 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||
|
The Gobi March Final Position
Day 4 and 5 – The finish I finished the race. I came in third place for women. The fourth and fifth stages were difficult. I’m feeling sick right now. I’m completely exhausted -- headache, stomach ache, general fatigue. The races are wearing me down but I’m happy with my performance. Day 4 was 40 kilometres long and the final stage that I just finished was 18 kilometres. We ended up in an oasis. lt was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. There were stalactites coming down from the cliffs. It was more like a jungle. You would never have believed we were in a desert. There were palm trees and hot pools that you could swim in. We’re back for the closing ceremonies now and will soon be going home. There were 40 of us racing in the Grand Raid Sahara, including two other women. I wanted to pace myself to finish the race and get ready for my final two races. This one was my fourth since April last year and I have two more to go next month to set a Guinness World Record. This is what I have done so far: 1...GOBI MARCH...Gobi Desert, China...240kms...4th Place 2...ATACAMA CROSSING...Atacama Desert, Chile, South America...240kms...2nd Pl 3...SAHARA RACE...Sahara Desert, Egypt, Africa...240 kms...2nd Place 4. GRAND RAID SAHARA in Mauritania. (The one I just finished) 220 kms … 3rd place. In March I have two races back to back... 5...LIBYAN CHALLENGE...Sahara Desert, Libya, Africa... 6...MARATHON DES SABLES...Sahara Desert, Morocco, Africa... Wish me luck as I go for the record books. Posted by Sandy MacCullum on February 4, 2007 10:37 AM MDT
Day 3 The thing here that is different from any other race is the amount of flies. I swear you have 50 flies sitting on your head. You get used to them being there and you learn how to cope with them. They’ll crawl on your glasses and you can handle that. And they’ll crawl down the side of your face, and you can handle that. But when they get on your nose or your mouth — and I’ve swallowed lots — you have to swat them away. And when you raise your hand to swat them away, they all fly around you, and you’re running with a swarm of flies. I don’t know if they like the salt or the heat or what. It’s something else that you have to deal with besides the heat and the sand and everything else. The race has gone quickly. Tomorrow is 40 kilometres. They haven’t told us what the course is going to be yet. And the finish is 18 kilometres on the last day. Mauritania is a very poor country and everywhere we go, the Mauritanians come to our campsite. I don’t know where they come from because we’re in the middle of nowhere. But right now, I’m looking at them and they’re all lined up with their trinkets and tea pots and scarves for sale. You really notice the difference between Egypt and Morocco when you come to Mauritania it just seems really poor. Another thing is we have showers at the end of the day, which I’ve never had before in these desert races. It’s just fantastic. And they also have a massage therapist here. That is really great. I’ve never had that in a race before. They really treat you well here. I’m really pacing myself because I’ve got two races left in the next month. Now I feel really good and strong. The main goal is to finish the race. Because there are only three women and I’m in third place, I’m just pacing myself to finish this race. For Sandy’s pre-race blogging, go to her January postings. Check out Sandy’s website at www.saharaodyssey.com
Day 2 I had a good night. I placed well. We have 40 runners and I placed 20th. All the runners here are very good and very fast. Even the course director was saying this is the fastest group of runners he’s ever had. There are only three women and I’m in third place. It still sounds good. For Sandy’s pre-race blogging, go to her January postings. Check out Sandy’s website at www.saharaodyssey.com
Day 1 Monday, Jan. 29 I’m suffering the effects of the malaria pills Malarone. It intensified during the first stage. I had developed mouth sores earlier on. But in the early stage of the race, I felt drugged, dizzy and sick to my stomach. I felt paralyzed from the back of my neck between my shoulder blades. It really affected me. But I finished the 40 kilometres in about 5 1/2 hours. There are 40 of us running. All the runners are very good. There are only three women. I’m in third place. But it still looks pretty good. It’s tough here because half the people here aren’t taking the Malarone. You hear different stories. Some people say you don’t need it in the desert. Other people say you don’t need it in the winter time. I’m one of the few on it but I’m too afraid to go off it because I’ve got two more races coming up and I can’t afford to get sick. But the first day is the worst and I’m feeling better now.
|