The end

I'm now back in the UK and it's been four days since I finished the Marathon des Sables.

Various memories start coming back, including the mild hallucinations I had during the night stage. Having had a very poor week of sleep (and sleep just doesn't really happen when in the bivouac) it was during the night of Stage 4 in the sand dunes that I saw a white Berber tent complete with guy ropes and folds in the cotton of the tent. I started moving softly and taking a wider berth around it, keen not to disturb its sleeping occupants . . . until my brain reinterpeted what I saw for what it really was: just a large collection of clumps of grass on top of a mound of sand. The lamb I saw also wasn't a lamb. There were other weird "sightings".

Back at the hotel it took an hour and 3 showers to get off a week's worth of sand and all the detritus of human existence but I felt amazing afterwards.

It had been over a week since I'd seen myself in a mirror and I was really surprised at what I saw after a good shower and a shave: there was very little body fat left on me, it having been consumed in place of calories from food that I didn't have.

On the morning I left the UK (4 April) I weighed in at bang-on 14st and this morning (18 April) I weighed in at 13st 12lb. Bearing in mind I've absolutely stuffed myself for the last 3 days (I and my tent mates were having 3 main meals and 3 breakfasts for the day or two after the MdS, and lots of snacks in between!) I'm guessing I must have lost between 7lb and a stone during the week. When my wife first showed me after the finish a picture of a runner on her camera I asked who it was, not recognising that in fact it was me.

Would I do the MdS again? After Stage 1 one of our tent mates, Tony, decided to abandon (he completed the MdS last year) with the ominous words "I know what's coming and I realise I'm just not motivated to do it a second time." We all gulped at that.

It's unlikely. Once the "toughest footrace on earth" has been completed I'm not sure what my personal motivation would be for trying to complete the MdS a second time.

But having said that we were shown a few videos of the event in the hotel the day after the finish at the British presentation ceremony (see gadget top right: MdS 2012 videos). The videos (there are more on YouTube) show lots of smiles, uplifting music, inspirational interviews . . . and the pain has all been forgotten by then. Was it really that bad and uncomfortable? Wouldn't it be great fun to come back and do it again? When I see these videos it brings a lump to my throat and I'm itching to get my cheque book out!!

To get a faster time might be a motivation but it wouldn't be enough for me as so many external factors beyond one's control can put paid to that.

What the MdS does do is break you down both physically and mentally and it's up to you to build it all back up again, or quit. I was very lucky to have been a part of Tent 78 during the MdS with the best tent mates you could hope for (Tony, Paul, Ashley, Mark, Richard, Dean and Wayne) and we all variously agreed that the MdS also teaches you what is most valuable in life: the simple things and family. The day we were told we were going to get a cold can of Coke, for example, we were all like giddy kippers, kids at Christmas! During the night stage I suddenly became overwhelmed with excitement at the idea of getting home to simply sit and read a few pages of my book; in the dark painful moments I covered a few hundred metres with memories of cuddling up with my wife watching TV, or of my nephew recently explaining to me over a pub lunch how his Lego toy and beer mat invention would help me defeat camel spiders and scorpions in the desert.

I've certainly got the bug back from my 4 year hiatus from keeping fit and doing mad events and this time I don't intend stopping. The world is full of other ultra-events that are similarly tough and I guess I'll aim for them (one or all of the 4 deserts? the Fire and Ice Ultra?) . . . and the goal of joining The 100 Marathon Club one day seems a good one to aim for.

So I'll crack on with that then for now: just another 83 to go!

14 April 2012 Stage 6 - MERDANI/MERZOUGA: 15,5km

The final stage: a short distance of 15.5km but with a sting in the tail. It's Dunes Day for the last day: cruel. 9km (just over 5.5 miles) of tough sand dunes (the Chebbi Erg dunes, the highest in Morocco) with the last one a couple of hundred metres from the finish.

Decided to push it harder for this last day.

Ran most of the first 6.5km to CP1, managing my water as none was being given out at CP1. Kept going through the CP. Took a 234 degree compass bearing per the road book and kept to it, mostly, passing dozens who'd decided instead to take what deceptively appeared to be an easier route.

Some of these dunes were steep enough to need me on all fours to get over them but my leg strength, surprisingly intact after 144 miles in the last 6 days, powered me up and over most of the dunes. I saw a lone Berber sat atop a high orange-yellow sand dune with the bright blue background of the sky making a great photo, and we came across a few Berber camps sat in the middle of the dunes. Amazing to see.

Finally I saw the white finish-line inflatables in the near distance at the outskirts of the town of Merzouga, signalling the end of my 153 mile journey. Here I knew my wife, Mum- and Dad-in-law were waiting and this gave me a terrific boost.

From where I've no idea but I summoned enough energy to run hard over the last few dunes, powering down the other side and across the sparse stony flats. At last I summited the last sandy dune and ran my heart out towards the finish line, various friends and families of other competitors and other spectators around me clapping and cheering this group of stinking, ragged runners stumbling towards the end.

I heard the final "Bleep" as my GPS transponder crossed the finish line and I was done, 246.5km or 153 miles and 7 days from the start. I could see my wife and family and I was beaming: no pain, no sickness. Just utter relief and joy that it was all finished and a tremendous amount of satisfaction at having completed the toughest footrace on earth.

I joined the queue to receive my medal, hug and kiss from the Directeur Patrick Bauer, the creator of this event, and then funneled through to give my wife the biggest hug!

Too shortly later I was on the bus with my packed lunch for the 5 hour trip back to Ouarzazate and the comforts of real food, a shower and cotton towels, bedsheets and pillows, a journey that began in 2009 now almost over.

And believe me, that bus really stank!

13 April 2012 Stage 5 - JEBEL EL MRAIER/MERDANI: 42.2km

After a day's rest feel OK. Not fully recovered though from collapse and IV drip: can't get fully hydrated on rationed water so have to manage effort and water intake. Sore chest and bloody nose: shot-blasted from too many sandstorms.

A marathon today. After the 51 mile long stage we all feel like we've cracked it but today still has to be treated with respect. [It was later confirmed a number of people still dropped out today, including a leading competitor who suffered a heart attack out on the course and has been put into a medically-induced coma].

Mix of stony tracks, sand dunes and dried river beds. Seem to be getting stronger as each day passes but the sandy tracks and seemingly endless sand dunes just absorb all energy. Passed old abandoned village near end and started running more. Incredibly hot. Decided to put on iPod: tapping screen but couldn't see what was on it as too bright in the sun. Ended up in "Shuffle" mode: sad music saw me blubbing like a baby in my pained state; more uplifting music saw me smiling and bounding along seconds later. Decided to switch off iPod and play uplifting music to myself in my head.

Powered past dozens of people to finish feeling nauseous in a reasonable 7h2m for the marathon.

The organisers have flown in the Paris Opera for our evening entertainment! Classical music and opera under the stars: magical atmosphere.

11 & 12 April 2012 Stage 4 - EL MAHARCH / JEBEL EL MRAÏER : 81,5 Km

An ultra-marathon of just under 51 miles. This was the tough bit. Huge amount of sand. Included a hard mountain climb and steep sandy descent, then miles upon miles of soft sand: completely draining on legs. Miles of high sand dunes before Checkpoint 4.

Got to Checkpoint 4 just after dark and had a meal: headtorch on and fluorescent stick on back of rucksack. Intended to plough on through night to the finish. Complete darkness now so took 70deg compass bearing to follow dim light sticks and laser beam in sky to next checkpoint. Got my second wind. Pressed on hard for last 30km and passed dozens resting. Felt completely free of pain after 12 hours; had problems but felt I was gliding along. Runner's high!

Finished at about 3am Thursday morning and crashed into rucksack. Because I've ploughed on through the night I get a rest day (Thurs 12 April).

Rest day: sandstorm. Dust everywhere in everything. Then thunder and hail storm. Then scorching again! Feel good. Rumour: cold can Coke for all later!

10 April 2012 Stage 3 - TAOURIRT MOUCHANNE / EL MAHARCH : 35 Km

Made it to the start line! Felt better as day progressed. Very hot between 12 noon and 2pm when ascending hill and descending into sand plain: like running into an oven.
5km to finish: don't know what happened! Felt fantastic. Managed to overtake another 25 places in 5km. Huge smile to finish: ready for tomorrow's 51 miles!
Bad sand storms continually filling the lungs and have sandblasted my nostrils!

9 April 2012 Stage 2 - OUED EL AATCHANA / TAOURIRT MOUCHANNE : 38,5 Km

Tony from our bivouac abandoned today. Hard terrain to start with sand dunes. Huge salt flat: ran across for 6.25 miles in worst heat of day:52C. This was followed by an oasis full of wild camels which stank. Wheels fell off at 25km:no energy at all;hard to put one foot in front of the other.

Long way to reach 38km finish. Crossed line. Vomited lots; keeled over.

Next thing I knew I was being carried by Berber and medic to tent for stats, then jeep to medic tent. Given water with salts: vomited lots again. Put onto another bed and strung up for IV drip: 5 bags x 500ml. 2 hour penalty.

Wondered what's that flashing? Found myself surrounded by 3 photographers and videographer. Annoying. After 4 hours felt much better.

Back to our bivouac tent, but I had diarrhoea late into the night. Tried to sleep. Decided to abandon.

8 April 2012 Stage 1 - AMMOUGUER/OUED EL AATCHANA: 33,8km

French organisers wake us up at 5.30 driving around in Land Rover with speaker blaring sound of cockerel crowing. Funny.

3 minutes before we set off to the rhythm of AC/DC's Highway to Hell (doubly funny) a competitor passed out and was dragged off. Don't know if he started. 32C at 9am according to tent mate Wayne's watch.

Finally got running. Sand and dried river beds. Steep climb up a jebel for 200m with 15% gradient: rucksack feels heavy. People wobbling all over the place. At bottom of descent wave of heat very noticeable. [Later learnt temperature hit 48C today.]

Passed French competitor projectile vomiting at side of track. Looked in a bad way. "Ca va?" I asked. He nodded at me with hamster-like full cheeks and concern in his eyes . . . and projectile vomited everywhere again. Further up the track another competitor was in a bad way being overseen by Doc Trotters who'd arrived in their Land Rover.

Through CP2. Ahead started 1.3km sandy track to top of Tibert Jebel. Steep. Ensured I stopped every few steps once heart rate hit 160. Incredibly hot in the windless cover of the jebel. Finally saw finish bivouac 4.5km away. Took an absolute age to get there.

Back at bivouac heard rumour of an old desert well few 100 metres away. Tent mate Mark and I went to investigate. Sure enough, people luxuriating in cold waters drawn from well. We took turns dragging old leather bucket from the depths and pouring it over each other: freezing cold but felt fantastic. Felt much better after that. Also washed our kit. Not likely to have this opportunity again.

Dawning on us what we've let ourselves in for.

[Original Stage 1 email postings not sent from bivouac. This entry submitted later.]

At last!

Done: all packed and ready to go. Well, except for my hotel bag . . . I'm bound to have forgotten something.

The ambitious plan is for me to try and briefly update this blog after each stage but that depends on how shattered I am.

Best laid plans and all that!

Can't wait and itching to get on with it . . .

Rucksack weight

Today I finally packed up my rucksack and waist pouch and I'm really pleased to have got the weight for both down to 8.6kg in total: 4.1kg for my food supplies over 7 days (a total of 16,740 calories), and which will drop by about 600 grammes per day, and 4.5kg for everything else.

That's before adding water to my water bottles (about 1.4kg: unavoidable), and the other stuff the MdS organisers will issue on arrival: the compulsory distress flare (about 350 grammes), salt tablets, the road book (containing sketch maps and compass bearings) and 8 bags for the "toilets" which, although I don't intend to use them, are a compulsory item to be carried.

The packing jigsaw begins. No, the bed's
not coming.

It's been a fascinating exercise in cutting down weight!

For example, I need to take some topical disinfectant as a compulsory item and once I finally got hold of iodine (off the internet, unbelievably, rather than Boots or my local chemist) I decanted the 25ml glass bottle contents into an emptied plastic bottle of Simple Eye Make-up Remover (which my research in Superdrug showed had the same bottle top design as the original iodine bottle), saving 33 grammes!

And yes I have cut off excess straps and unused buckles and togs off my rucksack, saving between 10-20 grammes.

I've also decanted my various freeze-dried foods out of their original foil bags into Poly-Lina Pour and Store bags which can take boiling water, meaning I save between 7 and 15 grammes per bag dependent on the freeze-dried brand. For 5 meals that weight saving allows me to take my Garmin GPS watch without too much guilt!

In total, by thinking about every little bit of my kit and foods (which themselves had all been bought with  weight considerations in mind) I've saved up to 1kg in unnecessary weight.

And it all fits!

This does mean though I'm travelling with little: just one spare pair of socks and one spare pair of shorts for camp in the evening to allow things to, er, freshen up as best they can. And I've ditched a 67 gramme pillow: it was too uncomfortable and I'll have to rely on putting my head on my rucksack.

Every gramme will count!

Heat acclimatisation

I'm fortunate to live close to the Harrogate Turkish Baths which have three rooms with three different temperatures (45C, 55C, 70C) which are also a dry rather than humid heat, so ideal for getting used to some desert-like conditions.

Today was my last day in these and I've had 12 days of one hour sessions. I started straight into the 70C room and felt a little unwell after 45 minutes but managed to stick with it. I really noticed the taste of salt in the sweat pouring down my face (which started after about 3 minutes).

For the last couple of days I've sat for an hour in the 55C room. Over the last week or so I've really noticed a significantly reduced salty taste in my sweat (part of the body's heat acclimatisation process is apparently reabsorbing a significant percentage of the body's salts rather than excreting it: see Mike Stroud's book Survival of the Fittest) and it's taken an increasingly longer time before I'm dripping buckets.

Initially too my heart rate monitor (yes, I wore it!) showed a higher than normal heart rate as it sought to cope with the stress of 70C, getting up to 110-120 beats per minute just from very gentle leg stretching. During a spa weekend away last week I sat in a room which was at 85C: very uncomfortable and I didn't last more than 15 minutes before a 5 minute break (then back in for another 10!).

But today's last session felt fine and gave me some confidence I'll be a little more comfortable when I arrive in the Sahara on Friday.

As the highest temperature I'm likely to experience on the MdS shouldn't be more than 50-55C (though some of last year competitors recorded 56C) I sat in the 55C room yesterday and today. This felt far easier than the 70C room and it took a lot longer before I was dripping. My heart rate also didn't exceed 95 beats per minute during some stretches.

I'll be fascinated to see whether this heat acclimatisation exercise will have achieved anything once I'm in the desert on Friday!

Desert hygiene

The desert is a sterile environment but hygiene problems will be created from the usual suspects: hand-to-mouth contact, the toilets (a hole in the ground in a small tarpaulin make-shift cubicle) and cooking.

Inevitably I'll finish the week absolutely stinking as washing is not really an option with a limited water supply. I'll give myself a token daily wipe down using Wemmi Wipes, a tablet the size and depth of a couple of £1 coins which, when a drop of water is added, expands to a damp towel about 20cm x 20cm. Very clever!

But that realistically won't do that much and it's still possible I'll end up binning them just before the off. If I'm going to stink then I may as well really stink!

Every other bit if hygiene risk I've thought about carefully. You could be the fittest person in the world but once the D&V take a hold (as, historically, it has done to the majority) there's a very real risk of DNF (Did Not Finish).

So my hygiene thoughts are as follows:

- using a toothbrush and toothpaste is a risk from hand-to-mouth contact so I won't be using them for a week and instead I'll be using Orbit Spearmint chewing gum;

- I don't intend using the provided "toilets" and will instead head off a few yards into the desert to dig a hole, taking care to stamp around loudly to ward off inquisitive desert nasties like scorpions and camel spiders, and incinerate with my lighter the paper left behind (apparently in years past some competitors haven't done this, creating interesting wind-borne items in sand storms!);

- in a similar vein is the issue of how much toilet roll to take and how? Best tip I've heard is bagging up a day's ration into a sandwich bag so I now have 7 such bags with a guesstimate of a daily supply and a glove; in this way I reduce the risk of transporting around my person and taking back to the bivouac a contaminated single roll of toilet paper;

- cooking: I'll be boiling my spork before each meal and afterwards applying alcohol gel; all my meals will be eaten out of disposable bags, reducing the risk of contaminated pots etc;

- water bottles: I can't change my water bottles on a daily basis but after a few day's use they'll become a bacterial breeding ground without some attention, so I will add half a Boots Micropur chlorine-based sterilising tablet to some water in my bottles and leaving them for a few hours.

Bet I still end up with problems!