Happy to have finished the Long Day, all 86km.  Probably the hardest Long Day most of us have done due to the huge hills we had to climb. The first 20km was downhill rock jumping through a very pretty canyon. It was then 10km uphill on soft sand, before an extremely hard 800m climb over 10 km on a road, felt like it was maximum exertion for 2 hours. The road was so steep I would probably prefer to walk it again than drive it. Great views at the top though as we crossed over into the next valley.

The rest of the course was a few steep hills and then a shocking 30min descent into camp just after midnight down a rock scree. No one enjoyed that piece.

I finished in just over 16 hours and came in 52^nd out of 190 so very pleased with that result. Sean killed it coming in 31^st.

Today is the rest day in camp as a few competitors still come in from yesterday, people are still arriving now at midday making it a 28 hour event for some, which is really tough. Not many people walking freely around camp, everyone has some form of limp.

Tomorrow is just 5km into Petra. Due to its historical significance we aren’t allowed to run so apparently everyone is getting the same time for tomorrow as we all walk in together. 

Finished Day 4 fairly well, but the body is starting to rebel and doesn’t really want to run 86km tomorrow.

Weather a bit warmer here today. The course went past a couple of fantastic rock arches and again more fantastic views.  A few long brutal uphills took the fun out of the day. Becoming a bit of a sand whisperer in picking the hard packed sand from the soft sand to run on.

Short days here with the sun going down at 5:30 ish and the nights very cold.  The tents are pretty small and essentially you end up virtually sleeping on top of everyone else. It was even better earlier in the week when they were leaking in the rain.  Most people had to use their emergency blankets to stay warm / dry so the tent sounded like a packet of chips whenever anyone moved. At least the bad weather is behind us now. Again a god crowd in our tent which makes the time pass easily.

It feels like the event has flown by, hard to believe tomorrow is the long day. Looking forward to getting that finished, enjoying the rest day and then the final 5 or so km into Petra where we finish in front of the Treasury building.

Just finished Day 3 in fairly reasonable shape. Feet and knees are pretty good and feeling generally not too bad. Another day of pretty sensational scenery. Lots of soft sand running today so hard to get too much of a regular pace going. 120 odd kms down and a bit over that to go so just about half way and compared to previous events probably in better condition.

The weather is kind during the day but very cold at night, more rain is forecast  for the long day. The event organisers went and bought each competitor a blanket yesterday to help with the nights, so store owner got very lucky selling 200 blankets in one go.

Day 1 was a day of rain, wind and leaking tents (both on the night before the race started and after Day 1). Was very cold on the course, couldn’t feel my hands for most of the day. The upside was that the rain packed the sand down, so it was a bit easier going. Cyber tent didn’t get going as all effort was going into warming up competitors after a long day in the rain.