The 25th MDS 2010

In October,, Mr Patrick Bauer was with his "fine" team of patrollers. Setting off to survey the area for the creation of the “famous” 25th MDS course, we were able to glean a comment for future participants:

"Exclusively for the darbaroud.com website, I can reveal and confirm what numerous competitors have imagined for the 2010 edition! Yes indeed, the course, which is still made up of 6 stages, has been slightly extended to reach a total of 250 km - the 25th anniversary requires this! The itinerary will be packed with the most beautiful sites in the Saharan provinces. The menu will include dunes, mountains, dried up lakes, regs, oases and ... more dunes!"

I am so excited! Can`t wait for April 2010~!

Runner wanted for Wadi Bih

On the 12th February 2010 myself and Haydn are planning to run the Wadi Bih relay. The race consists of 4 legs through a Wadi near Dibba. Each runner runs about 20km each and I have been told that this is a pretty serious run due to the terrain and elevation. If you are keen let me know asap as we are on a waiting list to get into the race!

First Batch of Equipment!

Hi! This week has been very exciting as I have been covering very good mileage and my legs are feeling really good. I am also running with Brooks Ghost 2 running shoes and they are absolutely amazing. This is the lightest shoe I have ever worn that gives full support as the majority of the runs were done off road.

I also did a 21km trail run in 2hrs3min and is very happy with the time. My legs adjusted well and I must say running off road is doing wonders for my legs muscles!

My equipment arrived from Likey`s and I would definitely do business with them again! Very efficient! Cant say the same for the post office and customs this side, as I would like to keep my blog clear of any nasty words!!!

I will be doing a full summary of my equipment as soon as I receive my final package from France. Now I need to get my visa sorted for Morocco as ZAF citizens needs permission to enter............

Also apologies for the delay in updating the blog, we moving house and have limited access to the world wide web! Will try and update as soon as possible. Thanks for the support so far as we moving closer to Morocco 2010 very fast!

Being Perfect

I have been using various songs and inspirational quotes over the last few months to help me stay focused and the one below is one of my favourite favourites from the movie Friday Night Lights.

This is an actual speech used by Gary Gains for a end of season football game and the speech is called Being Perfect:

Now, you all have known me for awhile, and for a long time you have been hearing me talk about being perfect. Well, I want you to understand something,to me, being perfect isn't about that scoreboard out there. It is not about winning, it`s about your relationship to yourself and your family and your friends.

Being perfect is about being able to look your friends in the eye and know you did not let them down, because you told them the truth. And the truth is that you did everything that you could, there wasn`t one more thing you could`ve done.

Can you live in that moment forever,as best as you can, with clear eyes and love in your heart, with joy in your heart?

If you can do that gentlemen, then you`re perfect.

Equipment Order 2010

Happy New Year to everyone who has been following my blog over the last couple of months and motivating me to prepare and share my MDS experience with you. In terms of my prep work for the run of my life I am nearing the finishing stages as I am putting my equipment order tomorrow. I will also pay the final EUR 2200 that will get me into this race and then I am almost set, just need to ensure I put the miles in and the meters will look after themselves. I have started dreaming about the race again like I did at the start of my idea to run this mega race! I must admit the dreams are all good so that`s a good sign I believe. All I need to do now is run as much as possible between now and April 2.

My equipment that I will order tomorrow includes the following items:

Raidlight Evo 2 Back Pack with front bag

Marmot Atom Sleeping bag

Thermarest Fast and Light Sleeping Mat

Petzl Tikka Headlamp

Silva Field 7 Compass

Anti Vemon Pump Kit

Signalling Mirror

Injini Performance Socks

Raidlight Bottles and Raidlight Water Bottle Holders

Dermatone Lips and Face Balm

Two Piece Tyvek Desert Suit

Gaiters

Stove Esbit

Solid Fuel Esbit

50cL Mess Tin

Spork

I will also be sourcing other items like to first aid kit and survival sheet here in Dubai. I am still trying to get a kit supplier and will be hooking up with Steve Cooper from GO Sport and hopefully have good news! I also need to make a final desision on a running shoe, not too sure if I am 100% happy with the Salomons? I am alos looking for a good suncharger set to be able to charge the Ipod and my GpS unit. Once I have finalized my kit list I will post it on the blog. Tomorrow I will also go and have a look at sunglasses to run with and I have Wiley X in mind as they offer very good protection and is US military certified. Will keep you posted! Keep forwarding the donation link for the Els foundation and encourage your friends to sponsor my run and help fight Autism!