The Ocean Floor Race
A non-stop 160 mile footrace through the Egyptian White Desert
Organiser: Fatfeet Blisters
Quick summary of what is entails: Early entry fee for me was £1100
Excludes hotel accommodation, flights and transfer from
airport.
Includes all food from the day before the race starts to
the Thursday when the race finishes.
There was a Doctor, an osteopath and a sports
therapist also at hand. Entry fee
also includes transfers to the start point and transfer from finish to the
airport hotel. Everyone who finishes receives a finishers t-shirt.
There were 17 competitors this year.
Temperatures reached up to around 50 degrees Celsius.
Below is the write up of the race including why I did it in the first place:
March 2009, Me 5 years ago.
Since learning to walk again in March 2009, I have
selfishly based my life around my recovery from my accident. It has been my
drive to push myself so that I could go back to the person I once was through
sheer determination. Whether this was the right thing to do or not, this is how
I was and how I am and it has got me to where I am now.
Every challenge I have set myself has been about whether my ‘back’ can cope with it. It has now been 5 years exactly since I broke my back and told by Doctors that there was little chance I would walk again.
This winter was a breakthrough for me since coming back from the Grand to Grand Ultra in September. I found that my training was improving me as a ‘runner’, and not me as the 'cripple' I had labelled myself. I actually could think about how my running was progressing, my back for the first time was put into second place.
I wanted to, no, I will rephrase this, I needed to do a challenge that tested ME, to see if I could train myself properly and actually achieve something as a runner, rather than my usual thoughts of just finishing something. I also wanted to continue to raise money for Shelterbox. It is a very significant charity to me.
"I believe in second chances and Shelterbox does just that. It provides a lifeline, a chance to start over when you have lost everything through natural disaster. A kind of analogy of my broken back and starting all over again"
My back and nerve pain is manageable now, I have good and bad days. I always have a constant 24 hour pain of some sort but I am able to deal with it quite well without it affecting my energy levels as much as it used to. I now can’t remember what being pain free is anymore, I am so used to it; it is part of my life.
I have different sorts of pains to stop it from getting too monotonous. If anything, I find it fascinating what the body does and how the mind deals with it. Pain is so complex, it should be studied as a degree in its own right.
So, anyway, I chose The Ocean Floor Race as my next challenge. A 160 mile non-stop foot race through the white desert using only a GPS and no map or markers. I wanted to see if I could do this really non-stop, for myself. I started my specific training for it on December 11th, I already had a fairly good base level of fitness and had been going to the gym regularly on top of my already 60-80 miles a week of running that I was doing for myself. I decided to up my training and set a target in my head of completing 160 miles in around 50-55 hours non stop.
Every challenge I have set myself has been about whether my ‘back’ can cope with it. It has now been 5 years exactly since I broke my back and told by Doctors that there was little chance I would walk again.
This winter was a breakthrough for me since coming back from the Grand to Grand Ultra in September. I found that my training was improving me as a ‘runner’, and not me as the 'cripple' I had labelled myself. I actually could think about how my running was progressing, my back for the first time was put into second place.
I wanted to, no, I will rephrase this, I needed to do a challenge that tested ME, to see if I could train myself properly and actually achieve something as a runner, rather than my usual thoughts of just finishing something. I also wanted to continue to raise money for Shelterbox. It is a very significant charity to me.
"I believe in second chances and Shelterbox does just that. It provides a lifeline, a chance to start over when you have lost everything through natural disaster. A kind of analogy of my broken back and starting all over again"
My back and nerve pain is manageable now, I have good and bad days. I always have a constant 24 hour pain of some sort but I am able to deal with it quite well without it affecting my energy levels as much as it used to. I now can’t remember what being pain free is anymore, I am so used to it; it is part of my life.
I have different sorts of pains to stop it from getting too monotonous. If anything, I find it fascinating what the body does and how the mind deals with it. Pain is so complex, it should be studied as a degree in its own right.
So, anyway, I chose The Ocean Floor Race as my next challenge. A 160 mile non-stop foot race through the white desert using only a GPS and no map or markers. I wanted to see if I could do this really non-stop, for myself. I started my specific training for it on December 11th, I already had a fairly good base level of fitness and had been going to the gym regularly on top of my already 60-80 miles a week of running that I was doing for myself. I decided to up my training and set a target in my head of completing 160 miles in around 50-55 hours non stop.
At Trail camp in Devon. In the forefront is Jules.
I was very lucky with my training, I sustained no
injuries and felt very strong. I incorporated a sports massage a week into my
training to cope with the extra miles I was doing and to relieve my back. That
seemed to do the trick. By the week before the race I was running 190 – 200 miles
a week and I was really enjoying it. I still hadn’t done anything more than 60
miles non stop in my training, I was just shortening my recovery time between
runs.
The week before the event I went to Devon to join the Trail Ferrets Trail weekend camp. It was an opportunity to also test my GPS. Friday night we did a night run with the GPS and that went ok until my batteries ran out. I soon learnt I need spare batteries at all times!
The next day, new batteries installed, all of us set off for about a 35 mile run on the coastal path. It was a beautiful day. I had my backpack on that I was going to be using in the Egyptian White desert with me, it was weighing about 6kg, so not too bad. I was tempted to leave it behind but decided it would be really beneficial as the route was very up and down and would be great on the legs with some extra weight.
The group were loads of fun and we were of mixed abilities. One of the group was very fast, her name was Jules. I had stopped doing any speedwork for the last 2 weeks and had been concentrating on running as well with a backpack on as without one, with a pace of not less than 4.5mph but not more than 6mph off road, I admit, it had got a bit dull running so slow all of the time.
Jules’ speed was exhilarating on the open cliff paths. I couldn’t resist. I ran behind her enjoying the wind rushing past my ears and feeling my feet fly over the stones. Before we knew it, we had lost the group. Oops! We had missed the meeting point where we were supposed to re group for lunch. Missing checkpoints seems to be a bad habit of mine, but I had clocked on my watch that at our fastest we ran 10.2mph on the coastal path, I think I had needed to run off some nervous energy over my desert run in less than a week’s time!
We tried to back track and find the group but we had somehow run on further than we had realised. I was surprised at how fast I could run with my backpack, but it soon caught up with me and I slowed us down, hunting in vain for the van we were supposed to be meeting. Jules was getting a bit worried, but I couldn’t help seeing the funny side. I had the GPS on me with the route (minus the meeting points) and we had both seen the map, yet both of us were lost! You can predict what is going to happen to me in the desert already!
Trying to phone Ben, aka papa ferret, to let him know we were ok was proving tricky with him not having signal when I had it, and vice versa. I had managed to leave a string of bizarre answer messages on his mobile phone describing what part of coastal path we were on that were not much help at all.
Finally, we decided we would stick to heading along the road rather than coastal path. I couldn’t stop laughing by now. The idea was that the van could find us once it was convenient for it to move on from the next meeting point.
However, this proved not to be an easy task as we had both forgotten where the van was meant to be next! So, I suggested we hitch a lift to the town that Jules could definitely remember we were going to be meeting at, at some point, and worst case, we wait for them to catch us up and resume all of us together.
We got picked up straight away by a good humoured chap who happened to be going nowhere near the direction we were heading but offered us a lift there anyway as he was finding us very entertaining. Halfway to the next town, a text comes through on my mobile from papa ferret saying; ‘stay where you are we will send a van to find you’.
I then manage to phone Ben and turns out they are not that far on ahead, and in fact in the opposite direction of where we are heading. The driver thoroughly amused by all of this, kindly offers to take us straight to the van. What a star!
The rest of the weekend went without a hitch and I had an amazing time. I couldn’t believe it either when Ben brought me a cake that evening to mark my 5 years since learning to walk again. It was an incredibly special moment, and I don’t think he realised just how touched I was.
The week before the event I went to Devon to join the Trail Ferrets Trail weekend camp. It was an opportunity to also test my GPS. Friday night we did a night run with the GPS and that went ok until my batteries ran out. I soon learnt I need spare batteries at all times!
The next day, new batteries installed, all of us set off for about a 35 mile run on the coastal path. It was a beautiful day. I had my backpack on that I was going to be using in the Egyptian White desert with me, it was weighing about 6kg, so not too bad. I was tempted to leave it behind but decided it would be really beneficial as the route was very up and down and would be great on the legs with some extra weight.
The group were loads of fun and we were of mixed abilities. One of the group was very fast, her name was Jules. I had stopped doing any speedwork for the last 2 weeks and had been concentrating on running as well with a backpack on as without one, with a pace of not less than 4.5mph but not more than 6mph off road, I admit, it had got a bit dull running so slow all of the time.
Jules’ speed was exhilarating on the open cliff paths. I couldn’t resist. I ran behind her enjoying the wind rushing past my ears and feeling my feet fly over the stones. Before we knew it, we had lost the group. Oops! We had missed the meeting point where we were supposed to re group for lunch. Missing checkpoints seems to be a bad habit of mine, but I had clocked on my watch that at our fastest we ran 10.2mph on the coastal path, I think I had needed to run off some nervous energy over my desert run in less than a week’s time!
We tried to back track and find the group but we had somehow run on further than we had realised. I was surprised at how fast I could run with my backpack, but it soon caught up with me and I slowed us down, hunting in vain for the van we were supposed to be meeting. Jules was getting a bit worried, but I couldn’t help seeing the funny side. I had the GPS on me with the route (minus the meeting points) and we had both seen the map, yet both of us were lost! You can predict what is going to happen to me in the desert already!
Trying to phone Ben, aka papa ferret, to let him know we were ok was proving tricky with him not having signal when I had it, and vice versa. I had managed to leave a string of bizarre answer messages on his mobile phone describing what part of coastal path we were on that were not much help at all.
Finally, we decided we would stick to heading along the road rather than coastal path. I couldn’t stop laughing by now. The idea was that the van could find us once it was convenient for it to move on from the next meeting point.
However, this proved not to be an easy task as we had both forgotten where the van was meant to be next! So, I suggested we hitch a lift to the town that Jules could definitely remember we were going to be meeting at, at some point, and worst case, we wait for them to catch us up and resume all of us together.
We got picked up straight away by a good humoured chap who happened to be going nowhere near the direction we were heading but offered us a lift there anyway as he was finding us very entertaining. Halfway to the next town, a text comes through on my mobile from papa ferret saying; ‘stay where you are we will send a van to find you’.
I then manage to phone Ben and turns out they are not that far on ahead, and in fact in the opposite direction of where we are heading. The driver thoroughly amused by all of this, kindly offers to take us straight to the van. What a star!
The rest of the weekend went without a hitch and I had an amazing time. I couldn’t believe it either when Ben brought me a cake that evening to mark my 5 years since learning to walk again. It was an incredibly special moment, and I don’t think he realised just how touched I was.
One of the incredible formations which I photographed from near the main camp.
A few days later I am sat on the plane heading to Cairo, excited and nervous all at the same time. I was pleased with my training for the event and felt very prepared, but the GPS was my main concern.
However, I had previously emailed the organiser of Fatfeet Blisters and he said it wasn’t a problem about the GPS and that it was easy to use. I had also emailed 3 other competitors and one of them had never even turned his GPS on ever. That made me feel a bit better.
I received the coordinates for the race via email the night before my flight. Not enough time for me to load it onto google earth, as I had hoped to see the route and print a back up map. I had also managed to delete some files on the Garmin Etrex 30 GPS itself whilst fiddling with it. When I then plugged it into my laptop, it ran an automatic repair programme to fix it. I am not great with technological gadgets as you can see.
One strange thing I must mention, happened on 11th March, a couple of weeks before the race. I had received a friend request on facebook from someone called Diaa. I looked on his profile and saw he had photos of a bicycle race in the white Desert and also had 3 mutual friends, so I accepted the request.
In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have. The conversation was very polite and it all made sense when he explained he was the race coordinator of the Ocean Floor Race and he had found my name when sorting the permits out for the authorities for the competitors to be allowed in the White Desert, whilst going through the copies of the passports.
I assumed he had done the same to all the other competitors and also emailed them (it later transpired he had not). He was very helpful and assured me that it was impossible to get lost but if I did, he gave his number so I could call for assistance. I also mentioned I was worried about some of the distances between Checkpoints which he said were up to 17 miles (turned out to be 20 miles) and the amount of water being only 3 litres. He was very helpful and I have a screen shot of what Diaa wrote below.
This was good to
know, I hadn’t done a race with such a distance between the CPs before and
water was my biggest concern. I figured that as the Ocean Floor Race website
stated the race was suitable for anyone, that it must be well covered to allow
people out in the desert heat, who would be travelling slowly between cps. I actually never saw any jeeps between checkpoints ...
I was beginning to think that this was quite a bit of infomation he was giving me, and wasn’t sure why the main organiser who had been sending the emails had not sent us this, when Diaa goes on to the subject of tipping for the staff. This gets my back up a little and began to suspect ulterior motives for his friendly emails. He then asks if I could bring some wine back for him, but he soon retracts this statement and says he will ask Keith, the organiser of Fatfeet Blisters instead. Finally though, what changes it for me was the following that he wrote: (see screen shot).
I was beginning to think that this was quite a bit of infomation he was giving me, and wasn’t sure why the main organiser who had been sending the emails had not sent us this, when Diaa goes on to the subject of tipping for the staff. This gets my back up a little and began to suspect ulterior motives for his friendly emails. He then asks if I could bring some wine back for him, but he soon retracts this statement and says he will ask Keith, the organiser of Fatfeet Blisters instead. Finally though, what changes it for me was the following that he wrote: (see screen shot).
I
responded that I hope everyone is as nice as he is as I had realised it was
best not to annoy him if he was in charge of my safety!
I had booked myself into the Novotel airport hotel in Cairo for the Thursday evening, this meant I would have all day Friday to climatise as were all to meet 8am Saturday morning.
On Friday, I made the most of the gym at the hotel and went for an hour on the treadmill before doing some light upper body strength training. Later, I met a couple of the other competitors who were also staying there. They were relaxing at the bar. In the evening I had a meal in the restaurant and then went to bed. I didn’t want a late night, I had plenty of those to look forward too in the next few days!
Saturday we were picked up by bus, we met one of the organisers and his team and then we were all taken by bus to Diaa’s hotel. Diaa was the perfect host and even arranged a trip in the afternoon to a nearby tomb for a little extra money.
We spent the night at his hotel and I shared a room with a lovely lady called Janet who had never done anything like this before. She put up with my snoring which in my books makes anyone a Saint!
I had booked myself into the Novotel airport hotel in Cairo for the Thursday evening, this meant I would have all day Friday to climatise as were all to meet 8am Saturday morning.
On Friday, I made the most of the gym at the hotel and went for an hour on the treadmill before doing some light upper body strength training. Later, I met a couple of the other competitors who were also staying there. They were relaxing at the bar. In the evening I had a meal in the restaurant and then went to bed. I didn’t want a late night, I had plenty of those to look forward too in the next few days!
Saturday we were picked up by bus, we met one of the organisers and his team and then we were all taken by bus to Diaa’s hotel. Diaa was the perfect host and even arranged a trip in the afternoon to a nearby tomb for a little extra money.
We spent the night at his hotel and I shared a room with a lovely lady called Janet who had never done anything like this before. She put up with my snoring which in my books makes anyone a Saint!
The bin bags containing our drop bags
On
the Sunday morning, 17 competitors sorted out their drop bags ready for
transport to the 10 checkpoints that were in the course. We put the drop bags
in the right order into bin bags labeled 1-10.
Keith originally thought there
were 9 CPs and I was just about to devour the contents of my 10th
bag which I thought I must have prepared by mistake, when one of the other competitors
pointed out there were definitely 10 CPs. My goodies would have to await for me
towards the end after all.
My drop bags were handmade by a lovely company run by a mother and daughter who made waterproof drawstring bags to suit your needs, who I came across on ebay. The bags were purple with a green base so that I could easily identify them at the checkpoints. This is a useful tip, make sure your bags stand out. I had also written the checkpoint number on each bag and my name.
My drop bags were handmade by a lovely company run by a mother and daughter who made waterproof drawstring bags to suit your needs, who I came across on ebay. The bags were purple with a green base so that I could easily identify them at the checkpoints. This is a useful tip, make sure your bags stand out. I had also written the checkpoint number on each bag and my name.
On stand by eager for the race to start
This is what one of my main meals looked like.
I
had something for each checkpoint, although I knew I wouldn’t be eating all of
it, I did it mostly for psychological purposes. I knew if I arrived at a CP and
nothing was in my drop bag whilst someone else had something delicious in
theirs, I would get deflated.
I had distributed in the bags, Bakerboy flapjacks, White chocolate chip chewee bars, Kiplings angel slices, blocks of parmesan cheese wrapped in cling film (delicious), a mini pack of haribo, a miniature bottles of coca cola, a horlicks satchet, a pack of tissues, spare batteries and 2 main meals. The main meals were a pot noodle, John West Mediterranean Tuna light lunch, and a couple of mug shots.
I had distributed in the bags, Bakerboy flapjacks, White chocolate chip chewee bars, Kiplings angel slices, blocks of parmesan cheese wrapped in cling film (delicious), a mini pack of haribo, a miniature bottles of coca cola, a horlicks satchet, a pack of tissues, spare batteries and 2 main meals. The main meals were a pot noodle, John West Mediterranean Tuna light lunch, and a couple of mug shots.
I
had roughly worked out when I would arrive at each checkpoint and had also
placed a change of warm clothing into 2 bags for the night times. I had also
brought a down jacket with me which I had intended to carry in my backpack the
whole time, along with the sleeping bag, but I decided I would sacrifice and placed
it into the dropbag for CP7 instead, so I could carry more water but keep the
weight of my pack down.
My back pack was the 30l Raidlight Runner along with the front pouch. I like having a front pouch, it saves the hassle of continuously taking my backpack of to reach things and I also prefer the weight on my front then my back because of my nerve pain in the base of my back.
I wanted to ideally have a 20l bag for this race but I could not justify the cost of buying another one when I already had this one. It proved perfectly alright and is really good because it adjusts so that you can compress it, so it is a handy backup knowing it can carry more than you need. I carried a 750ml bottle on each shoulder strap and a 3l hydration pouch (camel bak). I also brought as a back up, Platypus 500ml soft bottle which rolls up and is really light if you don’t need it. I didn’t want to be short of water.
My front pouch I had spent sometime customising so that my GPS clipped onto it. That way I wouldn’t have to carry it and I could just glance down to see it. The bag itself I had also customised and had changed the straps so that I could fully tighten them around my waist, as this supports my back and cancels out a lot of my back pain.
My back pack was the 30l Raidlight Runner along with the front pouch. I like having a front pouch, it saves the hassle of continuously taking my backpack of to reach things and I also prefer the weight on my front then my back because of my nerve pain in the base of my back.
I wanted to ideally have a 20l bag for this race but I could not justify the cost of buying another one when I already had this one. It proved perfectly alright and is really good because it adjusts so that you can compress it, so it is a handy backup knowing it can carry more than you need. I carried a 750ml bottle on each shoulder strap and a 3l hydration pouch (camel bak). I also brought as a back up, Platypus 500ml soft bottle which rolls up and is really light if you don’t need it. I didn’t want to be short of water.
My front pouch I had spent sometime customising so that my GPS clipped onto it. That way I wouldn’t have to carry it and I could just glance down to see it. The bag itself I had also customised and had changed the straps so that I could fully tighten them around my waist, as this supports my back and cancels out a lot of my back pain.
I
kept in my back pack at all times: a headtorch, a back up headtorch, spare
batteries, my sleeping bag, plenty of electrolytes, painkillers, immodium in case I
got the runs, paracetamol in case I got a fever, sterilizing tablets in case I
felt my bottles were contaminated, spare soft bottle as I mentioned earlier, an
ultralight windproof jacket and thermal long sleeved top (which I kept in a
waterproof ultralight bag so that it stayed dry as my sweat always goes through
my backpack) for night time in case I misjudged the drop bags with the change
of clothes.
I also had gloves for the night, a buff, sunglasses, lipbalm, insect spray for the mosquitoes, bodyglide (to avoid chafes), zouvirax because I’m prone to cold sores in the sun, a copy of the coordinates, the GPS with spare batteries, emergency food in case I got lost, a sunhat, superglue in case something broke, micropore tape for my feet, a mirror for signalling, spare hairbands which turn out to be useful for all sorts such as attaching things so they don’t fall out of your bag, a paper map of Egypt, although I hadn’t had time to put the course onto it, Airwaves chewing gum to prevent a dry cough from the dust and sand, a compass, bandage in case I cut myself and needed to compress a wound, and some tissues. I also carried Viper Active powder with me which I always had in one of my drink bottles.
I also had gloves for the night, a buff, sunglasses, lipbalm, insect spray for the mosquitoes, bodyglide (to avoid chafes), zouvirax because I’m prone to cold sores in the sun, a copy of the coordinates, the GPS with spare batteries, emergency food in case I got lost, a sunhat, superglue in case something broke, micropore tape for my feet, a mirror for signalling, spare hairbands which turn out to be useful for all sorts such as attaching things so they don’t fall out of your bag, a paper map of Egypt, although I hadn’t had time to put the course onto it, Airwaves chewing gum to prevent a dry cough from the dust and sand, a compass, bandage in case I cut myself and needed to compress a wound, and some tissues. I also carried Viper Active powder with me which I always had in one of my drink bottles.
Gathering together for the start.
Day
1 of the Race: The race started at 1pm, an hour later than schedule, but it
didn’t make any difference. There was no fancy start line or flags, we just
gathered together after descending from the jeeps and Keith simply said go. Within
moments I had trouble with my GPS.
I ran for a bit and eventually found Keith who had gone on ahead to cheer people on. I showed him my GPS with the track line pointing the wrong way. He looked at it and said it would be fine, clicked it on to compass so that I was just following the arrow and said that was how he would do it. I kept it like this for a while but soon noticed that everyone was running in a different direction to which the arrow was pointing. I caught up with a couple who were running the whole thing together, they to said they had problems with their GPS.
I stuck behind a couple of others behind and fiddled with the GPS until the track pointed the right way. They all slowed down for some reason, so I went on ahead. My GPS seemed to be right as I was now following 3 sets of footprints in the sand which I presumed to belong to the 3 top runners, Steven, Christian and Rafael.
I followed these footprints and kept an eye on the GPS, then the footprints vanished as the ground turned hard. I could smell cooking in the distance and I thought Checkpoint 1 must be nearby but I couldn’t find it and ran in a complete circle trying to find the footprints and by now had put the GPS back onto compass to follow the direction of the arrow. It was pointing south, so I continued that way, found some tyre tracks and stuck with them, deciding that so long as I stayed on the same tracks, they would have to lead somewhere eventually.
I had plenty of water still and wasn’t worried. Eventually I heard some clapping and realised I had reached a checkpoint. I was sure it was going to be CP2 as it had been a while since I smelled the cooking so guessed that I had gone past CP1. Some Bedouin guys were manning the CP and the timesheet which we had to sign our time on was hanging on the tent post. It read CP4. I couldn’t understand it. I double checked with the Bedouin guys and they were laughing and nodding.
I tried to explain I had missed CP1-3 but they didn’t seem to understand. I then pointed to one of the guys who was talking and laughing away on his mobile phone and asked if I could use it to ring Diaa or Keith because they would be wondering why my name wasn’t on the other checkpoint time sheets by now. My mobile did not have any signal and the Egyptian SIM card they had given me did not work in my phone, which Keith knew about and said just to use my phone. The Bedouin shook his head and put the phone behind his back. They pointed ahead and said go CP 5. We had been told that there would be signal at CP 5 so I decided the best thing was to get there as quick as possible so I could get hold of someone to stop anyone looking for me. I took the batteries out of my GPS, fiddled some more with it. It said I had done 30 miles at this point, I knew it should have been roughly 50 miles to CP4, goodness knows how I had gone so wrong. I walked with the GPS for a while until the track was pointing the same way the Bedouin guys were pointing and then ran.
It seemed like no time at all by the time I had nearly reached CP5. I felt really strong and was eager to keep going as soon as I had established contact with someone. I sent a text to Keith but there was no reply so tried phoning Diaa. I didn’t have much phone credit so was a bit worried I wouldn’t have enough to explain to him where I was. I couldn’t get hold of Diaa at first. A jeep had pulled up with another Bedouin guy in it saying I had to wait until the Doctor came. This was really strange and I did not understand why.
I said I would phone Diaa anyway. The signal was poor so although I could tell him I was fine, I could not establish what he wanted me to do once the Doctor had been. It was getting really confusing.
I waited over an hour and finally the Doctor came with Diaa’s friend. They asked if I was ok and I said I was fine. They said everyone was out looking for me. I explained how I couldn’t phone at CP4 because the Bedouin guys would not allow me to use their phone and how they had told me to go on to CP5. They said they had seen my note at CP4. The Doctor said I couldn’t go anywhere until Keith and Diaa arrived. So I waited, and waited. Keith eventually turned up and saw I was fine. He said he would have to disqualify me as I had missed the Checkpoints. It was now about midnight. I was really upset, I asked if I could run back to CP 1 and back again but he said the CPs had now been removed. I then suggested that I run the mileage I had missed when I got to the finish. I told them I would be 27 miles short at the end so why not just run the extra 27 miles?
Keith than very kindly changes his mind and says he would have to speak to Diaa as they had not had a situation like this before and wasn’t sure what to do.
Over 3 hours later, Keith agrees that I can run on and then make up my miles at the end. By this time, I had no idea there was actually another girl missing and they did not tell me about it, for reasons I still don’t understand. At this moment in time I am delighted I can continue.
So, I start up again, pleased that I can make the miles up as I wanted more than anything to do a full 160 miles. I was disappointed I had had to stop so long for them to make a decision but at least I wasn’t disqualified. I ran on, GPS was working fine. I was in my element. I love the desert and the terrain. It suited me and the soft forgiving ground suited my bad back. Things were going well and I took photos of the beautiful scenery. I was feeling really happy.
I ran for a bit and eventually found Keith who had gone on ahead to cheer people on. I showed him my GPS with the track line pointing the wrong way. He looked at it and said it would be fine, clicked it on to compass so that I was just following the arrow and said that was how he would do it. I kept it like this for a while but soon noticed that everyone was running in a different direction to which the arrow was pointing. I caught up with a couple who were running the whole thing together, they to said they had problems with their GPS.
I stuck behind a couple of others behind and fiddled with the GPS until the track pointed the right way. They all slowed down for some reason, so I went on ahead. My GPS seemed to be right as I was now following 3 sets of footprints in the sand which I presumed to belong to the 3 top runners, Steven, Christian and Rafael.
I followed these footprints and kept an eye on the GPS, then the footprints vanished as the ground turned hard. I could smell cooking in the distance and I thought Checkpoint 1 must be nearby but I couldn’t find it and ran in a complete circle trying to find the footprints and by now had put the GPS back onto compass to follow the direction of the arrow. It was pointing south, so I continued that way, found some tyre tracks and stuck with them, deciding that so long as I stayed on the same tracks, they would have to lead somewhere eventually.
I had plenty of water still and wasn’t worried. Eventually I heard some clapping and realised I had reached a checkpoint. I was sure it was going to be CP2 as it had been a while since I smelled the cooking so guessed that I had gone past CP1. Some Bedouin guys were manning the CP and the timesheet which we had to sign our time on was hanging on the tent post. It read CP4. I couldn’t understand it. I double checked with the Bedouin guys and they were laughing and nodding.
I tried to explain I had missed CP1-3 but they didn’t seem to understand. I then pointed to one of the guys who was talking and laughing away on his mobile phone and asked if I could use it to ring Diaa or Keith because they would be wondering why my name wasn’t on the other checkpoint time sheets by now. My mobile did not have any signal and the Egyptian SIM card they had given me did not work in my phone, which Keith knew about and said just to use my phone. The Bedouin shook his head and put the phone behind his back. They pointed ahead and said go CP 5. We had been told that there would be signal at CP 5 so I decided the best thing was to get there as quick as possible so I could get hold of someone to stop anyone looking for me. I took the batteries out of my GPS, fiddled some more with it. It said I had done 30 miles at this point, I knew it should have been roughly 50 miles to CP4, goodness knows how I had gone so wrong. I walked with the GPS for a while until the track was pointing the same way the Bedouin guys were pointing and then ran.
It seemed like no time at all by the time I had nearly reached CP5. I felt really strong and was eager to keep going as soon as I had established contact with someone. I sent a text to Keith but there was no reply so tried phoning Diaa. I didn’t have much phone credit so was a bit worried I wouldn’t have enough to explain to him where I was. I couldn’t get hold of Diaa at first. A jeep had pulled up with another Bedouin guy in it saying I had to wait until the Doctor came. This was really strange and I did not understand why.
I said I would phone Diaa anyway. The signal was poor so although I could tell him I was fine, I could not establish what he wanted me to do once the Doctor had been. It was getting really confusing.
I waited over an hour and finally the Doctor came with Diaa’s friend. They asked if I was ok and I said I was fine. They said everyone was out looking for me. I explained how I couldn’t phone at CP4 because the Bedouin guys would not allow me to use their phone and how they had told me to go on to CP5. They said they had seen my note at CP4. The Doctor said I couldn’t go anywhere until Keith and Diaa arrived. So I waited, and waited. Keith eventually turned up and saw I was fine. He said he would have to disqualify me as I had missed the Checkpoints. It was now about midnight. I was really upset, I asked if I could run back to CP 1 and back again but he said the CPs had now been removed. I then suggested that I run the mileage I had missed when I got to the finish. I told them I would be 27 miles short at the end so why not just run the extra 27 miles?
Keith than very kindly changes his mind and says he would have to speak to Diaa as they had not had a situation like this before and wasn’t sure what to do.
Over 3 hours later, Keith agrees that I can run on and then make up my miles at the end. By this time, I had no idea there was actually another girl missing and they did not tell me about it, for reasons I still don’t understand. At this moment in time I am delighted I can continue.
So, I start up again, pleased that I can make the miles up as I wanted more than anything to do a full 160 miles. I was disappointed I had had to stop so long for them to make a decision but at least I wasn’t disqualified. I ran on, GPS was working fine. I was in my element. I love the desert and the terrain. It suited me and the soft forgiving ground suited my bad back. Things were going well and I took photos of the beautiful scenery. I was feeling really happy.
I
arrived at CP8 at 10pm of Day 2. I was about to carry on again after signing in
when one of the Bedouin guys said I had to wait until Diaa had spoken to me.
Now what have I done I thought. They have changed their minds and want to
disqualify me. 15 minutes later Diaa is on the phone, he says the race has to
stop until a missing girl is found. She had been missing since 6am. This is
really serious I said. Diaa said they would
have to come to CP8 first because the camera guys would be arriving and
he needed their jeep for the search party. He said to me to get some rest and
tell anyone else who turns up not to run. I was ahead of everyone at this
point, because obviously I had missed 27 miles, so had reached CP 8 first.
I was debating how I was going to sleep because I was allergic to cigarette smoke and the Bedouin guys smoked in the tent. It was also really noisy and there was no room. My clothes were drenched with sweat and I wanted to change somewhere in private. I do not run with underwear, so did not want to strip off in the tent as they stared at me. Harry, the camera guy had turned up by now, awaiting Christian’s arrival as he wanted to film him coming in. He said he would be sleeping outside of the tent because of the noise and suggested I do the same. Steven then arrived and I went off to change and got into my sleeping bag, did it right up and went to sleep instantly.
I was suddenly woken up by Diaa standing over me and pulling at the sleeping bag. He started shouting at me for not being in the tent. I tried to explain about the noise and smoke and wanting to change in private. He then said a shocking thing and exclaimed you don’t want to go in the tent because they are Foreign men. I called him stupid for saying such a thing and he got really cross. I tried to point out that the camera guys were not in the tent either, but he retorted by saying, so you prefer English men is that it? I didn’t know what he was insinuating and then I remembered what he had written in the email about what happens in the desert stays in the deserta and I and suddenly felt nervous and lonely.
I got angry with him and called him stupid again, and he stomped off, I called after him to phone me as soon as Ciara, the missing girl was found, and I saw him nod his head but he did not turn to look at me again. I didn’t know what to make of what had just happened. One thing was clear, I had offended him and he had taken my choice to sleep outside of the tent as an insult.
I was debating how I was going to sleep because I was allergic to cigarette smoke and the Bedouin guys smoked in the tent. It was also really noisy and there was no room. My clothes were drenched with sweat and I wanted to change somewhere in private. I do not run with underwear, so did not want to strip off in the tent as they stared at me. Harry, the camera guy had turned up by now, awaiting Christian’s arrival as he wanted to film him coming in. He said he would be sleeping outside of the tent because of the noise and suggested I do the same. Steven then arrived and I went off to change and got into my sleeping bag, did it right up and went to sleep instantly.
I was suddenly woken up by Diaa standing over me and pulling at the sleeping bag. He started shouting at me for not being in the tent. I tried to explain about the noise and smoke and wanting to change in private. He then said a shocking thing and exclaimed you don’t want to go in the tent because they are Foreign men. I called him stupid for saying such a thing and he got really cross. I tried to point out that the camera guys were not in the tent either, but he retorted by saying, so you prefer English men is that it? I didn’t know what he was insinuating and then I remembered what he had written in the email about what happens in the desert stays in the deserta and I and suddenly felt nervous and lonely.
I got angry with him and called him stupid again, and he stomped off, I called after him to phone me as soon as Ciara, the missing girl was found, and I saw him nod his head but he did not turn to look at me again. I didn’t know what to make of what had just happened. One thing was clear, I had offended him and he had taken my choice to sleep outside of the tent as an insult.
The
next morning I got up and went to stretch my legs and see if there was any news
about the girl. I was really worried by now. Rafael suddenly turned up, he had been running through the night as the message had not reached him about not running. Christian had
come in the night but I hadn’t seen him until now. Nobody had heard any news about the missing girl.
At 1:30pm Diaa phones. Yes, he announces cheerily, the girl had been found at 4am and was fine. She is more than fine in fact he says. You may all resume the race now. And that was that. I tell the others. I am cross that Diaa hadn’t said Ciara was safe sooner as we were all starting to fear the worst. I didn’t feel like continuing with the run. It all seemed a bit crazy that one minute I was thinking someone could be dead and then the next it was as if nothing had happened. Christian and Steven were keen however, as they were racing each other and neither wanted to stop but Rafael had to talk himself into it. He said he wasn’t sure what he felt about everything.
Steven said to me we should all run together, I said no because I would hold them back and I didn’t want that. I said I would start at the same time but not run with them. However, when Steven called me once we were ready I thought he was asking me to join in the filming and I said no. I was assuming Christian would have some filming done and then they would start, so I went off to have a wee. I waited in a small oasis just up from the tent in the shade for them to reappear.
The camera guy, Harry arrives and I ask him where the others are. He takes this to mean the Bedouin guys and says down in the shade. I hadn’t realised he had misunderstood me and thought he was referring to Christian, Steven and Rafel. An hour goes by and I ask Harry when will they start running.
"Oh no", says Harry, "They left, I thought you knew".
Now, I am completely deflated. I decide there isn’t any point continuing anyway, mainly because it is now no longer non stop, so I haven’t been able to test myself the way I wanted, and also because things just kept seeming to go wrong. I ask if I can go in the jeep with them instead, he says I could but I would get bored. I knew he was right, so I sign myself out at 3pm and go.
At 1:30pm Diaa phones. Yes, he announces cheerily, the girl had been found at 4am and was fine. She is more than fine in fact he says. You may all resume the race now. And that was that. I tell the others. I am cross that Diaa hadn’t said Ciara was safe sooner as we were all starting to fear the worst. I didn’t feel like continuing with the run. It all seemed a bit crazy that one minute I was thinking someone could be dead and then the next it was as if nothing had happened. Christian and Steven were keen however, as they were racing each other and neither wanted to stop but Rafael had to talk himself into it. He said he wasn’t sure what he felt about everything.
Steven said to me we should all run together, I said no because I would hold them back and I didn’t want that. I said I would start at the same time but not run with them. However, when Steven called me once we were ready I thought he was asking me to join in the filming and I said no. I was assuming Christian would have some filming done and then they would start, so I went off to have a wee. I waited in a small oasis just up from the tent in the shade for them to reappear.
The camera guy, Harry arrives and I ask him where the others are. He takes this to mean the Bedouin guys and says down in the shade. I hadn’t realised he had misunderstood me and thought he was referring to Christian, Steven and Rafel. An hour goes by and I ask Harry when will they start running.
"Oh no", says Harry, "They left, I thought you knew".
Now, I am completely deflated. I decide there isn’t any point continuing anyway, mainly because it is now no longer non stop, so I haven’t been able to test myself the way I wanted, and also because things just kept seeming to go wrong. I ask if I can go in the jeep with them instead, he says I could but I would get bored. I knew he was right, so I sign myself out at 3pm and go.
I
am full of energy and before I know it I spot the 3 top runners in the
distance. I knew if I could keep it up I would catch up with them by the next
checkpoint. Sure enough, I arrive at CP9 just as Christian and Steven are
leaving but Rafael has stayed behind. His knee is hurting and he does not want
to run anymore. He asks if I will walk with him, he says of course I can go on
if I like, but I feel bad, so decided to join him.
We leave CP9 together. Rafael is very tired. He walks very slow and everytime I quicken the pace he asks me to slow down. When we reach CP10 he says he needs a nap. Harry is there wondering why we took so long. He asks me if I wanted to go faster, I say of course, but I wasn’t going to leave Rafael behind. Rafael has his nap and we leave nearly an hour later. The cameramen are long gone. I enjoy his company and it is a beautiful night. I try to get Rafael to spot the shooting stars but he never looks up in time and is weary but in good spirits.
During our walk Rafael discusses with me the crazy time situation with all the stopping and starting. Rafael says he has miles to make up to because he was lost shortly before CP3 and took the wrong way. After some hours in the desert he found a car and was driven straight to CP4, so he had missed the route between CP3 and CP4. He is not sure how many miles Keith wants him to make up. He says he thought a time penalty was enough and said he was going to ask Keith if he could just do that instead.
We leave CP9 together. Rafael is very tired. He walks very slow and everytime I quicken the pace he asks me to slow down. When we reach CP10 he says he needs a nap. Harry is there wondering why we took so long. He asks me if I wanted to go faster, I say of course, but I wasn’t going to leave Rafael behind. Rafael has his nap and we leave nearly an hour later. The cameramen are long gone. I enjoy his company and it is a beautiful night. I try to get Rafael to spot the shooting stars but he never looks up in time and is weary but in good spirits.
During our walk Rafael discusses with me the crazy time situation with all the stopping and starting. Rafael says he has miles to make up to because he was lost shortly before CP3 and took the wrong way. After some hours in the desert he found a car and was driven straight to CP4, so he had missed the route between CP3 and CP4. He is not sure how many miles Keith wants him to make up. He says he thought a time penalty was enough and said he was going to ask Keith if he could just do that instead.
Main camp
When
we reach the finish, everyone is asleep. It is 2:30am. We hear Keith wake up
and shout to us, we had walked passed him asleep in his sleeping bag. He runs
up to us and says he had been really worried. He hugs us and leads us into a
tent. Rafael and I sign the time sheet. Keith is exhausted. Rafael starts to
question him about what we should do to finish the race and suggests his idea
of a time penalty. Keith asks me if that is what I want to do, I shrug and say if
that is what you want Rafael to do, I will do the same to make it fair. My GPS
says 130 miles, so I tell him this and say I am 27miles short, as 157 miles is
the official distance.
Keith says he is too tired to discuss it now but he would talk about it in the morning. I go off to my tent assuming I will end up with a time penalty as otherwise I would have just wanted to get on with running the miles now.
In the morning I find there are a few people already here who hadn’t finished the race getting ready to go to do some extra miles for the sake of it, which was very commendable. Ciara, the young lady who had been missing is also here. She is being attended to by the Doctor. She is severely dehydrated, temperatures had been at least 35 degrees Celsius at the time she had passed out. It takes a total of 4 intravenous drips to until she starts to make a recovery. The Doctor does an amazing job of looking after her. He is the only Doctor between 17 competitors, so he had a lot to deal with.
I also find out that Alexander, one of the competitors had tried for several hours to get help and could not reach anyone despite being on the correct route. He had become too weak to continue and was worrying he would run out of water before arriving at the next CP and wanted picking up before that happened. He resorted to using his own satellite pager out of desperation because he could not reach Keith or Diaa even though he had phone signal. The piece of extra kit Alex had thought to bring on his own accord, was something Keith had laughed to me about, saying Alex worries about everything too much.
I then hear also that the couple had also gone missing and went off several km in the wrong direction ending up in an Egyptian factory, they were not back yet either. Noone else has finished apart from Steven and Christian, and of course Rafael and I. However, we needed to do miles or face a time penalty. I still did not know the decision.
I see Keith and he is tired. I was expecting him to say he was doing the time penalty thing Rafael had suggested. Instead he says I have to run the same distance from the start line to CP3, which is 50 miles. I question him on this asking why I have to run extra miles, he says it is because I have to run the equivalent route. I ask him why couldn’t I have just run this actual route when I was at CP5. He is getting angry and is too tired for all my questions. He takes my GPS to input the coordinates for me to follow to make up the miles. He has my GPS for ages. By now I don’t understand why none of this had been thought of before. Rafael has already gone to do an extra 34 miles plus the distance he missed between the checkpoints.
Keith can’t do it so gives the GPS to Adrian to do. Diaa is losing his patience with me and brings up the fact that I was abusive to him. I try to explain to Keith what happened about the tent and sleeping outside, but Keith is siding with Diaa and not listening to me. The atmosphere is horrible and I am feeling picked on and miserable.
Adrian comes back with my GPS. He shows me the coordinates he had put in. They are in random order and says I will have to remember which one I was at and not just follow the coordinates down the list. I say this is crazy, and why are they making it more difficult for me. I ask why I can’t just do what Rafael is doing and reverse the track. They say it is because they don’t trust me to do this. This really annoys me because I led Rafael most of the way in the night because Rafael kept wandering on to a different track because he was so tired. I am feeling patronised.
Then, I get a final shock, I look at the total mileage they have given me to do and it is now 78miles!! I suddenly feel an overwhelming sense of irony hit me. I was drawn back to 5 years ago, when I had broken my back and had to lie still and flat, without sitting up for 12 weeks until my back healed. The hospital staff said that at 12 weeks I would go in for an MRI to see whether my spine could bear my weight and not just crumble when I sit up. At 12 weeks, I phone the hospital. They announce they forgot to book me in but could fit me in two weeks time!! Two more weeks lying flat I cry!!
78 more miles?!! I cry! The parallel was incredible.
Where have you got this 78 miles from I ask between tears? They then accuse me of not wanting to be fair to everyone else. This is the last straw, I get emotional. I call them disorganised and bring up the fact that they had lost so many competitors and couldn’t reach them when they needed help, referring to Alexander.
Diaa then answers back by saying I can’t do it anyway because it is too far and they will not be able to keep an eye on me. This is a ridiculous argument, noone has kept an eye on me the whole time from CP5 I say. Diaa won’t budge. I don’t care. You can’t do it. You are abusive and too emotional. I shake my head in disbelief. Janet, a competitor who had not finished but is in the tent, tries to calm me down, but she hasn’t seen what has been going on. I say just leave it Janet.
So, apart from, that it was great. I loved the White Desert, I was more than pleased with my fitness and surprised myself. My training was more than adequate and if only I was better with a GPS, I could have finished it in the first place.
The concept of the race is fantastic. I feel sure I could have done it all non stop had there been an opportunity to, and I believe I would have been quicker than my own prediction. The bonus of catching up with the top guys between CP8 and CP9 was a huge boost to my confidence. I cannot control all the other stuff that happened, but one thing for sure, all the other 16 competitors who took part were incredible. It was a phenomenal achievement by everyone.
Keith says he is too tired to discuss it now but he would talk about it in the morning. I go off to my tent assuming I will end up with a time penalty as otherwise I would have just wanted to get on with running the miles now.
In the morning I find there are a few people already here who hadn’t finished the race getting ready to go to do some extra miles for the sake of it, which was very commendable. Ciara, the young lady who had been missing is also here. She is being attended to by the Doctor. She is severely dehydrated, temperatures had been at least 35 degrees Celsius at the time she had passed out. It takes a total of 4 intravenous drips to until she starts to make a recovery. The Doctor does an amazing job of looking after her. He is the only Doctor between 17 competitors, so he had a lot to deal with.
I also find out that Alexander, one of the competitors had tried for several hours to get help and could not reach anyone despite being on the correct route. He had become too weak to continue and was worrying he would run out of water before arriving at the next CP and wanted picking up before that happened. He resorted to using his own satellite pager out of desperation because he could not reach Keith or Diaa even though he had phone signal. The piece of extra kit Alex had thought to bring on his own accord, was something Keith had laughed to me about, saying Alex worries about everything too much.
I then hear also that the couple had also gone missing and went off several km in the wrong direction ending up in an Egyptian factory, they were not back yet either. Noone else has finished apart from Steven and Christian, and of course Rafael and I. However, we needed to do miles or face a time penalty. I still did not know the decision.
I see Keith and he is tired. I was expecting him to say he was doing the time penalty thing Rafael had suggested. Instead he says I have to run the same distance from the start line to CP3, which is 50 miles. I question him on this asking why I have to run extra miles, he says it is because I have to run the equivalent route. I ask him why couldn’t I have just run this actual route when I was at CP5. He is getting angry and is too tired for all my questions. He takes my GPS to input the coordinates for me to follow to make up the miles. He has my GPS for ages. By now I don’t understand why none of this had been thought of before. Rafael has already gone to do an extra 34 miles plus the distance he missed between the checkpoints.
Keith can’t do it so gives the GPS to Adrian to do. Diaa is losing his patience with me and brings up the fact that I was abusive to him. I try to explain to Keith what happened about the tent and sleeping outside, but Keith is siding with Diaa and not listening to me. The atmosphere is horrible and I am feeling picked on and miserable.
Adrian comes back with my GPS. He shows me the coordinates he had put in. They are in random order and says I will have to remember which one I was at and not just follow the coordinates down the list. I say this is crazy, and why are they making it more difficult for me. I ask why I can’t just do what Rafael is doing and reverse the track. They say it is because they don’t trust me to do this. This really annoys me because I led Rafael most of the way in the night because Rafael kept wandering on to a different track because he was so tired. I am feeling patronised.
Then, I get a final shock, I look at the total mileage they have given me to do and it is now 78miles!! I suddenly feel an overwhelming sense of irony hit me. I was drawn back to 5 years ago, when I had broken my back and had to lie still and flat, without sitting up for 12 weeks until my back healed. The hospital staff said that at 12 weeks I would go in for an MRI to see whether my spine could bear my weight and not just crumble when I sit up. At 12 weeks, I phone the hospital. They announce they forgot to book me in but could fit me in two weeks time!! Two more weeks lying flat I cry!!
78 more miles?!! I cry! The parallel was incredible.
Where have you got this 78 miles from I ask between tears? They then accuse me of not wanting to be fair to everyone else. This is the last straw, I get emotional. I call them disorganised and bring up the fact that they had lost so many competitors and couldn’t reach them when they needed help, referring to Alexander.
Diaa then answers back by saying I can’t do it anyway because it is too far and they will not be able to keep an eye on me. This is a ridiculous argument, noone has kept an eye on me the whole time from CP5 I say. Diaa won’t budge. I don’t care. You can’t do it. You are abusive and too emotional. I shake my head in disbelief. Janet, a competitor who had not finished but is in the tent, tries to calm me down, but she hasn’t seen what has been going on. I say just leave it Janet.
So, apart from, that it was great. I loved the White Desert, I was more than pleased with my fitness and surprised myself. My training was more than adequate and if only I was better with a GPS, I could have finished it in the first place.
The concept of the race is fantastic. I feel sure I could have done it all non stop had there been an opportunity to, and I believe I would have been quicker than my own prediction. The bonus of catching up with the top guys between CP8 and CP9 was a huge boost to my confidence. I cannot control all the other stuff that happened, but one thing for sure, all the other 16 competitors who took part were incredible. It was a phenomenal achievement by everyone.
