We are back at the beach at a seasonal fishing village after a spectacular day out on the dunes. The middle section saw us ascend a massive dune and traverse its ridge for 9km. endless sand to the left (east) and the Atlantic to the right. It was blowing a gale up there and you needed both hands and feet to scale the peaks. Very hard going but amazing to be up there. Always great to have Kari greet me at a checkpoint along the way.

Yesterday was the hardest run I can recall. Not that I did much running. Bottom line is I screwed up my electrolytes on a 38C day and once you start losing sodium from your system it’s very hard to recover. At checkpoints 3,4 and 5 I felt progressively worse. As I took on more water and salt I was completely bloated by CP 5 (44km) and had to lie down due to nausea and light-headedness. I gave two Chinese runners quite the fright by projectile vomiting over them out of the rest tent. After great care from Dr Ryan, a can of medical coke and lying down for an hour, I felt a lot better.

By the time I was ready to move on, however, it was close to 6pm when you had to move in groups of at least two from CP to CP. I teamed up with Tim and Scott (from my tent) to walk the next 40km. Though I think I could have run in the cool of the evening I was just happy to be moving forward, chipping away at the kilometres bit by bit, burping along the way to get rid of my nausea.

We were treated to the most amazing night sky in the middle of the desert.

The final 40km took us another eight hours and we arrived at camp around 2:30 am, 18 hours all told. By comparison, the lead runner completed the 84km in nine! It was a little emotional to see Kari around 1am as she was on the way back from sweeping the back of packers.

Today I feel my normal self and we have all been recuperating in camp in readiness for our final big run tomorrow, a 38km jaunt in the massive sand dunes further along the coast. All of my tent have made it through with Joasia the leading lady.

Definitely the hardest and most interesting day so far.

My left calf has held up ok due to some fancy strapping the med tent gave me. I made the mistake, however, of strapping it too tight this morning to the extent I couldn’t extend my gait when we got onto some firmer gound to run on. I had to roll it down my ankle as it was anchored below my foot. It would cause more problems later on in the run…

We hit he beach after about 5km. Huge Atlantic rollers coming in as we ran along in the moning fog. Beautiful. Trying to find hard sand was a challenge but the first leg to check point at 11km went well. It was  a treat to see Kari there and my left leg felt good. Another 11km up the beach to CP2 where we came across one of the largest sea lion colonies anywhere. This is the primary prey for lions and other pedators in the desert. The beach is littered with skeletons and rotting carcases. The colony stretches s far as the eye can see. Quite spectacular.

The last 5km on the beach (23km in total) were brutal. By this time my left foot was going numb. I shouk hve stopped to addres it at CP3 but I figured the last 10km to camp would be easy. How wrong I was.. it was blowing a gale into our faces and the longest 10km I can remember. The strapping was so tight it had nipped a nerve. All being well it shoukd be all good for the long day tomorrow. Fingers crossed. Temps may get above 38C tomorrow so we’ll all be taking easy.

Thanks for all your messages and emails of support.

M x

Today’s run was shortened to 32km but that didn’t seem to make it any easier and they will add 10km for another leg. We started off along the beach heading North for a few kms before cutting inland across a vast plateau of dark brown sand as far as the eye could see. This is a true desert in every sense. There is simply nothing here.

I strapped my left calf which helped but something is pulled and it’s hard to see me getting any quicker from here unfortunately.

After checkpoint 2 at around 19 km we hit another nasty salt flat but we did get to see a lonely hyena lolloping along going who knows where to try and find who knows what to eat. We later learnt that the massive seal colony, which we will pass by tomorrow, is the major source of food for lions and hyena.

It was great to see Kari manning the finish line at the end of the race. Our camp tonight is nestled in dunes just off the beach with an amazing vista looking north. Fortunately it hasn’t been too hot but that is set to change tomorrow.

M

Day 1 in the books. We are camped down on a very windy beach about 20 miles inside the Skeleton Coast Natl Park. Today’s run was hard and as the day went on, hot and v windy. Much to my surprise, I managed to come in 18^th but my lower left calf is very sore so we will see what tomorrow’s leg along the beach brings.

I am in a great tent with a couple of former winners from the US (Scott) and Scotland (Joasia) as well as an Indian (Sumanth) and two other brits (Simon & Muz). Jo won the womwn’s leg today. there’s a great vibe in the camp.

Kari had a baptism of fire today working as a sweeper picking up the flags and helping some runners who were having a tough time with blisters and keeping up with the pace. She’s settled into the role and having fun. It’s been great to see so much of her.

Kari saw a super venomous viper and Jo a black scorpion today. As we get further into the park we hope to see hyena, springbok an oryx. They changed the route today s lions had been sighted nearby!

Thanks again for everyone’s support and generous donations to ShelterBox

Gary: Dougie and Aileen who were just with you in the Atlas Mountains say hello

More tomorrow

Mark