Raindrops keep falling on the dunes....

Had a rubbish night and think I slept more on the 3 hour bus ride than at Peach Village. Today is classified as difficult throughout. What the route book had to say 'Starts with some righteous sand dunes coming into dunnettes (small dunes), then continuing along through scrub bush type terrain to Camp 5'. Total of 37,3km

It's amazing how quick your body can recover. Had really stiff legs after all the downhill running from yesterday. We could put our feet in a little stream at the village. Just walking down to the stream was really comical, hobbling and walking around like old man. Everyone doing the same act... Was really worried how my legs would recover but this morning they felt good again, must be the magical Arnika Gel.

We were gifted with overcast skies on the first 10km of high dunes, with even a little drizzle. We've had such weird weather in the Gobi. The fast boys gunned into the high dunes with the others to follow in their footsteps. I felt very rough so took an easy start. Climbed some serious dunes, stunning views that reminds me of Liwa. I took little over 2 hours to finish the dunes. After that it was a long hot 28k slog to camp. Not particular scenic, so yes Louise: it does get tough out there. The medical tent at the checkpoints where busy, many struggled today. Few got pulled out, others exited volunteeringly. Damn hot.
For safety reasons we had to buddy up for the last 7km stretch to camp. I finished off the day with Joe, little conversations. Both had our iPods out and moving forward in our own zone. We had to dig deep for this one. Joe, thanks for your push.

Camp is at -87 metres, the Turpan Bassin is the second lowest place on the planet. Pretty cool and hot.

My goal today was to finish in good condition starting the long stage tomorrow in good spirit. Mission accompolished. Looking forward to the 80 km tomorrow heading into the Turpan Basin saltflats, Gao Chang Village and the Flaming Mountains. See how I feel and how the weather is doing and I might start running it, until the heat kicks in at least. Expected temperature is 45c...aaahh

For now...Eat, Sleep and Prep.

Next update will be at the end of the long one!
Wouter

Note: All images by Dale de la Rey for Racing the Planet

Stage 3 post

Day three started with a wild run down the Daheyan Canyon. "No overtaking for the first part" was the message so tried to keep up with the fast boys to avoid being stuck behind the slow down hillers. Once down in the river bed the heroes took off.

Breakfast discussion was all about shoes on or shoes off. Between start and the first CP their were a few river crossings, so wearing shoes was a strategic decision; take shoes off and keep dry feet to avoid foot problems or save time and gush through the water hoping you can run them dry during the day.I opted for the saver option and lost about 10 minutes. The following stage was a 10km uphill a long and beautifull long stretch. My tent mate Marcello caught up so we could share the climb together. Former boldybuilder and getting his grips about this kind of racing as well. Felt strong on the uphill and really strong on the downhill till cp 3. Dokter Sussie complimented my with my current top 40 placement and from cp 3 onwards the running became a mental mindgame. An Ozzie overtook me so now I was down to 41st place making it a top 50. I wanted to keep my top 40 so the remainder of the day was spend jojojing with fellow competitors. Over taking, being overtaken. During the last stages the sun was back and in full glory, must have been 40c ish. No wind and running on an endless windy track. Made some serious progress on the last kilometre overtaking five guys. Felt odd but had to keep on going.

In my pack are two iPod shuffles with a mix of music for when it get's though. So far they are nicely tucked away.

Seriously glad to get off my feet. Was a long hard run today. Ran pretty much everything. Tip from John Young, run the downhill and walk the uphill. Including every little downhill, even the 50 metres ones are run. So I did and managed to finish at a good placement.

Thanks Chris for the X2O hydration tea bags. Did wonders today for the recovery. My tent mates had to laugh about 'an electrolyte that makes water more watery...' Your veggie mix is scheduled for day 6.

No camping tonight but sleeping in Peach Village enjoying Uyghur hospitality.Still no luxury catering though...having a freeze dried Chicken Tikka bag tonight. And a piece of luxury 1 stroopwafel / caramel waffel with my instant coffee, you've gotta treat yourself. Tomorrow we're boarding a 4am bus for a 3 hours transfer to the start of the stage tittled 'Into the dunes'. So off to bed, ready for it!

Wk

Note: All images by Dale de la Rey for Racing the Planet

Stage 2 - update...!!

I so much love my new Mountain Hardware Phantom 45 sleeping bag. Stayed in it till 11.30am today... We had an overnight weather change with night temperatures dropping to 5c and complete white out conditions in the morning. Visited the little boys room at 5am and nearly couldn't find our tent in the thick mist. Race organizers kept on delaying the start in the hope that the mountain course would clear up to start day two. Outside was shivering cold so we all stayed in our tents and sleeping bags waiting for the new race start time. What I said, my bag was so cosy warm (and lightweight)!

Had an OK sleep, lots of noise in a camp of 200 people so woke up a few times. My legs feel better than expected. Can recall recovering from a training run up and down Wadi Bih with my legs killing the next day. Thanks to Lisa's great advice I added Arnika Gel to my pack, for a much needed leg rub at the end of the day. And it works.

Quick recap from yesterday; tough first day due to the heat. We ran thru stunning green valleys with a Chinese version of lavendel, smelled so nice.Top guys where expected in at 3hrs but it took Damon 4.01 hours to cross the finish line first, last guys came in at 8pm leaving them a blistering 12 hours on the course. Lots of hero stories around camp at night. Yesterday started with a great card from my lovely wife Kiki and I would like to share with you the cover:

live with intention
walk to the edge
listen hard
practice wellness
play with abandon
laugh
choose with no regret
continue to learn
appreciate your friends
do what you love
live life as if this all there is

This morning 12noon finally we were off, they reduced the distance and we ran straight to cp 3, then cp 4 with finally camp Kazak. Flat, Short and Sweet. Started raining towards the end, I'm so not used to running in 13c. BBBrrrr! As you can imagine the cold weather road runners excelled at this stage...lots of Brits in front of me. Coming straight out of the UK winter, how can you train for the desert heat? Today no desert heat but freezing cold, I'm wearing all my clothes and still shivering. I'm looking forward to tomorrow a nice long stage and leaving the mountains behind us. Mentally prepping for the sand dunes scheduled for day 4.



They've been struggeling to get connected to the satelite so no incoming messages to read. Missing it already.

With a shortish day everyone at camp is at good spirit. The sun showed herself the first time today at 8pm, many ran out to dry their clothes in the bushes. Looking forward to a good night sleep, in my super bag...

Cheers
Wk.

Note: All images by Dale de la Rey for Racing the Planet

Stage 2 - update to come

The stage 2 camp was not able to have satellite connection today. Therefore race results are not yet available and are we waiting for Wouter's update. Stay tuned!

Stage 1 - done

Wow what a start. "Find your own pace from the start" is a valuable lesson learned from shooting at previous races. No one wins a race on day 1. A very good call as I overtook so many racers who struggled by starting too fast from the beginning, keen to join the leading pack. Then really struggling between checkpoint 3 and camp, the last 10k a hilly home stretch. Final results have not been posted yet but came in at a shocking 23rd place, waaaaayyy better than anticipated. Granted some of the quick boys got lost so please manage expectation for the following days. There is still so much to go...214km.

The course started ok on a dirt track leading us parallel to the Tian Shan mountains, beautiful snow capped peaks at 5,400 plus meters. Very inviting to summit. Running slowly uphill towards checkpoint 2, from there the course took off skywards. We must have gained over 1,000 meters in elevation up and down. Runners consensus is that day 1 had a tough start, harder than expected. I felt strong pretty much most of the time. It was HOT, but Dubai training certainly helped to maintain the pace. Drinking lots of fluids.

Now resting at camp Kazak. Feet up, hydrate, take my recovery shakes and dinner later on. The more I eat the lighter the pack tomorrow. We're quite high up at 2,100 meters elevation; hopefully that's the reason for my headache, need to get that sorted before I go to sleep.

There is no bedtime till 8.30pm...going live for a radio interview on Virgin radio. Should be live daily for the next week, 4.15 Dubai time.

Day 1 in conclusion; feeling strong and really chuffed with today's result. Got my small usual blister but the docs have sorted that out for now, hopefully the only one.

See how I feel tomorrow morning, legs will be sore. We are starting with a steep 5 km climb straight from camp. After that it's downhill with a few mini climbs. Will check in from camp Deheyan Canyon.

Thanks for much for all these great messages being sent from the event website. Love reading them!!

Those who want to see pictures, videos and understand more about the race, please visit 4deserts.com/gobimarch

Checking out from sunny Tarpan Valley, remote Western China.

Wouter

Note: All images by Dale de la Rey for Racing the Planet

Pre-race day

Friends

Just gone through race briefing, gear check and collected race notes. When she looked at my food to check if I was carrying my mandatory 14,000 calories she shook her head. Judging from the big pile she didn't have to calculate....

Will go through race notes in the next 3 hour bus ride to camp but quickly noted lots of hills. 8am start tomorrow! So excited.

Please remember to visit the race website 4deserts.com where you can follow the race, they've got great multi media and you can leave much needed competitor messages there. Quick and easy to do.

We're 150 of us, all ready to finish on the 2nd July. Such a unique mix of people...a pastor, a father with his 2 sons, full time mums, quite a few entrepreneurs, army boys, a former Ozzie National rower, a pro boxer, mountaineers who have done 7 summits, students, my tent mate Jeahong who has done 70 marathons and 50 ultra's. Quite a few cancer survivors. Then a large group of novice and inexperienced. So many great conversations out there.

Tune into Virgin Radio 104.4 at 4.15pm for daily live interviews with Brent Black. Already enjoying the celeb status...

Next post will be from camp tomorrow night after the first stage. Posting from a satellite fed Cyber cafe.

Wk.

Note: All images by Dale de la Rey for Racing the Planet

Last days of preparation!

Thanks so much for all the great advice, tips & encouraging notes. Yes, I will be looking after myself. No I'm not going to do anything stupid. Off course I'm gonna drinks lots of water... Honestly! There is lots of greatness in the pipeline to come home for in 1 piece and enjoy.

As always the days before a big trip are hectic. Up early for the last few training runs. Low intensity & low mileage. Crazy to go fast anyway at the current Dubai temperatures. It's high 30's and steamingly hot by 8am. Mentally at least the Gobi temperatures will seem gentle compared to the oven back home.

Picked up some more work than expected, having to cramp in more in less time. No time to stress out too much about the race. Quick prepping, packing and departing.

Great news: Audi Middle East has come on board and in addition to making a serious donation towards the Uganda project they are bringing in the PR crew to make lot's of noise. Karin thanks so much for making this happen!! Spreading the charity message to an even greater audience. Check out Virgin radio with potential live daily interviews from Camp. Details to follow.

Only 4 days to race day and still it feels very distant. My pack now comes down to 10.5 kgs. 6.5 kgs of that is food with a total of 19,000 calories. That's 50% more than what and average male should be eating but far from what I'm expecting to be burning daily. I'm expecting to burn at least 5,000 calories a day. Why not bring more food? More food is more weight and I'm desperately trying to keep my pack under the 10 kgs. Any heavier gets really uncomfortable when running. It's a juggling and scaling act. Hope my strategy pays off. The pro guys will most likely carry 7 kgs, that's shivering & starvation from start to finish...

Nonsense really but the race still feels like it's gonna be a 'piece of cake'. A few long runs, lots of recovery time and a freeze dried meal for dinner. This is what I trained for and I feel mentally strong and committed. Surely arriving in Urumqi (far Western China) will kick start the adrenaline overdrive. The reality check! That's also when the comparing starts. Damn look at these tiny packs. Auchh lot's of amazingly fit guys and girls. Have I trained enough? Got enough food? Little doubt is good and helps to keep me focussed. The Reality check as I mentioned. Will most likely throw the spare 400 grams / 1,200 cal of food I wasn't planning to take with me. Just in case...

Checking out now. More to follow from Gobi.

Wk.

How to donate for ABC Children's Aid

Finally got this one sorted out. Those who like to make a valuable contribution towards ABC Children's Aid Uganda can do so by clicking on the below 'donate' button.

It's an automated system using PayPal. Quick and simple. Why PayPal because they accepts credit cards, debit cards, PayPal accounts AND you don't need a PayPal account to make their donations. Finally they accept 23 different currencies, all about great service. As I mentioned quick and simple.

Thanks so MUCH!

Wk.