace a quick high five and tilt of the head. On a personal best note I ran the whole day (mainly grandma shuffle style) which has now lead to quite a sore knee and very painful muscles and joints.
 
The legend of the day for me was Mark Jaget. He was pulled out the first day for medical reasons and decided to join me for a lap after 5 or so hours. He ended up staying with me the whole day and completely pushed me to a place I have not been before. Diana and Dave were running together and Mirgana joined them for a few loops so I was feeling quite lonely on my own. When Mark joined me I was over 2kms behind them and within an hour I had slowly caught up and ended up leading for at least 6 loops. Towards the end I was in struggleville and he was constantly pushing me to eat the picklets that I grabbed from the breakfast and told me stories whilst asking me random questions. I have so many things I would love to say about Mark right now but I feel very blessed to have had his company with me today and he opened my eyes to a new way of racing. That being said I definitely pushed my body to its complete limits. When I finished I was in tears, shivering and unable to communicate. The weather suddenly shifted and we were stuck on the island in a hard core blizzard. We were lucky to get back to the boat all safe. 
 
This race has also taught be about the volatility of Antarctica. The weather changed at the drop of a hat from snowing to relatively warm to intense blizzard with high winds. I kept all of my layers on all day because I was fearful to be caught out without my jacket and layers. I did get quite hot in the middle section but lucky considering what happened at 5:30pm.
 
I have just finished dinner and I am READY for bed. Will be running the final stage (could be a long one again) tomorrow at 10am. Grateful for the sleep in.
 
Missing everyone at home and thank you for the blog and email comments. There is a massive backlog in the system (rather annoying) so I have only received a few from stage 1 blog. Cannot wait to read them tomorrow at breakfast.
 
Love to all

We are quickly realising that you need to expect the unexpected in this race and to be too locked into a plan/schedule is going to be a detriment. After I wrote my blog last night I had dinner and then went downstairs to sew my ripped gaiters. My shoes were pretty wet so I did a sneaky convoy mission and sweet talked one of the boat staff to put my shoes in the engine room to dry. Success!! (When she gave them back to me this morning she whispered in my ear that she has a spot for me to put them in when I finish stage two- hush, hush).
 
It was 1am when I slide into my bed and despite being physically tired I was completely wired. On top of that I was unsettled by the potential that we may need to rise at 3:45am. My usual desire for a set schedule prevented me from having a decent rest which was quite foolish of me. At 3am I was wide awake and started to walk around the ship. I bumped into one of the staff and did my spanglish to find out how high the winds were. After an initial look of confusion he told me that the winds were at 40knots - this meant it was unlikely it would die down quick enough for it to be safe to board the zodiacs at 5am. Once again I climbed back into bed only to wake thirty minutes later to an announcement that breakfast would be pushed back to 6am.
 
6am comes and the Rickstar and I decide to grab a feed and go back to bed. The talk around town is that most people would have burnt around 5000 calories yesterday (obviously varied on people's size). I smashed a big breaky of carbs, carbs and more carbs and went to my room to wait for the announcement of when we would start. The new plan was for us to head out at 9:30am for a start time of 10:30. Once we arrived on shore we were told the course would be the same except we would be starting up the opposite loop than yesterday. And off we go...... My body felt pretty good despite some soreness in my left upper thigh and I pushed up the hill behind Dianna from Ireland and Dave from South Africa. I normally hate the idea of someone running right behind me and I will often let them go in front of me so I can be in my own head space BUT knowing that the race is determined on the number of loops you do, as opposed to time, I stuck with the second placed female from yesterday. As we headed out on the zodiacs the weather was looking pretty miserable and the clouds were dark dark grey.  I was 1 km from finishing the 9km loop when I was told that we had to get back to the ship. I cranked up the pace and transitioned from my shuffle to a run. I hoped onto the first available zodiac and it wasnt long before it became an Aussie version of a blizzard.
 
We are eating lunch at the moment and Mary has just announced that we need to be prepared to go out again in one hour. Needless to say I stopped eating and am quickly writing this blog so I can go back to my cabin and hairdry my shoes.This race is a complete mind game...I felt pretty good when we started today but the back of my legs are feeling pretty tight so I hope they turn over when we get back out there.
 
Still in good spirits and trying to embrace the mantra of 'going with the flow'.
 
Definitely thinking warm thoughts today.
 
Love to all.

Oh my goodness WHAT A DAY!!! It is 9:47pm and we are waiting to eat dinner before a much needed recovery rest. For those who didn’t receive the breaking updates our start time was considerably pushed back due to strong winds which made it unsafe to take the zodiacs to shore. We didn’t receive this update at 3:40am when Ricky and I were fully dressed, pumped up and about to eat breakfast. We climbed back into bed and slept until 6am when I headed to breakfast to see a decent contingent of competitors looking out the window and hoping the start would hurry up. It was the epitomy of a waiting game and I had finally curled into bed when we had a PA announcement saying the weather had cleared and we needed to be ready to depart in an hour. All of a sudden it became very real.
 
Once dressed I waited in the library but everyone was umming and ahhhhing about their gear selection so I escaped to Ryan’s room where we had some quiet focusing time. The trip on the zodiac was incredibly windy and I was thankful that I had chosen to wear two pairs of CW-X tights (1 being a thermal), gortex pants, long injinji compression socks, thermal CW-X top, light CW-X top and vest and waterproof jacket. I thought I looked like a oompa loompa but Alina insisted that I looked like a munchkin- so that is probably slightly more complimentary.
 
We had 30minutes to prepare ourselves on shore and off we went. The first 1.5kms was a part of the walking zone which obviously means we were not able to run (bahaha). It seemed a little frustrating at the beginning but I can assure you that I was kissing the air on the walking zone sections later on in the race. I probably started a little too hard and was the second placed female until the 28km mark- where I was joined and subsequently overt taken by a Croatian competitor Marianna. In typical style I made her converse with me and found out that she has placed second in every RTP race she has ever done, she is a total warrior.
 
Now onto the terrain- TOUGH TOUGH TOUGH- in fact the toughest terrain I have experienced in an RTP event. It felt like a combination of salt flats + sand dunes. There was thick snow which was impossible to navigate through, ice which was broken into freezing water by the second loop (it was so deep that at times I was waist high in freezing icy water) and mud that was slippery and had such suction that it removed by shoe twice. I had envisaged that the terrain would be flat but it was anything  but flat. There were hills at every turn and it was probably a 50-50 split on whether I ran or walked them.
 
Onto a slightly disturbing confession: about 40kms in I needed to go to the bathroom. There were 2 portable toilets near the shore, approximately 100metres from the course. The thought of making that detour and pulling down my copious layers in the freezing weather was less than appealing. I said to myself if I still needed to go in 30minutes I may be tempted to pee my pants. Disgusting I know but luckily It didn’t get to that point!!
 
One great plus of the figure of eight loop is that you were able to see people all the time. Everyone had such a positive spirit despite the tough stage. It was motivating to have competitors that you hadn’t spoken to slap you a high give and pass on encouraging words. In fact when I came back to the boat I had two competitors shake my  hand who I had never met before. Great bunch of people!!!
 
I ended up doing 60kms which was four laps. There were an even split of people who did 3 or 4 laps and about 4 people did 5 laps and the amazing Ryan Sandes did 6 =90kms. Absolute trooper! One horrific part of the course was when there were swooping birds that proceeded to attack a few competitors. These pesky birds swooped me to a point that I was laying on the snow screaming. When I had the nerve to get up again they came back and pecked at my head and I laid on the snow screaming and waving my poles in the air. Every time I came to that section again I put my poles in a cross above my head and ducked down low.
 
Although there were several people who did four laps- our times were all different on when we completed them. At this point everyone who did the same amount of kms is on an equal score- somewhat bizarre approach but let’s just roll with it.  I had a very tough section between 2-3 loops and was in a total rut. Came around for the last 1.5loops and loved every moment of it- felt like I could have gone for hours.
 
I had a 20 minute shower when I got back to the ship and am now just thawing out. Two competitors pulled out because their toes were frozen. By the end all of our feet were completely soaked and there was nothing much you could do about it.
 
The plan for tomorrow is the same as today. 3:30 wake up for a 6am start and 9pm finish. The Chinese meteorologists at the manned station said it is meant to be a rough morning, so maybe we won’t be starting till later. Everyone is hoping that is the truth as we will only get a maximum of four hours sleep.  Have to still be prepared to go early- gahhhh.
 
Long blog but it was a biggie today.
 
Loving the blog comments and emails. I am thinking of all of you and you are certainly helping me get through.
 
Lots of love

Mahhh the seas are a little rough as I am starting to write this blog. Almost fell into Lucy Tang's (Tango) lap and I am getting a reputation of sliding into a middle of a conversation whenever the boat goes a rockin. Over the past few hours it has been getting increasingly cooler and the wind has picked up as well. We are forecasted to arrive at King George Island at midnight and we will be completing the first two stages there before heading further south.
 
We had a 10am briefing that outlined the plans for stage 1. At this point we will have a wake up call at 3:45am and we need to eat breakfast, dressed and be prepared to board the zodiacs at 4:45am. This is a very different format to the previous racingtheplanet events in that we will be running, walking, crawling, making snow angels from 6am to 9pm. This means that the fastest runners (I.e Ryan Sandes) are likely to complete 140kms and the slowest walkers are more likely to complete 60kms. I truly have no idea how far I will be able to go but I have put out an arbitrary distance of 80-90kms. The only concern in going out moderately hard to achieve this goal is the floating rumor that we need to back up the following day with another 6am-9pm day. I'm going to put it out there that backing up two days close to 100kms is FREAKING me out. After the long stage in the previous races I am pretty zonked and sore and I am sure the cold weather is going to play havoc on my muscles. This will be a tough undertaking for every competitor, even the top guys who are only usually out on the course for a maximum of 12hours.
 
The route will consist of 14.5km loops which will take us from the Chinese to Uruguay manned stations. In fact there will never be more than 4.5kms when we are away from the checkpoint as we will be going in a figure of eight.
 
I have just gone through my gear and my backpack is relatively light. We need to have a waterproof bag on the shore but we are unable to access this until 9pm when the stage is over. We have been given four rules that if broken we will be immediately disqualified.
 
1. We cannot go to the bathroom on the course (there will be 1 portable bathroom provided for us on the course)
2. No littering (intentionally or unintentionally)
3. Cannot disturb the wildlife (this means that the penguins have the right of way)
4. You cannot run in the walk zone (which is approximately a few hundred meters in the middle of the loop)
 
I am looking forward to taking off this sea sickness patch when I go to bed tonight. It has had the side effect of making my mouth incredibly clammy and dry and my pee is bright yellow despite the large quantities of water I have been consuming. This seems to be the situation for most of the competitors & its difficult to know how to keep hydrated. Tango, Jacqueline and I went to the gym for a short session yesterday. It was pretty hilarious going for a run on a treadmill whilst on a boat.
 
Well everyone, time for a nana nap --> dinner --> final check of gear --> BED.
 
Apologies for this disjointed blog- its quite difficult to string my thoughts together as I am bundled up with nerves, excitement and the rocking of the boat isn't helping either.
 
The email and blog comments have not come through from yesterday so I am looking forward to reading them all when they are uploaded.
 
Thinking warm thoughts.
Love to all.

Hello All,
 
We are 22hours into our journey through the Drakes Passage and onto Antarctica = woooohooo. I had a moment of realisation as I boarded the boat yesterday afternoon and thought to myself I am incredibly lucky to be able to embark on this challenge at the age of 26.
 
We took off at 6pm last night and spent the first couple of hours getting settled into our cabins. I have been paired up with Ricky Paugh (good friend throughout this whole Grandslam experience) and we have been placed on the lower level of the boat. There are positives and disadvantages in being near the bottom of the boat. The disadvantages is that our room is relatively small and we only have a tiny window. This is in contrast to the huge windows and big rooms of those on the level above us. However, the biggest advantage in being at the bottom of the boat is we are less likely to battle with sea sickness. We also had the nice company of Ryan Sandes and Dean Leslie as our neighbours.
 
The boat itself is rather amazing and it has a fantastic dining area, sauna, gym, library and seminar room. After we checked into the room we had a safety check of the life jackets and zodiac boats. I feel very far removed from the tent and sand setting of Sahara as we toasted the beginning of the journey with pisco sours, red wine and other alcoholic beverages (I opted for the orange and mango juice option). This was followed with food being served on silver platters, hahaha very la di da. Last night really felt like a whirl wind and by the end of the night my brain and body were about to combust with excitement and exhaustion. We all met in the lush dining room at 10pm for dinner. The entree was a couscous, salmon and avocado dish and gnocchi as a main. As I stumbled to my cabin at 11:30pm I crawled into bed and was out within three minutes.
 
The boat ride so far has been moderately calm and smooth sailing. That being said the boat is still rocking side to side and everyone is knocking into the walls. Ricky and I went to breakfast around 8pm and we looked rather drunk and dozey as we struggled to get our balance. A few chairs have fallen over and my fingers are crossed that I wont be too bruised up before we start racing.
 
We just received word that we may make our first destination by the end of tomorrow, which is ahead of schedule and apparently a very quick crossing. This means we should be starting the race the following morning. Little has been said on the stage distances, times or equipment required in our race packs. All that we do know is that the first stage is likely to be 100miles or close to- which is something I am quite scared about. Having never run anything more than 105kms in one stage this distance will be very much the unknown for me. In addition I will have new gear and cold conditions to contend with as well.
 
The sea sick patches have also taken their toll on most of the competitors and everyone is incredibly sleepy. Many people are in their cabins at the moment having some shut eye before dinner. Another side effect of the patches is constantly having a dry mouth,. It is imperative to keep hydrated and I have probably gone through a few liters of water today. As we had lunch today the rocking of the ship (which is felt the worst in the dining area) made me feel quite nauseas. Ryan and Dean also started to look a little pale and we all headed down stairs as soon as we finished eating. I decided to have a shower which was quite the experience, I was holding onto a metal bar for dear life as I was quite nervous of falling over. I felt like a new women after the shower and my stomach has now settled down.
 
The staff on the boat and lovely and have been offering seminars on the bird life and whales we are likely to see. They are also showing a few documentaries so the time is flying by. I am quite eager to start racing but I am happy I have a few days to shake off the jetlag and the craziness of my transit to Ushuaia. Going to have a cup of tea and a nananap now.
 
Thanks for the support and for the kind donations made to the Royal Children's Cystic Fibrosis Research Trust (further donations can be made via my website http://www.samanthagash.com)
 
Love to all.

RacingThePlanet offers four diverse and spectacular races in different pockets of the globe. It is one of the greatest appeals of doing this series in that you are able to race in remote and hard to access locations. However, one ever-present challenge in racing around the world is the difficulties that can arise with transit. In the first race of this series, the Atacama Crossing, there was the devastating earthquake that shook Chile and consequently affected air travel. I was based in Santiago during the earthquake and I was amazed how competitors throughout the world moved heaven and earth- via plane, bus, taxi and foot, to get themselves to the start line. A month later in the roving RacingThePlanet event held in Australia, competitors were impacted by Iceland

There is less than 1 week before I fly out to Argentina to hopefully complete the final race in the RacingthePlanet’s Four Desert Series. It has been one month since I returned from Egypt where I was amazingly uninjured and satisfied with a consistent performance.  Everything seemed to come together in Egypt despite having the accumulative strain of racing in three 250km desert races in the past seven months. I was incredibly happy with my nutrition, which was certainly on the minimal side in comparison to previous races. However I had the essential combination of ASCEND protein recovery shakes & bars and Juice Plus+ supplement capsules. I didn’t change my clothing from the Gobi at all and knew that my CW-X  gear would provide me with the necessary support during the stages and assist my recovery at night. As the turnover period between the Sahara and Antarctica was only five weeks I was very lucky not to  have any blister (woohooo to Injinji socks & hydropel). This would have surely impacted my final preparation and training.

 Preparing for this final race has had its share of difficulties. I came back to Sydney in a cloud of delirium and excitement. I was quickly shaken back to reality as I had to sit my law finals within the first week of returning home. The motivation to immerse myself into study lockdown was waning but I have come out on the other side- relatively unharmed & with most of my hair. Seven years of university completed= tick, tick.

Needless to say the opportunity to break in my new gortex trail shoes had been limited until the weekend just been. Daniel (the boyfriend), Malcolm (Sahara tent mate) and I decided very last minute that we would make the four hour drive to Canberra to race in the Deep Space Mountain Marathon. Wildly unprepared for a 44km race let alone one with a steep gradient, we made the trek out to Namadgi National Park Saturday afternoon. As we reached the camp ground we started to realise what we had gotten ourselves into. Temperature was at 5 degrees, it was raining and the terrain looked incredibly tough. On top of that we looked at the other competitors who fitted into our perception of what a mountain runner should look like- tough, wiry with long grey beards.  

 We set up our tents in the rain & huddled into Malcolm & Amber’s tent for a feed of pasta, crunchy Asian salad and roast chicken (for the meat eaters). The rain continued into the night & the temperature dropped further. I went out in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and my heart briefly stopped as I heard a kangaroo right next to me.

4:15am came and we chomped down an Ascend Bar and made our way to the start line. Still unsure if we would do the 44kms or the 25kms we all decided we would make the decision along the way- as there was the option to drop into the 25km event.  The first 6kms was on road, windy and downhill. Conscious of my somewhat fragile knees I took it carefully and tried to concentrate on my form. My shoe laces came loose twice despite double knotting them. I chatted to a few of the competitors but was pretty consumed with 110% focus on each step. We turned off the road onto the trails and I was able to see Daniel & Malcolm about 500metres ahead of me. Then the climb began. We had  6.5kms up the greatest gradient I have ever raced on. It involved one river crossing, muddy/ slippery surface, occasional rocks and I was certainly succumbed to walking sections of it. I was approximately 1km from the peak when the first competitor made his way down the hill (as it was an up and back course for the first 25kms). Daniel and Malcolm flew past me with 600 meters to go and they looked in great form. Although my legs were stiffening up from the uphill’s I knew the downhill would be far more taxing on my quads and knees. Being aware that I didn’t want to have an injury for Antarctica I attempted to be uber careful on the downhill whilst still trying to stride out. Again my shoe laces came loose twice &  I cursed my decision not to change the laces beforehand. After chatting to a few other competitors about the terrain after the 25km mark I knew the smart decision would be to stop once I reached the top of the hill.  

Daniel, Malcolm and Amber were all waiting for me at the end, waving their arms in the air like fools and cheering me on. All four of us placed in the top three in each of our events and came home with four bottles of red wine. An amazingly well organized race and the race director clearly puts on the event for a love of mountain running. Next  year I hope to complete the full course with some specific  training.

So it is the morning after and my legs are feeling alright. A little stiff but less than I expected. Lots to do before I fly out on the 15^th, which will be squeezed into full time work.

The challenge is nearing an end but my quest to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Research Trust is still in full swing. Thanks again to everyone who has donated so far and I encourage everyone else to chip in as much as you can. The trust is dependant on donations to fund the amazing research projects which are undertaken. Cystic Fibrosis affects so many people and does not always receive the comparative level of attention. You can donate through the link on my homepage and all donations are tax deductible and go straight to the trust.