ComradesMarathon4Autism

2012

2011-11-10T01:14:00.004+04:00

2011 taught me a lesson about Ultra Marathon running......it is not as easy as it seems. I finished the 2010 Marathon des Sables in Morocco in 72 hours, and I thought that if I can run 250km across the desert that I would be able to manage 82km on a paved road, with as much water as I would like, surrounded by close on 20 000 other runners, and thousands more next to the road cheering on runners, pushing them on between Durban and Pietermaritzburg.

I am not looking for excuses, but my Comrades Marathon race was over before I even crossed the starting line. A torn hip-flexor muscle that I picked up on the 16th April 2011 sealed my fate, even though I resisted the pain, the advise of a specialist, friends and event he running great, Zola Budd. I went into that race with such high hopes, believe that I can run a the distance under 11 hours, make everyone proud that have supported me through the the MDS, and my charity foundation, the Ernie Els for Autism Foundation. After 65km of running, I pulled out of the 2011 Comrades Marathon due to a badly injured hip-flexor. I got into a sweeper van, with tears in my eyes and a heavy heart, vowing never to run this God forsaken run again. Ever.

Now I am back. Back for the down run. With the believe that I will complete this race, the race of races, The Comrades Marathon.

Bring it. I will be ready.

I am ready....

2011-05-27T21:48:00.000+04:00

Second last day before the Big C! It is unbelievable how fast this day is getting closer, the last few months dragged a bit, and now we heading towards Sunday like a freight train...I am trying to focus on positive outcomes as much as possible, it is very easy to lose focus and be negative about the whole race, thinking about cut off times, pace vs time, comfort levels ect. I am being a Zen as possible!!

This morning I went back to Gateway mall for a little walk and some coffee. As I was waiting in line at Vida I bumped into John Smith, South African rugby captain. This was a nice little surprize and I took a photo with him.We chatted about the Comrades for a while and about my autism charity. He is a true gentleman.

I got home around lunch and headed into town for some pasta and a few beers, carbo loading made easy! Later in the arvi I got home and slept for an hour or so. I finished my day with a long walk along the Umhlanga beaches and I am feeling very settled and calm. I am ready.

Building up to the Big Day!

2011-05-26T19:28:00.002+04:00

Woke up early this morning at 4am and I am not sure if it is nerves or the 2 hour time difference between the UAE and South Africa! As you know I came with a good friend Mariana, her sister Lynette is also running the Comrades this coming Sunday. We are staying in Umhlanga and at 7h30am this morning we set off for a run in the rain and wind and it was very good on the legs. I am trying to save my legs as much as possible but still keep them moving every day.

We headed along the beach towards the town center and stopped in at the Vida Cafe for a well deserved coffee as we were freezing our bums off! After a 5 minute coffee break we headed back towards the apartment and decided to explore a trail near where we live. Running in Africa is so good for my soul and I and happy that in a couple of months we will be back for good, and I can get out there and get my running fix again!

Running in the UAE limits you a lot as it is very seasonal. When I left to come to Durban it was already 44 degrees during the day, making running very unpleasant, Night time runs are not much better as it hovers around the 30s and humidity is at its peak between 60 and 80%. So coming home and being able to run in nature in cooler tempretures is a blessing! You feel so alive when you in Africa, it is great for you soul!

This afternoon we went to the Expo to have a squizz around and pick up my race pack. My race number for Sunday is 12496 and after opening the race pack I realized this is it, I am now part of the Greatest race on earth, the Ultimate Human Race, the Comrades Marathon! I am feeling very relaxed at the moment but I am sure come Saturday evening I will be full of butterflies. I will run my own race, and the only goal on the day is to finish. Any time set will be used to measure myself when I return for my next race.

Often people ask what is next after completing a race like this, well, it is simple, I want a green Comrades race number. This means you have completed 10 Comrades Marathons, and your race number becomes yours for life, no one will ever wear that number again. So that is my next goal!!! Gooi mielies!

Day 1 in Durban

2011-05-26T19:19:00.001+04:00

Arrived in Durban today after an 8 hour flight from the UAE. I have expected the weather to be cool but it has been much colder than what I anticipated with overcast conditions and rain. On the way to Umhlagana I turned the radio on, and the local radio station was interviewing Bruce Fordyce. According to Fordyce the forcast for Sunday will be clear skes and 21 degrees with some cloud cover in the afternoon. So I am hopeful the weather will be improving over the next couple of days! Going to the Comrades Expo tomorrow, hope to pick up some cool gear.

Amby Burfoot's Comrades Experience - The Up Run

2011-05-23T12:53:00.003+04:00

Every run is a new adventure, and every race serves only to expose some piece of us. The greater the race distance, the deeper the unpeeling. This makes South Africa's 55-mile Comrades Marathon a long and probing quest.

The distance alone makes the Comrades intimidating. The infamous climbs make it torturous. Midway, the course snakes upward through the Valley of a Thousand Hills, an English appellation as accurate as it is terrifying.

On Comrades Marathon morning in Durban two years ago, I walked out of my hotel's back door at 4:30am and followed everyone else towards the start a mile away. As I did so I had time to consider what had brought me there.

The answer couldn't be simpler. The way I figure it, Comrades has to be the world's greatest race. It's 55 miles long – the type of distance that usually lures about, oh, 71 runners. Comrades has enough magnetism to draw 12,000. Everyone in South Africa is a Comrades aficionado, thanks to the continuous 12-hour live national TV coverage. It has the most extraordinary traditions, like the matter of race numbers and their colours. International runners get blue ones. Runners in their 10th Comrades wear yellow. You complete 10 and you get a green number for all future entries. You own this number. No one but you will wear it again – ever.

At the start all ears eagerly await the sound of a cock's crow. In 1948, local runner Max Trimborn, one of 44 entrants that year, couldn't contain his nervous energy on the starting line. So he cupped his hands, filled his lungs, and issued a lusty rooster crow. The other runners so enjoyed this act that they demanded repeat performances in subsequent years. Trimborn obliged for the next 32, sometimes adorning himself with feathers and a rooster vest. By the time of his death in 1985, Trimborn's crowing had been preserved on tape. These days, greatly amplified, it still starts the Comrades Marathon: "Cock-A-Doodle...Go!"

But perhaps the greatest of Comrades rituals is the course switch. In odd years the course drops down 2,300 feet from Pietermaritzburg to Durban. In even years it reverses itself, scrambling up into the hills. I ran Comrades once previously, in 1993, a 'down' year; the race in 2006 was like a new and completely different experience, full of unexpected challenges.

A race this long demands a plan and a goal. I've got both, but mainly the latter. The plan is to take it easy. While I haven't done any long runs, I'm in good shape, based on a recent 1:29 half-marathon. I aim to extend my endurance with walking breaks. When I feel good, I'll run. When I get tired, I'll walk. You see how easy these ultra marathons are?

My primary goal is more specific: I want to run all the way up Polly Shortts. Animal lovers can name Africa's 'Big Five' in a flash: elephant, buffalo, leopard, lion and rhinoceros. Those who run the 'up' Comrades are just as quick with its Big Five hills: Cowies, Fields, Bothas, Inchanga and Polly Shortts, the last and most treacherous. When I first heard these names back in my college days I could barely suppress a chuckle. Polly Shortts? I couldn't picture anything but a girl in a miniskirt. (Hey, it was the 1960s, okay?)

The day before the race, I have lunch with nine-time winner Bruce Fordyce, now 51, a South African who's regarded as the greatest ever Comrades runner. I tell him that I simply want to run all the way up Polly Shortts. Fordyce's face comes alive, breaking into a wicked grin. "Oh, you'll not be running up Polly," he says. "By the time you get there, you won't have much run left in you."

The first miles pass easily, almost eerily. In these early miles, there's little room for walking breaks. The roads are narrow, the pack thick. After 5K, I spot several openings and scoot to the side of the road to walk for a minute or two. I seem to be alone in this approach. Everyone else is still running. That's okay. The more strength I save now, the more I'll have later, when I really want it – when I meet my Polly. A bright sun rises in the east, bathing the verdant countryside in brilliant colours. "This is easy," I tell myself. "You can do this all day."

At about nine miles, I reach the first hill, Cowies. It's no big deal – just a long, gradual slope up and around a big shoulder. I take a few short walk breaks. All fine. Just a few more miles to the half-marathon mark.

The first killer hill, Fields, begins at about 14 miles. It's long, steep, and grinding. Since almost everyone is walking, I decide to do the same and make some new friends. That's one of the great things about an ultra. When you go this long and slow, there's time for bonding. Comrades was started in 1921 to pay tribute to South Africa's World War One vets. These days, "comrades" refers more often to your training and racing partners.

I talk to two guys running together. The stories tumble out. One is running his fifth Comrades, the other is a newbie. "I had to find something to celebrate my 50th birthday," he says. "Some men get divorced, some men buy fast cars. I decided to run the 'up' Comrades."

Miles covered: 26.2Elapsed time: 5:10Mind: With the worst hills done and gone, maybe it's time to think negative splitsBody: Thank goodness the second half is mostly flatOverall: When this thing is done, it would be nice to take a vacation.

A mile beyond the marathon mark, we run through the Flora Halfway Celebration, basically the longest balloon arch/water stop/musical revue I've ever seen. It's at least 200 metres from one end to the other. I drink a little Coke, eat half a baked potato (a Comrades speciality), and try to relax. This might be possible except for one supreme obstacle: Inchanga. It fills the view ahead, soaring ever higher like a rollercoaster on steroids. Yes, the scenery is spectacular, but an ultra crushes your appreciation for aesthetics. I walk most of Inchanga. It takes 30 minutes. All I see is black asphalt with narrow zigzag fissures. I'm still thinking: "Save yourself for Polly."

Beyond Inchanga, we pass the Ethembeni ('Place of Hope') School for blind and physically handicapped children. Its students line the roadside in their wheelchairs, with canes, on crutches. No Comrades runner, no matter how fatigued, can pass here without acknowledging their own good fortune. I jog over to the kids and give as many high fives as I can. These smiling kids are inspirational, but I'm sinking fast. I plod up four or five unnamed hills – things are starting to get fuzzy by this point. Each is followed by a punishing descent.

Miles covered: 39.3Elapsed time: Eight hours (2:50 for the last 13.1)Mind: This sucksBody: This sucksOverall: This – how should I put it? – sucks

Polly, Polly, where are you? I've been walking for three miles, from about the 45-mile mark. It's a desperate move – one that I hope will conserve what little strength I have left. Maybe, I tell myself, maybe I can still run up Polly Shortts.

A large sign announces the appearance of Polly Shortts. I lift my eyes – a mistake. Ahead is the sharpest hill of the day, rising upward until it slithers out of view. I'm guessing there's more of the same over the horizon. I see hundreds of runners. All are walking. And there is no chance, despite my resolve, that I will run Polly Shortts. My tank has passed empty. So I trudge onward, sidling over to a green-numbered runner, one of the veterans. I explain how, prior to today's ordeal, I believed the 'up' Comrades might be easier than the 'down'.

"Listen to me, mate," he says. "This is my 17th Comrades, and all those years I've heard runners talk about how the 'up' run is easier on the body. But I'm telling you, it's not. This 'up' run is just one big piece of hard work. It keeps coming at you and coming and coming, and it never gives you a break. Never."

I walk every step of Polly Shortts, and every step of the remaining six miles to the finish. As we get closer to Pietermaritzburg, the course turns blessedly, run-ably downhill, and I still can't break out of my walk. A spectator bolts from her lawn chair, and races to the sidewalk, her eyes fixed on mine. "You're a hero," she yells into my face. "Don't stop. You can do it."

Half a mile from the end of the race, I hear the first faint echoes from the finish line announcer. Here, in another 60 minutes, running's most dramatic moment will be played out. With precisely 11 hours, 59 minutes on the time clock, the director of the Comrades Marathon marches to the finish line. There, he turns his back to the oncoming stream of runners, raises a gun and waits for the seconds to tick down.

Pandemonium breaks loose. Thousands of spectators look to the frantic flow of runners struggling for the finish. Some are sprinting with joyously upraised arms, some walking, some literally crawling on their hands and knees. The crowd breaks into a rhythmic, throbbing chant: "Go...Go...Go...Go!" The atmosphere is electric, the suspense building. The national television audience skyrockets in the final minutes, as all of South Africa tunes in for the tense Comrades conclusion. Who'll make it? Who won't?

At 12:00:00 on the race clock, the gun is fired. The Comrades Marathon is over. Those who fail to break 12 hours will receive no medal for their effort. No time. They won't appear in the official results. They will become, in effect, a non-runner. You could tell your friends that you ran Comrades. You could say you finished in around 12:05. But you didn't. Because there will be no record of it.

There is some solace only for the first non-finisher. He or she becomes an instant hero, interviewed live on TV and pictured on the front page of every newspaper. To many South Africans, the Comrades runner who goes all that distance, for nothing, is more symbolic, of something, than the race winner.

I beat the 12-hour cut-off by 55 minutes, but I've also run the worst race of my life. When I finally reach the City Oval cricket grounds on the edge of Pietermaritzburg and run through the corridor of spectators thumping on tin advertising signs, I can only console myself that I didn't quit. Sometimes the best you can do is not very good at all, and those are probably the most important times to stick it out. But I've got what I wanted, what I wanted badly – a Comrades 'up' medal. Every runner should have one.

Miles covered: 55Elapsed time: 11 hours, 5 minutes.Mind: Nice to be sitting downBody: Not sure I can stand up againOverall: Thank goodness that’s done

The Up Run Profile

2011-05-19T08:37:00.004+04:00

This is whats awaits runners on that last Sunday in May 2011. This is what will define every runner, and when you cross that finish line you will be one of the select few to have taken this personal journey to self discovery.

Courage

2011-05-19T08:33:00.000+04:00

The Long Run.

2011-05-19T07:49:00.003+04:00

When I did the Marathon des Sables in Morocco last year, I thought that I will never become so emotionally involved in a run again, ever. But with a just over a week to go before the run, my mind is all over the place with race thoughts and stategies I will need to follow to finish this beast.

The torn hipflexor muscle has put me back quite a bit, and if it was any other race I dont think I would have done the race. I feel a bit under cooked with regards to Km's on my legs, so I am pretty sure it will be a long tough day for me come next Sunday. I will need to draw on my MDS experience to get me through the day, and the good thing of the Comrades vs MDs is that it is only one day, 89km, done.

I am aiming to to run the race between 11 and 11:30 hrs, and would be super stoked if I get in before the 12 hours cut off.

I am leaving for Durban on the 25th May and will fly directly into Durbs. I am joined by my good friend Mariana, who's sister will also take part in the Long run this year. All that is left now is to get my thoughts in order and focus on everything positive. I will finish this race.

11 days to go!!

2011-05-17T02:44:00.000+04:00

Running on Empty

2011-05-17T02:14:00.001+04:00

As a runner I am always looking for inspirational people in the running world, and since I started with ultra running I have come across some true legends. They are all unique in their own way, and inspire you in different ways, from folks like Karnazes and Engle, Caballo Blanco and Barefoot Ted, Jenn Shelton and Ryan Sandes, but one man stands out head and shoulders above the rest, Marshall Ulrich.

When you ask a young child what they want to be when they grow up, you get answers like "I want to be a fireman", or "I want to be a doctor". Well, when I grow up I would like to be Marshall Ulrich. Marshall is an old school runner and I believe he is one of the most humble human beings on earth. He has achieved so much in is life time, that it would be hard for any person to try and match what Marshall has done.

When I am running Comrades next week, I'll be thinking of Marshall when it gets tough, as he ran across America from San Fran to NYC, averaging between 70 and 50 miles per day, for more than 46 days, day in and day out. Respect!

Marshall has a book out which I am reading at the moment called Running on Empty. Please get it as soon as possible!!! It is availible on Amazon and iBooks as a download.

The Last Great Race on Earth

2011-05-16T21:57:00.003+04:00

It begins at the break of a new day,that one day each year, were a special band of people, that select few, of every gender, every race, every creed, every age, and from every walk of life, and from every corner of the earth, come together.

They are here to begin a journey, that at it's conclusion,no matter how far they have travelled, every single one will have been defined. Whether we finish the race or not,it is the fact that we stood shoulder to shoulder at the starting line, that makes us winners. True winners of this auspicious occasion.

There is not one, when the sun sets on that day, will not stand tall. In amongst the fastest, and the slowest ,can say with pride, that they took part in that day of days, the race of races..... The Comrades Marathon.

It is not just a race, its much more than a race, it is a mountain which every single participant will attempt to cross, to summit, or to conquer. Its a life changing event, one in which everyone will dig deep into their human reserves, in order to overcome some of the biggest obstacles and challenges that each and everyone will ever face in their lives. And on that day, whether they are running against the clock, or running to their own beat, each one is a giant, giants among men.

This is more than merely a seething mass of humanity, who come together on that appointed day. This is 18000 champions, 18000 winners, 18000 heroes, each and everyone there to take part, and to realize everone else's dreams, aspirations,their hopes and their goals. All to become one with one another.

There are those who will make is laugh, those who will make us cry, and some that will make us blush, and so many that will make us proud. It is here we learn the meaning of heroism, the meaning of respect for each other, and the true understanding of sacrifice. We discover that to help a fellow athlete or friend, is indeed to help ourselves. Whilst kilometers fall away behind us, it is the road that lies ahead that makes us true to ourselves, and make us true individuals.

Everyones personal best is measured not in time, but in endurance,and also in the believe of ones own abilities, no matter how small or brave that individual might be. The ones that stand tall on that day, are each and everyone. Those that ends their race, whether is be in pain or glory, will carry those traits like medals forever. And to those who venture out on this occasion for the very first time, with a fleet or heavy footing, are to discover this is not a race or a marathon, it is a journey, a journey of discovery. One in search of ones inner self. A day in your life you can proudly say, that you have taken part in one of the most gruelling challenges know to man. The Ultimate Human Race.

To the true Comrades, they will have found that all have become one and are revered by all. And that in its self, is the miracle called the Comrades Marathon. The greatest ultra marathon in the world. Come and experience it. See you on the staring line - 29/05/2011.

The Human Race - How it all began.

2011-03-15T23:17:00.003+04:00

Arguably the greatest ultra marathon in the world where athletes come from all over the world to combine muscle and sinew and mental strength to conquer the approx 90 kilometres between the cities of Pietermaritzburg and Durban, the event owes its beginnings to the vision of one man, World War I veteran Vic Clapham. Vic Clapham was born in London on 16 November 1886 and emigrated as a youth to the Cape Colony in South Africa, with his parents. At the outbreak of the South African War (Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902) he enrolled as an ambulance man into the Cradock Town Guard at the age of 13. He later moved to Natal and worked as an engine driver with the South African Railways.

With the outbreak of the Great War 1914-1918, Vic Clapham signed up with the 8th South African Infantry, and fought and marched 1700 miles of the eastern savannahs of Africa in pursuit of Glen Paul Von Lettow-Vorbecks askari battalions.

The pain, agonies, death and hardships of his comrades which he witnessed during those awful days left a lasting impression on the battle-hardened soldier, especially the camaraderie engendered among the men in overcoming these privations. Thus when peace was declared in 1918, Clapham felt that all those who had fallen in this catastrophic war should be remembered and honoured in a unique way, where an individuals physical frailties could be put to the test and overcome. Remembering the searing heat and thirst of the parched veld through which he had campaigned, he settled on the idea of a marathon and he approached the athletic authorities of the day to sound their views. His enquiry led him to the doors of the League of Comrades of the Great War a corpus of ex-soldiers who had formed an association to foster the interests of their living companions who had survived the War.

Clapham asked for permission to stage a 56 mile race between Pietermaritzburg and Durban under the name of the Comrades Marathon and for it to become a living memorial to the spirit of the soldiers of the Great War This was strenuously resisted by the League, but Clapham persisted maintaining that if a sedentary living person could be taken off the street given a rifle and 60lb pack and marched all over Africa then surely a fit and able athlete could complete the distance. Applications in 1919 and 1920 were refused but in 1921 the League relented and gave permission and 1 for expenses, which was refundable.

The first Comrades Marathon took place on 24th May 1921, Empire Day, starting outside the City Hall in Pietermaritzburg with 34 runners. It has continued since then every year with the exception of the war years 1941-1945, with the direction alternating each year between Pietermaritzburg and Durban, the so called up & down runs.

The Comrades Marathon is a cherished national treasure and attracts thousands of runners, spectators and television viewers every year. We invite you to participate in this great event and experience the worlds greatest race. For the longest time this race has been on my bucket list, so, in 74 days I am hoping to tick that box and look for the next big adventure!

15 Famous Athletes Who Are Vegetarians

2011-03-14T19:58:00.003+04:00

Roxanne McAnn from Nursingschools.net have asked me to share the article below with my readers. In the book Born to Run, McDougall also explores the benefits of becoming a vegetarian runner as done by the Tarahumara Indians. I am very keen to put this to the test and see how my body responds! Let me have your thoughts on this:

Humans, and especially those who do a lot of physical exertion, need quite a bit of protein to keep their bodies healthy and in optimal shape. While meat is a great source of the essential nutrient, it's certainly not the only one; many athletes have opted out of eating meat in favor of plant-based sources. Some might think it's a disadvantage, but many of these athletes have won countless medals and competitions and have gone down in history as some of the best in their sports. If you're a vegetarian athlete or aspiring to be one, here are some of the greats in sporting history who show you just what can be done with hard work, lots of veggies and some amazing talent.

Bill Walton: Bill Walton was never one to stick to the mainstream when it came to his personal life, but on the court he is remembered as a great player, winning three straight College Player of the Year Awards during his time at UCLA and named an MVP during his time in the NBA. This Hall of Famer didn't do it with the help of animal protein, however. A committed vegetarian, Walton is still active off the court today as an announcer.

John Salley: John Salley isn't just a basketball legend — he's also an outspoken advocate for vegetarianism, often doing work for PETA. The first player in NBA history to play on three different championship-winning franchises, Salley calls vegetarianism "best damn way to eat– period" and one might be inclined to agree with him after seeing his performance on the court.

Edwin Moses: Track and field star Moses won two gold medals in the Olympics and set the world record in his event an amazing four times. His powerful performance on the track was fueled by pure vegetable goodness, as Moses was a longtime vegetarian.

Tony Gonzalez: Atlanta Falcons superstar tight end Tony Gonzalez isn't a strict vegetarian — but it isn't necessarily all his doing. Gonzalez experimented with veganism and vegetarianism, but was talked into having a few servings of chicken or fish a week by the team's nutritionist. The bulk of Gonzalez's diet, however, is veggie-based, and this football star holds the record for most single season receptions and most career reception yards.

Martina Navratilova: Tennis champ Navratilova has 18 Grand Slam singles titles and 31 doubles titles to her name — an all-time record — leading Billie Jean King (another vegetarian) to call her "the greatest singles, doubles and mixed doubles player who ever lived." Throughout her career, Navratilova has been committed to vegetarianism and is an active spokeswomen for organizations such as PETA.

Carl Lewis: It's hard not to have heard of this Olympic great, a man who was called, "the greatest athlete to ever set foot on track or field." Lewis has won ten Olympic medals over the course of his career, nine of them gold. Lewis isn't just a vegetarian– he's a vegan– and began this diet before the 1991 World Championships. His new diet didn't seem to hurt his performance as he, and others, felt he ran some of the best races of his career at that meet.

Robert Parish: One of the greatest NBA players in the history of the game, Robert Parish is a Hall of Famer inducted in 2003. While well-known for this jump shot, Parish is also is famous for his vegetarianism– just showing that even a huge, athletic individual doesn't have to eat meat to fuel the body.

Mike Tyson: Mike Tyson is a recent convert to an animal-free diet, committing himself in early 2010 to a fully vegan diet. It seems to have done wonders for the prize-winning fighter, as he's slimmed down and says he's happier now than he has been in years– a turnaround for a man famous for ear biting, crazy tattoos and jail time.

Joe Namath: Anyone who knows football has heard of this legendary player, inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1985. This Super Bowl Champion once said, "It shows you don't need meat to play football," and his success on the field makes that abundantly clear.

Prince Fielder: Prince Fielder decided to be a vegetarian after reading about how chicken and cattle are treated on farms, a decision that made national news and caused many to speculate that it might affect his performance on the field. Yet Fielder is a home run champ, and has hit over 110 home runs in the years since he went veggie.

Tony La Russa: While La Russa might be more famous for his work as a coach than as a baseball player, his accomplishments in the field of athletics are nothing to shrug off. La Russa is a star manager in both the National and American leagues, becoming only the sixth manager in history to win pennants with both and one of only two mangers to win the world series in both leagues. He's also a committed vegetarian stating that he decided to stop eating meat after seeing a PBS program on how veal comes to the table.

Ed Templeton: Those familiar with the skateboarding world will know this skater and artist's name well. Templeton owns and operates a skateboarding company and is a well-known skater in his own right. He's also a vegan and has been since 1990, citing the influence of his friends and readings about the meat and dairy industry as his reasons for making the change.

Scott Jurek: If you've never heard of the sport of ultramarathoning, the name alone should alert you to the fact that it's a pretty intense sport. This hardcore athlete made the change to a vegan diet in 1999 and hasn't looked back, finding new and innovative ways to fuel his body for several marathons and loads of training every year. It seems to have done his body good, as Jurek is one of the sport's leading champions.

David Zabriskie: Cyclist Zabriskie has won the US National Time Trial Championship a whopping five times and has placed well in the Grand Tour, making him an incredibly accomplished road bicycle racer. Along with his love of cycling, Zabriskie also has a passion for veganism and converted to the diet recently after learning about the impact the meat industry has had on the environment. He admits that it was a struggle, but believes that ultimately, it will be the best thing for his body and his training.

Salim Stoudamire: Salim Stoudamire is an imposing man, standing at 6'1'' and weighing in at almost 200 pounds. He's also a vegan. This point guard has stated that he became a vegan simply because he always wanted to and doesn't mind if his teammates tease him over his meal choices, stating that the new diet has improved his endurance and energy on the court.

http://www.nursingschools.net/blog/2011/03/15-famous-athletes-who-are-vegetarians/

The best shoe might be no shoe at all.....

2011-03-07T21:15:00.002+04:00

This is an interesting article written by Chris McDougall for NYT:

UNTIL he met a reclusive tribe of near-mythical athletes at the bottom of a Mexican canyon, Micah True could never figure out why his running injuries got worse as his running shoes got better. Then, the Tarahumara Indians taught him a lesson that even Nike is now starting to embrace: the best shoe may be no shoe at all.

Mr. True, 53, from Nederland, Colo., wasn't the only one baffled by the injury mystery. For years kinesiology professors, physical therapists and athletic-shoe designers have been puzzling over the same paradox: if running shoe protection and cushioning have improved, why haven't injuries among joggers decreased?

''The technological advancements over the past 30 years have been amazing,'' said Dr. Irene Davis, the director of the Running Injury Clinic at the University of Delaware. ''We've seen tremendous innovations in motion control and cushioning. And yet the remedies don't seem to defeat the ailments.''

Since the running boom of the 70's, giants like Nike, Adidas and New Balance have rivaled Silicon Valley for speed of R. & D. rollout, releasing improved products nearly every six months. One shoe, the Adidas 1, even has microprocessors that analyze foot impact and adjust cushioning with each stride. New Balance has a motion-control shoe so finely engineered it costs $199.99.
Still, 65 percent to 80 percent of all runners -- joggers and elite marathoners alike -- are injured in an average year, according to Dr. Davis. Aching Achilles tendons, sore knees, inflamed arches and hobbling plantar fascia pain are as common today as they were when boot camp grunts were jogging in canvas Converse ''Chuckies.''

''Since the first real studies were done in the late 70's, Achilles complaints have actually increased by about 10 percent, while plantar fasciitis has remained the same,'' said Dr. Stephen Pribut, the president of the American Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine. And so Mr. True began to wonder, does it even matter what footwear runners use? Or could protective shoes be contributing to the problems they're meant to prevent?

Mr. True had been hampered by repeated injuries while competing in ultramarathons in the early 90's. While fighting for first place in the Leadville Trail 100 Ultramarathon, a grueling 100-mile course over steep, rocky trails, he suffered a stress fracture in his tibia. It was there that Mr. True met the Tarahumara runners, who had traveled from Mexico to win four of the top five places while wearing homemade huaraches fashioned from strips of old tires.

Hoping to discover their secret, Mr. True followed the Tarahumara back to their canyon-bottom home. There they taught him to run lightly on the front of his foot instead of heavily on his heel. He experimented with running on his own homemade huaraches before trying the Bite running sandal, with its deft mix of ancient sparseness and modern cushioning. Eleven years have passed since Mr. True changed his technique and footwear, and even though he now regularly runs 40 miles over hazardous terrain, he has not had an injury since.

''If my gringo feet could handle it, going barefoot would be even better,'' he said.
During the past decade two barefoot-style training methods for runners have been developed based on the same principle: that legs, not shoes, are the best shock absorbers. That is, you land on your forefoot, instead of your heel, and paw back.

Dr. Nicholas Romanov, a sports physiologist in Naples, Fla., created what he calls the Pose Method, and Danny Dreyer, a running coach in San Francisco, started a program known as ChiRunning, both of which have already won legions of disciples among joggers, trainers and triathletes. Essentially these programs teach runners something they thought they knew: how to run. ''The problem is, the fancy running shoes have allowed us to develop lazy feet,'' Dr. Romanov said. Pose runners, consequently, prefer the thin-soled Puma H. Street, which is actually a casual shoe.

Surprisingly, even Nike now sees the sense of running ''shoeless.'' Just one year after releasing its most structured shoe ever -- the Air Max 2004, with airbags and a motion-control footbridge -- the company has switched tack by offering the Nike Free 5.0, a shoe it claims will ''re-evolutionize'' running by enabling people to run as if they were barefoot. With its gauzy heel, stockinglike upper, and thin sole, the Free 5.0 looks more like a slipper than a sneaker.

''We found pockets of people all over the globe who are still running barefoot, and what you find is that during propulsion and landing they have far more range of motion in the foot and engage more of the toe,'' said Jeff Pisciotta, the senior researcher at the Nike Sports Research Lab in Beaverton, Ore., who headed the Nike Free project. ''Their feet flex, spread, splay and grip the surface, meaning you have less pronation'' -- twisting of the foot -- ''and more distribution of pressure.''

Their feet, in other words, get a workout with every step. Nike tested the theory by having a group of students at the German Sports University in Cologne run warm-ups for six months in the Frees. These students showed a significant increase in foot strength and flexibility compared with those who ran in their regular shoes, Mr. Pisciotta said. Presumably, he said, ''a stronger, healthier foot means less chance of injury.'' The idea for the Free was born after two Nike researchers, visiting the Stanford track team, found that their sponsored runners ran sprints barefoot. Vin Lananna, their coach, had encouraged them to take off their shoes. ''I felt that as shoes became more elaborate and intricate, the feet were getting weaker,'' said Mr. Lananna, who is now director of athletics at Oberlin College in Ohio. Mr. Lananna had always outfitted his team in Nike's cheapest and least structured shoe. The one time he experimented with Nike's best, his team was plagued by plantar fasciitis and Achilles problems. He now likes his runners to use the Frees.

Paula Radcliffe, the world record holder in the women's marathon, also has converted to the bare-is-best philosophy. Even though the Free 4.0 will not reach the market for six months, Ms. Radcliffe, of London, has secured a few prototypes and is wearing them for a third of her 130 weekly miles. ''The deconditioned musculature of the foot is the greatest issue leading to injury,'' said Dr. Gerard Hartmann, an exercise physiologist in Limerick, Ireland, who works with Ms. Radcliffe and who was consulted by Nike on the Free's design. ''Only 2 to 3 percent of the population has real biomechanical problems, so we're basically creating new problems by treating ones that don't exist,'' he said.

But the key to successful barefoot-style running, Dr. Hartmann stressed, is learning how. Nike, he said, has had an obligation to re-educate runners, since its technology may have contributed to sloppy mechanics. ''We have discussed expanding the instructional role,'' said Mr. Pisciotta from Nike. ''But biomechanics are so personal.'' All runners must find people who can tell them ''what can help and what can hurt.'' Dr. Davis agreed that ''just slapping special shoes on your feet won't help.'' She demonstrated by using me as a guinea pig for a series of diagnostic tests. At 43, I have five marathons to my credit and do about 40 average weekly miles. I know how to run -- or I thought I did.

First I ran in bare feet, then in the Nike Free 5.0 and finally in Nike's most popular cushioned shoe, the Pegasus. The amount of impact, Dr. Davis found, was significantly higher during the Free and barefoot sessions. But slow-motion video replay revealed that I was landing on my heel then slapping down my forefoot. My right foot was twisting outward, while my left knee was dipping to the right. These irregularities were nearly invisible, but severe enough to aggravate my twingey Achilles.

By learning to land on my midfoot, I could correct these problems, Dr. Davis said. But I should be careful, she warned, because tinkering with a new gait can suddenly load the heel and Achilles with unaccustomed stress and cause a whole new set of injuries. The Nike Free ''should be the first shoe sold with an instructional DVD,'' Dr. Hartmann said. ''You have to respect that this shoe can revolutionize the way people run, and no revolution comes without its casualties.''

Born to Run review.

2011-03-07T20:41:00.007+04:00

While we were on holiday in South Africa last month I picked up a book called Born to Run by Chris McDougall. It is one of those books that has the ability to change your life, and I was honestly bummed out when I turned the last page in the book. I just did not want it to be finished! I would recommend this book to all runner out there! Below is a review by Amazon.com

Full of incredible characters, amazing athletic achievements, cutting-edge science, and, most of all, pure inspiration, Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets off to find a tribe of the world’s greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, and in the process shows us that everything we thought we knew about running is wrong.

Isolated by the most savage terrain in North America, the reclusive Tarahumara Indians of Mexico’s deadly Copper Canyons are custodians of a lost art. For centuries they have practiced techniques that allow them to run hundreds of miles without rest and chase down anything from a deer to an Olympic marathoner while enjoying every mile of it. Their superhuman talent is matched by uncanny health and serenity, leaving the Tarahumara immune to the diseases and strife that plague modern existence.

With the help of Caballo Blanco, a mysterious loner who lives among the tribe, the author was able not only to uncover the secrets of the Tarahumara but also to find his own inner ultra-athlete, as he trained for the challenge of a lifetime: a fifty-mile race through the heart of Tarahumara country pitting the tribe against an odd band of Americans, including a star ultramarathoner, a beautiful young surfer, and a barefoot wonder. With a sharp wit and wild exuberance, McDougall takes us from the high-tech science labs at Harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks across North America, where ever-growing numbers of ultrarunners are pushing their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to the climactic race in the Copper Canyons. Born to Run is that rare book that will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you realize that the secret to happiness is right at your feet, and that you, indeed all of us, were born to run.

Question: Born to Run explores the life and running habits of the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico’s Copper Canyon, arguably the greatest distance runners in the world. What are some of the secrets you learned from them?
Christopher McDougall: The key secret hit me like a thunderbolt. It was so simple, yet such a jolt. It was this: everything I’d been taught about running was wrong. We treat running in the modern world the same way we treat childbirth—it’s going to hurt, and requires special exercises and equipment, and the best you can hope for is to get it over with quickly with minimal damage.
Then I meet the Tarahumara, and they’re having a blast. They remember what it’s like to love running, and it lets them blaze through the canyons like dolphins rocketing through waves. For them, running isn’t work. It isn’t a punishment for eating. It’s fine art, like it was for our ancestors. Way before we were scratching pictures on caves or beating rhythms on hollow trees, we were perfecting the art of combining our breath and mind and muscles into fluid self-propulsion over wild terrain. And when our ancestors finally did make their first cave paintings, what were the first designs? A downward slash, lightning bolts through the bottom and middle—behold, the Running Man.
The Tarahumara have a saying: “Children run before they can walk.” Watch any four-year-old—they do everything at full speed, and it’s all about fun. That’s the most important thing I picked up from my time in the Copper Canyons, the understanding that running can be fast and fun and spontaneous, and when it is, you feel like you can go forever. But all of that begins with your feet. Strange as it sounds, the Tarahumara taught me to change my relationship with the ground. Instead of hammering down on my heels, the way I’d been taught all my life, I learned to run lightly and gently on the balls of my feet. The day I mastered it was the last day I was ever injured.

Q: You trained for your first ultramarathon—a race organized by the mysterious gringo expat Caballo Blanco between the Tarahumara and some of America’s top ultrarunners—while researching and writing this book. What was your training like?
CM: It really started as kind of a dare. Just by chance, I’d met an adventure-sports coach from Jackson Hole, Wyoming named Eric Orton. Eric’s specialty is tearing endurance sports down to their basic components and looking for transferable skills. He studies rock climbing to find shoulder techniques for kayakers, and applies Nordic skiing’s smooth propulsion to mountain biking. What he’s looking for are basic engineering principles, because he’s convinced that the next big leap forward in fitness won’t come from strength or technology, but plain, simple durability. With some 70% of all runners getting hurt every year, the athlete who can stay healthy and avoid injury will leave the competition behind.
So naturally, Eric idolized the Tarahumara. Any tribe that has 90-year-old men running across mountaintops obviously has a few training tips up its sleeve. But since Eric had never actually met the Tarahumara, he had to deduce their methods by pure reasoning. His starting point was uncertainty; he assumed that the Tarahumara step into the unknown every time they leave their caves, because they never know how fast they’ll have to sprint after a rabbit or how tricky the climbing will be if they’re caught in a storm. They never even know how long a race will be until they step up to the starting line—the distance is only determined in a last-minute bout of negotiating and could stretch anywhere from 50 miles to 200-plus.
Eric figured shock and awe was the best way for me to build durability and mimic Tarahumara-style running. He’d throw something new at me every day—hopping drills, lunges, mile intervals—and lots and lots of hills. There was no such thing, really, as long, slow distance—he’d have me mix lots of hill repeats and short bursts of speed into every mega-long run.
I didn’t think I could do it without breaking down, and I told Eric that from the start. I basically defied him to turn me into a runner. And by the end of nine months, I was cranking out four hour runs without a problem.

Q: You’re a six-foot four-inches tall, 200-plus pound guy—not anyone’s typical vision of a distance runner, yet you’ve completed ultra marathons and are training for more. Is there a body type for running, as many of us assume, or are all humans built to run?
CM: Yeah, I’m a big’un. But isn’t it sad that’s even a reasonable question? I bought into that bull for a loooong time. Why wouldn’t I? I was constantly being told by people who should know better that “some bodies aren’t designed for running.” One of the best sports medicine physicians in the country told me exactly that—that the reason I was constantly getting hurt is because I was too big to handle the impact shock from my feet hitting the ground. Just recently, I interviewed a nationally-known sports podiatrist who said, “You know, we didn’t ALL evolve to run away from saber-toothed tigers.” Meaning, what? That anyone who isn’t sleek as a Kenyan marathoner should be extinct? It’s such illogical blather—all kinds of body types exist today, so obviously they DID evolve to move quickly on their feet. It’s really awful that so many doctors are reinforcing this learned helplessness, this idea that you have to be some kind of elite being to handle such a basic, universal movement.

Q: If humans are born to run, as you argue, what’s your advice for a runner who is looking to make the leap from shorter road races to marathons, or marathons to ultramarathons? Is running really for everyone?
CM: I think ultrarunning is America’s hope for the future. Honestly. The ultrarunners have got a hold of some powerful wisdom. You can see it at the starting line of any ultra race. I showed up at the Leadville Trail 100 expecting to see a bunch of hollow-eyed Skeletors, and instead it was, “Whoah! Get a load of the hotties!” Ultra runners tend to be amazingly healthy, youthful and—believe it or not—good looking. I couldn’t figure out why, until one runner explained that throughout history, the four basic ingredients for optimal health have been clean air, good food, fresh water and low stress. And that, to a T, describes the daily life of an ultrarunner. They’re out in the woods for hours at a time, breathing pine-scented breezes, eating small bursts of digestible food, downing water by the gallons, and feeling their stress melt away with the miles. But here’s the real key to that kingdom: you have to relax and enjoy the run. No one cares how fast you run 50 miles, so ultrarunners don’t really stress about times. They’re out to enjoy the run and finish strong, not shave a few inconsequential seconds off a personal best. And that’s the best way to transition up to big mileage races: as coach Eric told me, “If it feels like work, you’re working too hard.”

Q: You write that distance running is the great equalizer of age and gender. Can you explain?
CM: Okay, I’ll answer that question with a question: Starting at age nineteen, runners get faster every year until they hit their peak at twenty-seven. After twenty-seven, they start to decline. So if it takes you eight years to reach your peak, how many years does it take for you to regress back to the same speed you were running at nineteen?
Go ahead, guess all you want. No one I’ve asked has ever come close. It’s in the book, so I won’t give it away, but I guarantee when you hear the answer, you’ll say, “No way. THAT old?” Now, factor in this: ultra races are the only sport in the world in which women can go toe-to-toe with men and hand them their heads. Ann Trason and Krissy Moehl often beat every man in the field in some ultraraces, while Emily Baer recently finished in the Top 10 at the Hardrock 100 while stopping to breastfeed her baby at the water stations.
So how’s that possible? According to a new body of research, it’s because humans are the greatest distance runners on earth. We may not be fast, but we’re born with such remarkable natural endurance that humans are fully capable of outrunning horses, cheetahs and antelopes. That’s because we once hunted in packs and on foot; all of us, men and women alike, young and old together.

Q: One of the fascinating parts of Born to Run is your report on how the ultrarunners eat—salad for breakfast, wraps with hummus mid-run, or pizza and beer the night before a run. As a runner with a lot of miles behind him, what are your thoughts on nutrition for running?
CM: Live every day like you’re on the lam. If you’ve got to be ready to pick up and haul butt at a moment’s notice, you’re not going to be loading up on gut-busting meals. I thought I’d have to go on some kind of prison-camp diet to get ready for an ultra, but the best advice I got came from coach Eric, who told me to just worry about the running and the eating would take care of itself. And he was right, sort of. I instinctively began eating smaller, more digestible meals as my miles increased, but then I went behind his back and consulted with the great Dr. Ruth Heidrich, an Ironman triathlete who lives on a vegan diet. She’s the one who gave me the idea of having salad for breakfast, and it’s a fantastic tip. The truth is, many of the greatest endurance athletes of all time lived on fruits and vegetables. You can get away with garbage for a while, but you pay for it in the long haul. In the book, I describe how Jenn Shelton and Billy “Bonehead” Barnett like to chow pizza and Mountain Dew in the middle of 100-mile races, but Jenn is also a vegetarian who most days lives on veggie burgers and grapes.

Q: In this difficult financial time, we’re experiencing yet another surge in the popularity of running. Can you explain this?
CM: When things look worst, we run the most. Three times, America has seen distance-running skyrocket and it’s always in the midst of a national crisis. The first boom came during the Great Depression; the next was in the ‘70s, when we were struggling to recover from a recession, race riots, assassinations, a criminal President and an awful war. And the third boom? One year after the Sept. 11 attacks, trailrunning suddenly became the fastest-growing outdoor sport in the country. I think there’s a trigger in the human psyche that activates our first and greatest survival skill whenever we see the shadow of approaching raptors.

Two Oceans and Comrades

2011-03-07T20:29:00.002+04:00

I have been considering running the 2 Oceans as a prep race for the Comrades Marathon in May, but everyone I talked to who has a bit of running savvy advised against it. Some believe that as novice Comrades runner I need to be on the Comrades starting line with a fresh as possible pair legs. Running the 2 Oceans combined with all the traveling will not give me enough recovery time as the two races are only a month apart. I am a bit bummed out as I would have like to run in the Cape, will have to try and fit it into the calender for 2012!

My running hero!

2011-03-07T19:33:00.001+04:00

Born to Run

2011-03-06T15:46:00.000+04:00

I have just finished the book; Born to Run by Chris McDougal. I would recommend it this to all runners as it would change the way you look at running completely. Here is a video on the Tarahumara who is featured in McDougal's book and looks at barefoot running vs running with traditional running shoes. You decide which one is best!

Back to our roots.... Vibram 5fingers

2011-03-06T14:50:00.005+04:00

The concept of Less is more; is very fitting,no pun intended, for the lastest edition to the Vibram FiveFinger shoe family. For some reason the fivefingers massively appeals to me, and I think it is because I am pretty much a barefoot rebel. Even as a child I use to get the shoes of my feet as soon as I can after school and church. Working as a part time lifeguard also gave me the opportunity to work barefoot as much I like. Over the last year or two there has been a massive push from the barefoot community to promote barefoot/minimalist running and this has been getting a lot of attention from running magazines, running shoe companies and runners to discuss and figure out if barefoot running is really that good for you and if modern shoes are in fact doing more harm than good. I think I have found my answer to that question....

A couple of months back my mate in Australia send me a pair of the Vibram KSO Fivefingers and I loved it from the word go. First thing when you put them on is realize how happy your feet feels inside the Vibrams. It is very much like being barefoot, except for the thin layer of rubber protecting your feet from sharp objects. I did a few runs with the KSO and started increasing my running distance slowly to help my feet adjust to the new way of running. Yes, I did say new way of running!

With traditional running shoes we are told that the heel strike is the most efficient way of running as we land "softly" on our heel, and words like support and softer impact is used to sell the lastest technology in running shoes. I have been fooled in the past by this believing more support and softer cushioning is the answer to running better, while picking up injuries along the way and trying to find the next shoe to counter the new problem. From sore feet and cramps, shin splints and tender ankles, I have tried pretty much every running shoe brand out there, spending thousands of $ along the way to find the perfect pair. And dont get me wrong, I have had some shoes that I really liked, like the Brooks Ghosts to name one. I liked them so much, I even bought a second pair should Brooks discontinue the Ghost series. But looking back now I wish I discovered barefoot running earlier in my life and did not get sucked into cleaver marketing campaigns to help running shoe companies make millions out of runners who does not know any better. Then one day, on a whim, I went out for a 6k barefoot run.......................................................and like they say, the rest was history.

While we were in South Africa I managed to pick up a pair of Bikila Fivefingers and decided to take them out for a run the same day. I want to take them off road first, as you need to be careful when transitioning from traditional running shoes to Vibrams. I ran up the side of Table Mountian, the area overlooking Camps Bay, and as soon as I got onto the trail I realized just how special the Bikila's really are. You have minimum support and the shoe promotes forefoot striking, keeping you light on your feet while skipping over rocks along the trails. I'm a massive fan of the fivefingers now, I managed a 38 minute 8km time trail on Saturday and felt really good. This is not a shoe that I would run more than 20km at the moment, as my legs are still adjusting to the Bikilas. For the Comrades I will run with my Newtons, also a neutral shoe that promotes forefoot striking, but more about that later.

This is the new Bikila's and the Vibram description of the shoe:

Built on an entirely new platform, the Fivefingers Bikila encourages a more natural and efficient forefoot strike. This Vibram running shoe features a Dri-Lex covered 3mm polyurethane insole, which is thickest under the ball, to provide excellent plating protection. Below the Bikila, a 4mm anatomical pod outsole helps distribute impact without hindering ground feedback that’s essential to a proper running form. The single hook and loop closure secures your foot within the Bikila as you sprint down your favorite path. A more athletic padded collar and topline finish out the running shoe performance and style. With reflective material on the strap and heel, you stay more visible in low light situations. Hit the road in the Mens Vibram Fivefingers Bikila.

Less than 3 months to Comrades 2011

2011-03-06T14:32:00.002+04:00

I have been a bit slack with updating the blog and I will now make sure I update the blog as much as possible. After the Dubai Marathon I decided to take a little break from running as it can get a bit much after the MDS and Comrades lurking. I managed to qualify for the Comrades, goal 1 for 2011 achieved, next was to go to SA and enjoy a 2 week holiday. Any running I did while on holiday was purely for pleasure and not for Comrades.

A of the 1 March 2011 I picked up the Comrades training again with 3 months before the big day. First bit of bad news is that my Comrades running partner, Haydn Holmes is out with a bad ankle that will not heal in time to give Haydn enough time to prepare for the race in May. I am pretty bummed out as I am sure the Comrades with have been a big stoke for Holmsy to finish, but I suppose there is always next year. Hope you recover quickly Hayd's and get back on the road soon brother.

In posts to follow I 'll talk about my new NEwton running shoes, Vibram 5finger Bikila's, and the running bible, Born to Run.

I will leave you with a bit of inspiration for 2011!

The Dubai Marathon by adamduplooymds at Garmin Connect - Details

2011-01-23T21:11:00.001+04:00

The world most boring race! The Dubai Marathon by adamduplooymds at Garmin Connect - Details

The Dubai Marathon 2011 is here!

2011-01-20T11:31:00.003+04:00

The time has finally arrived to start my 2011 running campaign for Autism and Cancer awareness. I will be running the 2011 Dubai Marathon as my qualifying run for the Comrades Marathon which will take place in May. I am running with a good friend, Haydn Holmes, and this will be his first marathon, also attempting to qualify for Comrades 2011! This will be my big run for the year and in between the Dubai Marathon and Comrades Marathon I will also run the 2 Oceans Marathon in South Africa. I am hoping to run in a few other races and will confirm this as we move forward.

Tomorrow`s marathon is also special as I will be on the road with two of my Marathon des Sables tent buddies, Jimmy Mac and Denis TB Conroy. Looking forward catching up with the boys over a few cold beers after the race. Denis will head back into the Moroccan desert in April to run the 2011 MDS! Good luck with that! I would also like to wish another good friend, Mariana Marxie Marx, good luck with her 42km run. Mariana has been racing all over the place in Triathlons and cycling races, so I am expecting her to wax the run tomorrow. As for myself and Haydn, we just need to focus on the 4h45min time goal we set as the Comrades qualifying time is 5hours.

My goal is to raise awareness for Autism and funds for the Ernie Els Autism Foundation. Please feel to make a contribution to my effort and forward this on to all yorur friends and family and help me reach my target of USD 10 000.

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/adam-duplooy/adamduplooy4autism
I am hoping there will be at least 5 donations made by the end of my run tomorrow! Show your generousity please and help with the fight against autism!!

Smile, Breathe, and Go Slowly by Dave Carter

2011-01-07T08:18:00.007+04:00

I found Dave Carter on Facebook and he is a very inspirational runner, he is an Ultra distance athlete with a great passion for life. Below is a facebook post that I would like to share with you:

During this past year or so I have been on quite the path of discovery. One of the discoveries I made is that I do not like clutter and I do not need stuff! Well, maybe some running stuff. But that is about it. Through all of my Zen ramblings and reading I kept coming up against these minimalist challenges. People who aspired to reduce their belongings to number 100 or less. Some are more hardcore than others. Some have enough corollaries that it starts to defeat the purpose. Just the other day I started thinking about further reducing my clutter. I run pretty lean, but there is always room for improvement. I did a quick Google search and came up with this site: http://www.zenhabits.net/ This is a site written by Leo Babauta. He has well over a 1000 posts that he has compiled since 2007. I do not know much about Leo’s background at this point and I have only read 4-5 of his posts. I have seen enough to know that I will really enjoy exploring what is below the surface of the tip of this iceberg. An impactful, but simple affirmation he quoted by the 14th Dalai Lama extracted some great musing by me last night. So I am going to continue to peel back the layers of the road he has already hoed and filter some great topics with my usual twist on life, running, etc.

The tagline on the main page of his blog of course was Smile, Breathe, and Go Slowly. Props to Leo for capturing the essence of 1,000 posts with 5 simple words. So I figure this was a great place to start.

Smile: We all have heard how it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile. Like Buddy the Elf says: “Smiling is my favorite!” A great smile is contagious. Laugh and the whole world laughs with you. I believe the same is true of a smile. Such a simple way to greet a loved one, friend, or complete stranger. This is a very powerful non-verbal. It sets the tone for the entire interaction. I know we all sometimes forget to smile. Sometimes I will purposefully remind myself to smile. When I run Ultramarathons is the perfect example. We all know that running 100 miles straight is going to be painful and uncomfortable, but it is up to me if I am going to be miserable. There always comes a moment when things get the worst out on the course. It is usually when I am alone, cold, and in the dark in the middle of the wilderness somewhere. Everything hurts on some level and sometimes there are very painful and difficult situations to overcome. This is the place I am always trying to push myself. This is the penultimate moment I knew was going to occur when I signed up. It is the moment I will have to overcome if I am to be successful on that day. This is what I came here for! One trick I have taught myself is when I catch myself at that moment of complete misery, when I think it cannot get any worse, and I want to quit, I simply remind myself to SMILE. I do this very purposefully. I actually relish the moment when I have pushed myself that far out there. It is an amazing feeling that is very hard to describe that overcomes me. I can feel it spread across my body and feel my energy levels rise and the pain subside a bit as I break into the biggest grin I can muster. Sometimes I even laugh out loud. A deep from-the-gut blast that reverberates across the woods. (Does a Dave Laugh make a sound if no one is there to hear it?) So remember, when things get tough, just the simple act of smiling can make a difference. If nothing else people will wonder what you are up to?

Breathe: Awaking each morning and being able to live and breathe is a gift! Breathe deeply. Savor it. It is relaxing. Cleansing. In a tough situation it can give you a moment to do a reset on your entire perspective. Breathing and taking things in is closely tied to being able to have stillness in your life. Stillness and quiet where you can remove yourself from the crazy chaos of your day for just a moment to breathe deeply and purposefully. Many times when out on the trail for hours on end I find myself focusing within to the pattern and flow of my breath. This usually happens when I am running solo. I become completely present in that moment on the trail. All the white noise thoughts that we normally have dashing and darting around in our head go quiet. It is just me with my breath in my lungs and my feet on the trail. Truly transcendental. Way better than any runner’s high I have ever had. Breathing and being still is all about being present. I know I just described being “still” while I run. I am talking about creating a quiet mind. These are the moments when it all melts away. Eventually you reconnect with the rest of the chaos around you, but amazingly, many times you solved a problem or gained a new perspective without even realizing it. Breathe and be still. It is as basic as things get.

Go Slowly: One of my favorite quotes I always see posted on the trail at ultrarunning events is this: “Go out slowly and then taper off.” I also like to remind myself to take the time to enjoy my settings. Don’t be in such a hurry to run 100 miles that you don’t see the hawk soaring above or to stop at the top of a great overlook and take in a great vista. One of the things I love about trail races is that they are usually in very remote locations well away from city lights where you can actually see more than about 20 stars. How about the Milky Way from horizon to horizon?! When I was in Death Valley last summer I could not take my eyes of the sky. It was incredible. One time I counted 7 shooting stars just in the time I was looking at the sky while I was peeing! So, I always make sure to make myself stop and stargaze during the overnight portion of a 100-mile race. Even if it is for just 2 minutes. It makes me feel small and insignificant as I stand there under a billion points of light, most of which do not even exist anymore. Yet here I am. All the sudden I now feel large as well. Like Uncle Walt said: “I am immense, I contain multitudes.”

Another great example: I was driving to the airport to go to Badwater in Death Valley last summer. Bags packed and everything. As I am driving down the road I see this guy on the shoulder of the highway riding a bike. He had on a bright green vest and had several of those long yellow flags on the bike sticking out at various angles. He is pretty loaded down with gear and bags and there is a cardboard sign affixed to the rear. At 70 mph I somehow make it out: “Coast to Coast”. I think cool. Some adventure he is on! So I decide to stop and talk to him. I pull over and let him catch up to me. I have a bike rack on my car and I take a very relaxed posture so he does not think I am some crazy. He rolls up with a big grin on his face. I guess this happens to him with some regularity. We trade intros and I start peppering him with questions. Turns out he was on his 7th crossing of the US on a bicycle. In addition to that he has cylcled across most of 5 other continents. Forrest Woolridge was his name. He goes by Frosty. Duh! We stood on the side of the road and talked for almost an hour with tractor trailer’s whizzing by. He was one of the most interesting people I have ever met in my entire life. FYI. He left San Francisco in June and was hoping to make Washington D.C by September 1st. His route took him through Death Valley about a month before we met. Slow down and remember to take things in. You miss a lot at 70 mph all the time.

Another aspect of Going Slowly has to do with being “busy”. As a society we over-commit. At work and in the course of our personal lives we tell ourselves we have to do more , more, more! Every little bit of time gets used up by some actions or activity. As a result, our days become very harried and we lose control of our own time because we have so much to do. Oh no! What if we do not get THAT done? Lao Tzu, father of Taoism, said: “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” We create so many self-imposed tasks that are completely unnecessary and irrelevant. We try and pack as much as we can into one day. This results in us completely frazzled trying to get ready and whiz off to the next occurrence. Whatever THAT might be! Give yourself a cushion on time so you do not have to eat while standing at the counter while yelling at the kids to get their stuff together to run out the door to practice after being at school all day and you have been at work and up since 6:00 without a moment to yourself, but if you can just keep going and get through dinner (fast food in the car) and homework and baths and the kids to bed you might have 5 minutes to yourself before you pass out. BLAH BLAH BLAH! That was the worst run-on sentence in the history of ever. That is what most people’s lives have become: A big run-on sentence of what? Simplify. Take time to disconnect from media. The iPhonePadTouchPodamajobbers can be set aside for a while. I am guilty. TimeSuck, I mean Facebook. I have said too much.

Smile.
Breathe.
Now go slowly my friends.

Denis Conroy`s Blog

2011-01-07T07:55:00.006+04:00

I met Denis last year at the MDS in Morocco. You always hear that the people you meet at the MDS will be your friends for life, and Denis is a fine example of this. When we arrived at the first Bivouac, we walked around looking for a tent and found Denis sitting alone in tent 124b and asked if we could pull in. We all hit it off right away and a friendship was born.

On the double marathon stage I had a really hard time getting through the 82km and after 33 hours I could finally see the Bivouac in the distance. Most of the runners have been in camp for about 10-12 hours before I arrived, and my tent mates thought that I must have dropped out of the race due to the state of my feet as I had some serious blisters and infection going on. Not Denis, he went to the admin table to check if they have my name down as DNF, however, I was still out there heading back towards camp, 1 slow step at a time. As I got to within 2km or so from camp I spotted a lone figure in the distance walking towards me, I when I realized it was the mad Irishman Denis I could not believe my eyes. Denis got permission from the organisers to walk me in the last couple of km`s and that lifted my spirt so much, and I believe that act of kindness did a lot to get me the the eventual finishing line of the MDS. You don`t meet people like Denis everyday, and I am stoked to be able to call him friend!

In 2011 Denis will have another crack at the Marathon des Sables and attempt to put some demons of the 2010 MDS to rest. I know you can do it buddy, and use my motto of 2010....Never, Never, Never Ever Quit. One mile at a time. Below is a link to Denis`s blog, have a look and support Denis in his quest to conquer MDS 2011.

http://www.ayearontherun.com/

First Run of 2011 in the bag!

2011-01-07T07:45:00.003+04:00

Towards the last couple of days in 2010 I made my new year running resolutions, first to have a fitness assessment done to be able to track and monitor my progress as I prepare for the Comrades. However, my body had other plans for me, from the 1st January 2011 I was struck down with manflu of note and it took me 6 days to get rid of the cold. 6 Days of the new year lost!

Yesterday I felt strong enough to attempt an easy 5km and I ended up running 15km in relative comfort, giving myself a very good mental boost! I only have two weeks to get ready for the Dubai Marathon that will serve as our Comrades Marathon qualifier. Need to run the 42k in under 5 hours. I hope we will be able to breeze through it without too much difficulty as this will be my Comrades partner`s first Marahton attempt. I have no doubt that Haydn will apply his mental strenght and endurance sport background well in order for us to meet the 5 hour mark.

So, 2011 is now in full swing and I am looking forward to a great year on the run!

Ryan Sandes - Made in Africa

2010-11-28T20:46:00.007+04:00

"We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves...The more restricted our society and work become, the more necessary it will be to find some outlet for this craving for freedom. No one can say, 'You must not run faster than this, or jump higher than that.' The human spirit is indomitable."
-Sir Roger Bannister, first runner to run a sub-4 minute mile

When I say boxing, you think Mohammed Ali; when I say cycling, you think Lance Amstrong; when you say Ultra Marathon runner........I think, Ryan Sandes. For a long time I have been following runners such as Dean Karnazes and Anton Krupicka and were amazed by their running abilities. Always pushing the limit to go faster and longer than anyone out there, and staying humble along the way and letting their actions speak louder than words.

I went online one day looking for South African ultra runners and found a teaser video for a running documentary called Wandering Fever. This was the first time I heard of Ryan Sandes.

In 2008 Ryan competed in the Gobi Desert Marathon, one of the 4Desert races, and surprised the running world by winning every single stage in his first ever Ultra Marathon. The 4Deserts include the Gobi Desert, Atacama Crossing, The Sahara Race and the Last Desert in Antartica. Earlier in the year Ryan smashed the record for the the Atacama Crossing in Chile and showed his class in one of the toughest races on the planet. On the 24th November 2010, Ryan became the first person in history to win all four races in the 4Deserts series. Another South African Legend is born!

As an average Joe runner, I look up at people like Ryan and they are my source of inspiration, and hopefully through my fundraising runs for autism awareness, I can also inspire people to do the same. You dont have to be a Lance Armstrong or Mohammed Ali to bring change and hope to this world, all you need to do is believe in yourself and lead by example.

The core of mans' spirit comes from new experience......

You can read more about Ryan and follow his great adventures on his blog: http://www.ryansandes.com/run/

Comrades Marathon 2010!

2010-10-03T11:44:00.003+04:00

So, I am back on the road again and this time around I am preparing for the Comrades Marathon in South Africa next year. I have managed to rope my running partner Haydn Holmes into running the race, so it is full steam ahead preparing for the Comrades.

We will be using the Dubai Marathon as qualifier in January, so will keep track of my progress on the blog. I decided to run for Autism awareness and Cancer awareness this time around as I have recently lost a good friend and Comrades Legend, Marvi Sheeham to cancer, and I'll dedicate this run to everyone I know affected by cancer. Cancer can be beaten.

My MDS Video

2010-06-20T13:02:00.000+04:00

Marathon Des Sables - Tent 124b - Video made by Harry Harron

2010-05-31T16:36:00.002+04:00

A Mad man`s diary......

2010-05-31T16:02:00.005+04:00

31st March 2010

Left Dubai at 3pm today and is on my way to Paris.Tomorrow I`ll have a free day in Paris to walk around and visit all my favorite spots. Helen Barrett is in my thoughts today for cancelling her holiday to France and donating the cost of the flight to me. I have used to money for kit and donated $1000 to the Els for Autism foundation on Helen`s name. Freezing in Paris, only 5 degrees, but that will all change in a couple of days when we arrive at Bivouac 1. Bring on the MDS!

1 April 2010

After months of preparation I am now finally on my way to Morocco. What a roller coaster year! Never thought I would be doing this kind of running race! Not sure how I got myself into this, but all I know for sure, everyone one out there

thinking I will not finish the 250km, go take a dump! This is not supposed to be easy, if I wanted easy I`ll run a 42k! This race is for me, my family and every single child and family affected by Autism.

2 April 2010

I woke up at 3:15am today and I really battled to get up. I managed 4 hours of sleep as I woke up at 1am with a massive calf cramp. Need to up my salt intake over the next couple of days. Arrived at Orly Sud at 4am and bumped into another Dubai resident, Jim McIntosh who arrived at midnight from Dubai. He looks shattered, glad I took an extra day to get here. Our flight is at 8am and we got our tickets and proceeded to the departure gate. Bumped into Veronica from Dubai and also met a guy called Simon Saunders who I met on Facebook. Simon recognized me by my 5 finger shoes that he saw on Facebook!

8h20pm - After what can only be described as bus journey from hell we finally arrived at the bivouac. It was such a long day all ready when we landed in Morocco we qued for an hour to get through passport control. Then straight on the bus where we got handed a lunch pack, 1,5l water and our roadbook. Everyone immediately went to see how long the 4th stage would be and it will be 82km!

The distances are: day 1 - 29km ;day 2 - 34km; day 3 - 40km; day 4/5 - 82km; day 6 - 42km; day7 - 21km

We arrived near the camp at sunset and got transferred on the back of old army trucks for the last mile of so to the Bivouac. When the camp came into site I was amazed by it size and credit must go to the organization for putting this all together. Moving about 1500 people and equipment around daily for a week is very impressive. It really feels like I am in the race now. We found a tent with a lone Irishman inside and made ourselves at home in Tent 124B. This would be home for the next 9 days.

The residents of 124B are :Adam du Plooy - South Africa/Dubai ; Jim McIntosh - Britain/Dubai ; Simon Saunders -Britain/Hungary ; Harry Harron - Norhtern Ireland/Hungary ; Dennis Conroy - Ireland/France ; Jaikes- South Africa/ Finland.

We got 1,5l of water for the night and headed out for dinner in the camp. We had lamb tagine with coleslaw and a small bottle of red wine. Touch of class by the French! Mild night tonight, no need for the sleeping bag.

3rd April 2010

Last night was the first night on the floor and the sleeping mat worked really well. Woke up at 6am and had to walk miles to find a suitable place to convert into a loo, I am not using the Turkish style loo`s, they are horrible. Most people head into the distance to answer natures call! Thank God for the invention of wet wipes! I am now settled in and look forward to the run.

Today is admin day.Each competitor needs to gave 2000 cals minimum per day and I am averaging 2500cals. You also need to submit the compulsory ECG report and at 10am we moved across to the inspection tent. We had no issues checking in and got handed a water card, medical card and your race number and salt tabs. They also give you a massive flare that would drive the weight watchers mad, adding more weight to the backpack. There are guys out there with 6kg backpacks, mine is 13kg`s, but I am not too worried as my back is use the the weight.We now just hanging around, reading, going for wee`s and making fun of Jaikes`s shoes he bought of a berber. Briefing at 5pm and then the start of the MDS tomorrow with a gentle 29 km!

6h20pm - this evening we had our first briefing with Monsieur Parrick Bauer. This guy is very inspiring with his youth full approach to life! Today we celebrate the 25th Edition of the Marathon Des Sables with 1013 runners from 43 countries, a new record. Patrick went over safety and a flare was set off to show everyone how to use it. Hope no one has to use one this week. When Patrick went through the nationalities, South Africa was first on the list, good omen! Tonight will be the last dinner by the organizers and from tomorrow morning we are self sufficient for the duration of the race. There will be a French band at dinner tonight and then the 29km first leg start at 9am tomorrow morning. I will set out nice and steady tomorrow and get a good feel for the back pack. Should be able to run the distance in 5 hours depending on the terrain. Looks like we cross a Jebel early on then flat for most of the way.8pm The desert is

unpredictable. Had a great couple of days and all of a sudden a wind kick up and caused a bit of a sandstorm. At dinner everyone was wearing buffs and sunglasses to keep the sand out, must have looked like a bank robbers convention! Hope this wind stops, I am on the wrong side of the tent, keep getting smacked in the face by the tent,

hope I get enough sleep before the race tomorrow. Will have to get up at 6am before the tent taliban comes to dismantle the camp! I am in very good spirit and look forward to the race, get stage 1 under the belt and work it up steady to the long day. I must remember to take it one day at a time and not get ahead of myself. This is a long week

with many miles to cover. Thank you to everyone who believes I'll wax it!

4th April 2010

What a rude awaking. This is what today was for every member of tent 124B. I woke up at 5h30am and most of the morning was spend faffing around sorting kit out. Tent taliban pulled in at 7am and within an hour the whole camp was down and packed away! Amazing. At 8h30 we had race briefing and Patrick warned that the day was going to be long and each runner must ensure that take enough salt throughout the day. As the race started I had a tear in my eyes as I could not believe the race was finally on! I walked for the first 2km`s and started to run the rest of the way. Plan is simple, walk up hill, run down hill and steady running over the flats.

First part of the run had some serious hills and wadi`s with great scenery. Worked towards checkpoint 1 and caught up with Jim. After checkpoint 1 we encountered the first set of small dunes which was very manageable, and at around my shoulders started to feel the pressure of the 13kg bag. I left Jim and pushed on to check point 2 and more dunes. My gaiters are working really well I am happy with my home made job! Crossed the dunes, however, this time around they were much softer and harder to cross. I bumped into Harry and Simon and Simon looked F*cked and dazed. I left them and pushed on to the end and arrived first at the tent. When I arrived I received 4,5l water that should last till breakfast the next day. Shoulders hurt like hell, and I cleaned myself with wet wipes, amazed how much salt is on my running kit from all the sweating.

I hit the mattress for 30 min which helped a lot. I also have a fat blister on my right foot, second toe. Popped it and will dry it out before tomorrow, should be ok. My time was 5hrs11min and I am placed at 633. So far so good!

5th April 2010

What a fu*king nightmare! Road book said 34,2km and the race started of very well. Early in the day we hit a Jebel and it was a straight forward walk to the top. When I reached the top I could feel a blister developing and had it sorted out at one of the mobile clinic`s. Moved on to CP 1 and felt ok, just very hot, in the 40`s. After getting through CP 2 we crossed this lava rock field and this is where the shit started hitting the fan from all directions. This was a tough area as it feels like you going nowhere and when I saw CP 3 I had it in my mind that was the end of the day but how wrong was I ! I was a little but down for a while but sat down at the CP and took some water and had some snack food. I rested for 15minutes and started the slow climb up and over a proper mountain, 8km till we home. felt very low at this stage, going very slowly up the mountain with a heavy backpack. It was very dangerous going up with people kicking rocks down as they climb. At one stage I passed a blind runner and his guide and it looked like they were not going to make it as some areas are 2 meter vertical climbs with limited holding spaces. I took me over 2 hours to complete the 8k`s home. Last stretch over an area called the killing fields, 2km of serious dunes before you arrive at the biviouac. Arrived at camp completely fucked, got two more blisters from the climbing and my toe is even more busted than the day before. Spoke to fi and I felt pretty tired and emotional. Up side was Fi, Steve and Kathrine saw me come in to the biviouac with my South African Flag on the webcam. Got some mail from friends from around the world and this is a good morale boost for tomorrow. I got a 30min time penalty for asking more water after the stage, not too worried as I would rather rehydrate after the stage than get more dehydrated as the days go on. Not here to set a time record, just need to finish.Simon even took a penalty and the overall feeling is that we should all get 1,5l more at night. Dennis pulled out today due to dehydration. I can see he is very disappointed but that is life. He decided to stay on and travel with the biviouac, so he is now our official tent bitch!

6th April 2010

Today we upped the distance again, 40km. I must say it is very hard getting up in the morning, putting shoes on your feet and do it all over again, day after day! The day was extremely hot I am not sure I the guys from Europe manage coming out of a freezing winter straight into the desert heat. Patrick promised that today will be flat after yesterdays hills and mountains. He warned us that it will be hot and to conserve energy for the long stage.I had a fairly good day till I got to about 2km from the last checkpoint. The blister on my left heel has developed into the size of a golfball and all of a sudden it popped. It was such a horrible feeling and I decided to stop and have a look. The blister was a blood blister and to add to my agony a nice big blister also formed on my right heel. the medic van did not want to stop and told me to press on to the last CP and they would sort me out.

I was obviously pissed off as my heel was very tender, so I put on a pair of flip flops and walked across 2km of dunes to the CP. The medic there cleaned the blister and made a temporary strapping and instructed me to report to Doc Trotters at the bivouac. I managed to finish the last 5 km to the Biviouac in flip flops and got to camp 30 minutes before the cut off as I used up a lot of time after the blister

popped. Went to the medical tent and had the blisters cleaned and pumped full of Iodene, really really painful. Starting to worry about the state of my feet, still 3 hard stages left and I am facing serious blister problems.Got mail again which is helping me a lot. Will not let anyone down!

7th April 2010

82km today. I have been wondering how it will feel to stand on a starting line knowing you have 36 hours to finish 82km. Today I battled to put shoes on, my left ankle is badly swollen and I am afraid that i have picked up an infection. Will not report it in the morning as I need to get moving and cannot risk being pulled off the race by the medics. Will keep an eye on it in each of the check points. If only I knew how mentally and emotionally tough this day would have been I dont think I would have stood on that starting line. The Chris Rea song road to hell should have been a good indication of what was lying ahead of us all. The stage started with a deceptively flat uphill for about 12,8km, I could not believe how hard this first section was. Feet was throbbing in my shoes but my spirits where high to make it through this day. Spend the first half of the day with Jim, we made it to CP 1 and had some food and water. Cracked on to CP 2 and this is where the MDS started to get hard on me. At about 3 km from CP 2 I told Jim to keep his pace as I was slowing down and starting to run out of water. At about 1km from the CP Jaikes found me sitting on top of a Jebel, and I told Jaikes that I thought my race is over. Another big blister developed on my right foot between my big toe and second toe, which looked like a 6th toe,full of blood! Jaikes encouraged me to get to CP 2 and let the medics check my feet.

I pressed on and just made it to CP 2. At this stage I felt my race is over. Feet where taking strain and left ankle heavily swollen. Medics sorted out my new blister and also put me on antibiotics for the inflammation and swelling in my heel and ankle. I found Jaikes under a tent and saw his race number was off. Jaikes was out with severe dehydration. His words, Boet, dont give up now restored the power to my legs but I knew I had to make a plan with my shoes. I cut a big section out of the toe area of the left shoe to relieve some pressure of my toes and heel. I force the shoe on and cracked on to CP 3. I have to get to CP 4 before 1pm to be able to carry on the next day.From CP 3 to CP was very hard emotionally as I was feeling very sorry for Jaikes and Dennis. A lot of hard work goes into getting here. I was battling with myself thinking what the use is of pressing on as my feet are so fucked, that even if I make it through 82km, I still have to get back on the start line a walk another 42,2km followed by 21km.....I was on an emotional roller coaster, singing the one moment and then almost giving up the next. I went through and desert oasis and there were two kids sitting with small bottle of Coke. They offered it to me for 20 Euros. I told them to buzz off! Not in a good place at the moment.

Made it to CP 3 after sunset and parked off and took my shoes off. After an hour I tried to put my shoes back on, but by now both feet were so badly swollen I could not get the shoes back on. Keep in mind that my shoes were also a size and a half bigger.... I then made the decision to quite. I took my race tag off and went to the admin tent. There was another runner who was trying to quite but the race director Patrick kept on going why,why, you can do it, don`t give up. I decided to sit down for a while and sat against the Landy and started reading the black book Fi got me with messages from my mates. The firs tmessage from Haydn was my salvation ; No matter what happens, finish......On your toughest day, on your worst hour, stop, recover, cry and start again. That is exactly what I did.I taped up my feet further, took the Ipod out for the first time, put on my flip flops and took off like a rocket heading into the darkness for CP 4.

13km over sand and wadi`s with flip flops, but I was not too worried as I was moving again. It was great going in the complete darkness with millions of stars above me. Only down side was the camel spiders, must have been the size of small dogs, because I would have a fit every time I see one coming for my feet! I would sprint ahead and focus again on reaching CP 4. Near CP 4 i got lost in a Wadi as I missed a marker running away from spiders. I pulled out the compass and soon I was back on track. I reached CP at 12h30am and felt a massive sense of relieve that I pressed on and did not drop out. I pulled out the sleeping bag and crashed next to two camels preparing my mind to get ready for more in a couple of hours.

Woke up at 5 and when i got up I could put no pressure on my left foot. It felt very serious and I panicked a bit. I thought that if I walk around for a couple of minutes it would be ok but it felt like it was getting worse. This time i really thought my race was over. I sat in CP 4 for another 3 hours and decided to call it a day as the pain was just getting worse.I handed in my number, but shortly after this the course director, an old desert fox,came over and stood infront of me. He asked me what was wrong and put his hand on my shoulder. He looked me straight in the eyes and said; You have to finish this race, for your friends and family, and also for yourself. I got tears in my eyes and he escorted me to the medical tent. Sand has gone in between my big toe and 2nd toe and compacted under the sole of my foot, causing the pain. the medic cut it open and washed all the sand out. what a relieve once the sand was taken out as I could put pressure on my foot again.

I put on a pair of toe socks and marched on like a zombie and went through CP 5 and CP6 where I stopped to get out of the sun for an hour. I went for a pee and realized I had a lot of blood in my urine due to urinary tract infection. Doctor gave me something for it and at 3pm I got my shoes back on and pushed through the last 10km listening to my Ipod. In my mind I knew that after after finishing 82km that i would be able to hang in there and make it to the last day! About a mile from the biviouac our tent bitch came over the horizon to take me back in to the camp. Was great seeing Dennis and he lifted my spirits by 500% I got into camp, 33 hours after starting the long stage and I was feeling ecstatic! One of the greatest feelings of my life! My tent mates where so happy to see me making it back, even though they stole my carpet thinking I crashed and burned! All that was now between me and the end - 42,2km and 21,1km. Piece of cake!

9th April 2010

Woke up still feeling high from the day before. Today was a 42,2km and I managed to just cruise through it. Started off slowly as my feet was hurting like hell, but after 9km I felt more comfortable and reached CP 1 with not too much issues. I sat down for 5 minutes and pressed on, one CP at a time and when I reached CP 2 , I saw Jim there. I wanted to press on and not stop so Jim joined me for the rest of the day. It was a hard stage as we crossed a few wadi`s with a lot of up and down climbing. My left knee started hurting because I am cover compensating for my swollen heel and ankle. Nothing to serious and in the end we made it to final Biviouac. Tomorrow we only have 21,1km

left over two dune fields then we home free. MDS in the bag.nothing will stop me now. Everyone in the tent very keen to cross the line tomorrow! it is very cold tonight, but I am not too worried, sleeping in a bed again tomorrow evening! dont even mention the shower, never been this dirty in my life!

10th April 2010

We started at 8am this morning, last 50 runner in yesterday will start an hour ahead and we ran through the middle of the biviouac. All the other runners lined up and cheered us on our way. what a great feeling. During this race I have met amazing people, everybody cheering you on, go bru, lekker my china ect. Everyone running this race is special! I decided to just keep my head down and work towards the finish line. I found the going fairly easy as the dunes were firm under foot and the wadi we crossed was flat with not too many stones. As we entered the final dune fields i started preparing myself for the home strecth and summarizing the week that I have just been through. I think of the guy running with polio on two crutches. The 3 blind runners and their guides. every single person running for various

charities, and my new mates in tent 124B! As I crossed a dune a guy at the top shouted Whooohooo,the finish line and I shouted back, you better not be lying to me otherwise I will mess you up!

When I reached to top of the dune I saw the end, about 3 minutes away and i felt a sense of relieve. As we got closer more spectators where sitting on the dunes encouraging us on and I realized just how little spectator support we have en route. Due the the nature of this race it is almost impossible for spectators to follow the race due to the locations we move through.

I crossed the final dune and hoisted my South African flag and crossed the hallowed MDS finishing line. Few runners have had the privilege to cross this line and I am so happy I managed it. Patrick was there at the end, gave me a massive hug like he does with all the runners and shouted - Afrique du Sud Bravo!

I got my medal and after a quick pack lunch it was back on a bus full of smelly runners for a 7hour bus trip back to Ouzazatte and the hotel!

Would I do it again? My answer is the same as a MDS runner called Tobie from the UK - NEVER! Then he slowly lifts his t -shirt sleeve and shows me his 6 MDS tattoos of each of the years he has done the MDS!He said never again from the first one he did!

Thanks must go out to my sponsors and people who have supported me:

My wife Fiona

Delwood

The Westin

The Els Club

Dubai 92

Nivea

Helen Barrett

Everyone who emailed me while I was in Morocco and following my blogover the last year.

Everyone who has made a donation to the Ernie Els for Autism Foundation.

It does not stop here, I am still encouraging people to make donations to the Els foundation and let me know if you would be interested to get involved with the Dubai Autism Center!

Marathon Des Sables 2010 - South Moroccan Sahara

2010-04-22T20:36:00.031+04:00

Back in Dubai!

2010-04-22T20:00:00.003+04:00

Home finally!! I have done it, and all because of your great support during the week I was out in Morocco. What a week it was, really the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life. I know there are many hard endurance races but I believe the MDS is very unique in how it is set up and the many different challenges it throws at you.

Emotionally I have never experience so many highs and lows in 7 days. I have hit rock bottom so many times just to be picked up by your support, the support from the tent 124B boys, fellow competitors and race organisers. I will post a day by day account with pictures and videos and I hope it will give you a good insight of what we all went through during the MDS week. I will also post messages from my journal that friends left and also thoughts from my tent mates. Thanks again for all the support, this medal is dedicated to every one of you!

images from the last stage

2010-04-10T18:16:00.002+04:00

Final stage - He did it

2010-04-10T18:02:00.004+04:00

Yesterday Adam finished the 42km stage in just over 10 hours.

Today - the final day - was 21km, the shortest distance during the whole race.

Adam finished the course in 4 1/2 hours - Well done!!!!

He will now be sitting on a bus and making his way back to civilisation in Ouarzazate.

Here he will spend the next 2 nights in a hotel and attend the awards ceremony tomorrow before travelling over to the UK.

A massive thank you to everyone who has supported Adam throughout this whole journey.

Day 5

2010-04-09T21:38:00.004+04:00

Sorry for the delay in updating today. I have been travelling back to the UK and just got to a computer. Day 5 is 42.2km - Oued el Jdaid - Erg Znaigui.

He did it

2010-04-08T22:17:00.003+04:00

Stage 4 was the toughest stage of the toughest foot race in the world - 82km and Adam finished it!

He did it in 32 hours 14min - well done!!!!

I haven't heard from him yet but I'm sure he has got all the emails from everyone - thank you for sending them it is really helping him along the way.

Artists impression

2010-04-08T09:35:00.004+04:00

This year, there are 2 artists following the MdS - Ceza and Vincente from France. They will be sketching and painting scenes from the race and by the end they will have 15 pictures. These will be exhibited on Sunday 11 April at the opening of the Maison Solidarite Marathon des Sables in Ouarzazate. Then they will be sold to raise funds for Sport Eveil Acadamie - a project to teach children through sport and Femissima - whose goal it is to teach women to read and write.

Images from Day 4

2010-04-08T09:18:00.001+04:00

The longest day!

2010-04-07T15:18:00.002+04:00

TAOURIRT MOUCHANNE / OUED EL JDAID – 82,2 Km

Km 0 : Go East (bearing 99°) until CP1. Series of sandy ground with vegetation and more stony terrain

Km 7,5 : Deceptively flat uphill section as far as CP1.
Km 12,8 : CP1. Go North (bearing 07°) to return to the path which climbs towards Zireg jebel.

Km 14,4 : Start of climb up path.
Km 14,6 : Succession de montées et descentes sablonneuses jusqu’au Km 18,6.
Top. TAKE CARE! Follow the small track carefully for 200m to go down into sand. Series of sandy uphill and downhill sections until Km 18.6.
Km 18,6 : Stony path by the trees. Sandy downhill section.
Km 19,7 : Follow the wadi bed into the gorge.
Km 21,1 : Exit gorge. Go North (bearing 25°) and cross the sandy valley.
Km 22,6 : Middle of pass between the Mziouda and Ras Khemmouna jebels.
Km 24,6 : Sandy pass up small ascent
Km 24,9 : Stony valley
Km 25,6 : Top of small ascent. Quite steep sandy descent, then follow wadi bed.
Km 26,1 : CP2 at exit of the wadi branch. Go N/NE (bearing 19°) to cross a dried-up lake.
Km 29,5 : End of lake. Enter El Maharch gorge.
Km 31,6 : El Maharch oasis. Wells (solar equipment installed for the 2006 MDS). Follow the track towards the rocky peak so that you take the right-hand side avoiding the very stony fields situated to the right of this.
Km 32,5 : Cemetery on the right-hand side.
Km 33,3 : Rocky peak on the right-hand side. Go N/E (bearing 46°) until CP3 leaving the rocky terrain to your right.
Km 38,7 : CP3 on the left of Tizi n’Guidou pass. Cross Tizi n’Guidou pass.
Km 40,7 : Tree as you exit the pass. Go S/E (bearing 132°) to cross the clear part of the Rheris wadi.
Km 41,5 : Enter Rheris wadi. Beaten earth, more or less undulating, small dunes. Same direction (132°).
Km 48,1 : Area of trees (tamarisk). Crevasses on the wadi bed.
Km 49,1 : Sortie de l’oued.
Exit wadi.
Km 51 : CP4 at the foot of the dunes. Go along the dunes on the left-hand side, then cross the valley until Km 52.8.
Km 52,8 : Enter erg. Take bearing 120° to cross dunes.
Km 57,8 : End of erg. Cross Jouijel wadi for 200 m then sandy uphill section.
Km 59 : End of uphill section, top of the pass. Sandy descent.
Km 59,7 : Edge of dried-up lake. Take a general E/NE direction (bearing 60°) until CP 5.
Km 62,5 : CP5 before the dunes. Go along the dunes on the left-hand side, bearing E/NE (bearing 72°) until CP6.
Hilly and sandy.
Km 71,3 : End of dunes. Climb towards the small pass.
Km 71,7 : Small pass. Laser beam. Descend towards CP6.
Km 72,5 : CP6. Go North (bearing 8°)
Km 75 : Cross sandy wadi bed.
Km 76,2 : Touh Ilh jebel peak on left-hand side. Direction N/E (bearing 37°) until B5. Follow the course markings
attentively to avoid the crevasses to the left.
Km 77,5 : Series of more or less stony undulating slopes
Km 82,2 : Arrive at B5

Images from Day 3

2010-04-07T08:57:00.003+04:00

It was a tough one!

2010-04-06T23:31:00.002+04:00

Day 3 has finally finished and it was really tough today.

Adam had it into the bivouac in 10 hours 37 min - 20 mins before the cut off time for today.

He said that it has been really hot - he was walking across a salt pan and it was 50 degrees! The organisers have been giving out extra water as everyone is getting dehydrated. It has been difficult for him as other people around him are struggling - people being sick/fainting - but he has just had to get himself through to the finish.

Unfortunately for Adam his blisters have got worse and this has been the biggest challenge for him today. He said he was about 7km from CP3 when he just had to take his socks and shoes off. He just sat for a bit and then got his flip flops out and carried on to the CP where he got some treatment before carrying on. He said he just pushed himself on to the finish singing Shosholoza.

He will go to the medical tent now and get the blisters on his heels (which are the size of golf balls) and the rest of his feet seen too so that he is ready to start the long 80km stage tomorrow morning at 7.30am (Morocco time). He thinks it will take him about 20 hours to finish the stage so I will only hear from him again on Thursday evening.

He is getting all the emails and really appreciates them - really helping him through this challenge - so keep them coming.

Centre of Excellence

2010-04-06T16:08:00.004+04:00

As you know that one of the charities Adam is raising awareness and funds for is the Els Foundation for Autism. Ernie and Liezl Els started the foundation in early 2009 and have since embarked on a campaign to raise US$30 million for a 300 student school and research facility, the Centre of Excellence, to be built in Florida. The centre will be the first of its kind in the world, incorporating all the services a child with autism requires in order to become a productive member of society. It will combine education, therapy and research for children in the autism range.

We just wanted to say thank you for your donations which all go straight to the Els Foundation for Autism to help them reach their goal of building this Centre of Excellence.

Layout of the bivouac

2010-04-06T13:45:00.003+04:00

I have found a map showing a layout of the bivouac.
The small black triangles at the top is where the competitors sleep.
The proper tents at the bottom is where the officials and media stay.

Day 3 - 40km

2010-04-06T13:27:00.003+04:00

Jebel El Otfal - Taourirt Mouchanne

0km: go w/SW until 9.6km to cross the valley

1.8km: sandy wadi bed. Mounds of sand and grass for camels for 700m

4.4km: relief on LH side, fine pebbles

9.6km: sandy climb up Rich Chouiref jebel. Go back down following the gorge

10.6km: end of gorge, sandy and stony

12.8km: CP1. Go S/W over stony ground. Aim for area of trees

16.2km: tree lined wadi bed then stony plateau. Go W/SW

21.3km: less stony

22.7km: start of Ma'der El Kebir lake

24.1km: CP2 in the middle of the lake. Go S until 30km to go around the field of crevasses and the calotropis forest (small tree)

29.2km: cross a large track

30km: external boundary of forest and crevasses, change direction go S/SE to CP3

32.5km: approach small dunes beaten earth

33.5km: scattered small dunes

35km: CP3 go S/E until the finish. Mounds of sand and grass for camels

38.2km: Marabout Sidi Ali bou Moussa on LHside

39.1km: samll chain of dunes

40km: arrive at bivouac

Mountain climbs

2010-04-06T09:07:00.002+04:00

Here are some pictures from yesterday's stage.

Phone Call

2010-04-05T22:37:00.003+04:00

Just as I finished the last post Adam called. He sounded a little tired - no surprise as he had been walking for 7 1/2hours. The day started off with a climb up a mountain and ended with one too. Adam said that it was really tough - he would walk for 5 min and then have to rest for 5 min. Unfortunately he has picked up some more blisters on his heel to go with the one on his toe so will need to manage these very carefully.

He was going to sort out his feet and then get ready to sleep so that he will be ready for tomorrow's stage.

End of Day 2

2010-04-05T22:08:00.002+04:00

It hasn't been easy to follow Adam's progress today due to the website not playing nice. However, our friends Steve and Katherine invited me over for dinner during which Steve persisted and managed to get the webcam link open and also the page showing the times which Adam went through the 3 checkpoints.

He went through the 3rd checkpoint in 5 hours and 44 mins and then came through the finish line in over 7 hours (no exact time as the site froze again) however after refreshing the webcam page several times Steve timed it just right - we spotted Adam waving his SA flag and crossing over the finish line for today!!

Hopefully his feet are still holding up - no more blisters and he will have a good rest tonight so that he is ready for another long day tomorrow.

Day 2 - 35.5km

2010-04-05T12:36:00.006+04:00

2nd stage map B

2nd stage Map A

Khermou to Jebel El Otfal

0km: Go S/SE (166) to enter Amessoui jebel pass

2.1km: cross track, stony ground

3.8km: start of pass go S/SW (209)

4km: 1st Amessoui jebel crossing, cross the valley

4.8km:start of 2nd uphill section

5km: descend following the small path

5.5km: undulating terrain go S(188) to avoid the very stony ground until CP1

6.2km: flat terrain go SW until CP1

11.4km: CP1 on the banks of the Tijekht wadi, go W (282) until the foot of the jebel

13km: deceptively flat uphill section, slightly undulating

13.7km: climb up Hered Asfer jebel. Follow marked path over the crest then cross hilly ground

17.8km: go down into the valley a little way before the rocks in the form of a ruin

18.1km: go W/NW until CP2

20.3km: CP2 in the middle of valley, Go W until 22km

22km: cross the Rheris wadi going W/SW

22.6km: exit wadi, continue in same direction over flat terrain until CP3

24.2km: cross track

28.3km: hillock on the RHside

28.8km:CP 3 before El Otfal jebel. Go SW for a difficult uphill climb. 25% gradient on average until you reach the top

30.8km: top of jebel. Turn left for around 100m

30.9km: turn right to return to the wadi bed

31km: rocky wadi bed. downhill stretch

32.3km: end of downhill stretch in the wadi bed, cross the very stony plain

33.4km: enter dunes

34.7km: exit dunes

35.5km: arrive at bivouac

April is Autism Awareness Month!

2010-04-05T11:30:00.004+04:00

Don't forget everyone - April is Autism Awareness Month!

Visit http://www.autismapril.com/ for more information on what autism is and how it affects people.

If you live in Dubai please also visit http://www.dubaiautismcentre.ae/ to find out how you can help.

Images from the first day

2010-04-05T11:26:00.002+04:00

Here are some pictures from Day 1 - showing some of the different terrains that Adam is walking across.

One down!

2010-04-04T22:45:00.002+04:00

The first day is finished and Adam did the 29km stage in 5hrs 11 min and was the first one back from his tent. He is sharing with people from Ireland, UK and South Africa.

He managed to give me a call once he had finished and was back in camp - the queues for the laptops were pretty long.

He said that the course today was quite sandy and up and down a few jebels, however he felt pretty good.

He said his rucksack was pretty heavy so his shoulders were a bit sore but easing up now and he has unfortunately got a blister however as long as he looks after it properly it shouldn't cause him any bother.

He just also wanted to say thank you to everyone who has helped him on his journey to get here:

Haydn, Mariana, Helen, the team at Nivea and everyone who has donated - this one is for you!

Tracking his progress

2010-04-04T17:15:00.003+04:00

You can follow Adam's progress on www.darbaroud.com
On the right hand side of the page there is a button which says POSY - this shows you in what time Adam is going through check points.
He went through CP1 (13.4km) in 2 hours 6 min and then through CP2 (22.2km) at 3 hours 50 min.
There is also a button for a web cam link which shows the finish line so you may spot him crossing it!

This is it!

2010-04-04T10:01:00.003+04:00

The Marathon des Sables 2010 starts today.

The stage today is 29km.

0km: go south (bearing 197 degrees) until 2.2km, not very hilly
2.2km: Mech Irdane jebel pass. Turn left in the valley, going S/E (bearing 135o)

3.9km: cross the stony pass then go E/SE (bearing 116) until you reach the next pass

5.1km: sandy pass

5.5km: exit pass. Go S (bearing 177) until you reach the group of palm trees

7.3km: group of palm trees. return to the foot of the jebel

7.8km: small ascent up the jebel

8.5km:Rheris Bridge. Turn right at the exit then go S(172) until CP1

9.1km: Undulating terrain, crevasses on the bed of the rheris wadi

9.7km: exit wadi. Follow the markings attentively to avoid the deep faults on the banks of the wadi

11.3km: crevasses

12.8km: enter small dunes

13.4km: CP1. Go S/SW(198) to exit dune fields

15.1km: area of relief on the LHside. Same direction (196) through mounds of sand and grass for camels

16.7km: way through small rocky cluster. Cross the valley going S(192)

18km: hilly relief. follow path to reach the plateau

19.4km: top of plateau. Descend towards the sandy pass bearing S (174)

22.2km: CP2 before the dunes. Cross the dune field bearing 194

24.3km:End of Aitoulhetan erg dunes

26km: sandy path, slightly undulating relief. Go S (176)

29km: arrive at B2 after wadi bed

Some sights from the bivouac

2010-04-04T09:54:00.002+04:00

Just a couple of pictures taken on Saturday 3 April at the camp (more can be seen on www.darbaroud.com). According to the press release the temperature was 40 degrees!

There are 1,013 people from 43 different nationalities taking part in this year's race.

Updates

2010-04-03T18:50:00.002+04:00

Got a message from Adam saying that he managed to get a good night's sleep, however is not keen on the lack of facilities.

Don't forget you can get race updates from tomorrow on Eurosports 2 (channel 510 for those with Shorbit) and you can get updates on Adam's progress right here.

Check time

2010-04-03T09:22:00.002+04:00

Today Adam is in the Sahara proper! After his first night in the bivouac today is spent getting their bags, equipment, food supplies and medical certificates checked.

Once that is done he will had over all non essential race gear, which the race organisers will store until he comes back on the 10th April.

They got given their road books yesterday so will also now know what distances they will have to walk/run each day and the type of terrain that they have to look forward to.

You can now also email Adam, just go to www.darbaroud.com and click on Write to Competitors banner which is at the top of the middle column on the page.

Adam's competitor number is 383. The organisers will print off emails on a daily basis and hand them out.

Finally made it to Morocco

2010-04-02T14:55:00.000+04:00

We have arrived in sunny Morocco and had a great view of the ice
capped Atlas mountains and berber villages. It took about an hour to
get through passport control as this must be the busiest the airport
gets all year. Temperature is in the low 30's, which is way more
comfortable than the 10 degrees in Paris.

As we walked out Patrick Bauer was welcoming people and gave me a pat
on the shoulder and a ' Afrique Du Sud!’ Hope this is a good omen!

Sitting on the bus waiting to leave for the bivouac, another 5 hour
journey to our luxury accommodation in the desert. Rumour has it there
will be a 42km before the long stage and the big one will be 80kms
followed by another marathon. I think Patrick's real name is Jack
Bauer as he is a real sadist!

As we head into the desert I would like to thank everyone who wrote in
my note book and your words of inspiration will get me through to the
10th April.

PS - did I mention it is my birthday on the 15th April!

Here we go

2010-04-02T14:50:00.002+04:00

I went to bed at 11pm last night and managed to get a couple hours shut eye. I got up at 3am and got the shuttle to Orly for the early check in. Bumped into Jim who flew in last night, poor man has been at the airport the whole night. Nice seeing a familiar face, just missing Ronnie, hope she gets here ok!

My next post should come from the desert, thanks for following my blog.

Stop over in Paris

2010-04-02T00:17:00.001+04:00

Today I spent the day relaxing in Paris and walked miles and miles
around this great city! Should have worn my back pack to get some
final practice in before we head out tomorrow!

I am staying at the Ibis Aeroport and will check out at 4am tomorrow
morning. While having my dinner this evening I saw 3 other MDS runners
checking in, and now it feels like I am finally part of the toughest
marathon on earth! It will be silly to say I am not nervous, and as
this is a family friendly blog, I will not be able to express my true
feelings! I am however, confident in my determination and use the
Afrikaans expression VASBYT ToT DIE EINDE, grind it out to the end!

All that is left to do now is run this mad marathon and bring that
medal home! My next post will come from the Sahara, so catch you all
later!

Runner 383

2010-03-30T21:56:00.003+04:00

I can not believe that D-day has finally arrived! 10 Months or so of training, saving, begging sponsors to come on line, blogging, on line fund raising, and covering the miles to ensure that I am ready for Morocco and the 25th Marathon Des Sables 2010. There is a overwhelming sense of pride I feel that I have made it this far and the support I have received from my wife, family, friends and complete strangers. This is for every single one of you!

When I decided that I`ll run this race for autism I knew that this would make this an emotional journey for me. How I under estimated how emotional this journey would be, I have learned how hard it is for families with autism to be part of society and fit in without being judged on your child`s behaviour. Autism is a epidemic. More children in the US have autism than diabetes and HIV put together. You have a 1 in 94 chance that your new born will be autistic, and this number is dropping lower and lower every year. I need your help to spread the word on autism, read up on it, Youtube it, support it by volunteering, making donations and providing equipment to the Dubai Autism Center. They really need our help. If you have not made a donation yet and would like to make a contribution, please log on to:

http://www.firstgiving.com/adamduplooy4autism

I am off to Paris today at 3pm and will leave for Morocco on the 2nd April 2010. From Ouarzazata we will be loaded onto buses that will take us on a 5hr 30 min journey to the first Bivouac which will be our luxury hotel for the next week or so! On this day we will also receive our road books, which will be very cool to see what the first stage would be like.

On the 3rd April all administration and medical checks will be done, and we will have the rest of the day to park off and repack, explore the site, maybe even get a game of desert cricket in and getting to know the folks around the camp!

From the 4th - 10th April 2010 the Marathon des Sables will be run over a distance of 250km, and each competitor will be self sufficient carrying all equipment and food required to finish this lovely race. The terrain will consist of Wadi`s, salt flats, rocky plains, desert dunes, and the occasional oasis! If the weather plays along it will be around 30 degrees and otherwise high forties should be in order! This is not a walk in the park, it is an adventure of a lifetime!

My blog will be updated by my dear wife as I will be able to send daily updates to you all keeping you posted on my progress and daily reports. You may also track my progress on the MDS website and use my race number to track my standing:

http://www.darbaroud.com/index_uk.php

I look forward sharing my adventure with you when I return to Dubai and will have loads of pictures. All that is left now is to thank everyone who has followed the blog, made a contribution and supported and believed in me through this journey. Without you it would have been very dull.

All I now have to do is RUN ADAM RUN!

Better People - This one is for everyone who has supported me through my journey to Morocco!

2010-03-30T21:43:00.001+04:00

One and a half days till I leave for Paris

2010-03-29T23:06:00.002+04:00

I can honestly not believe the time has finally arrived to board the plane and head to Paris and Morocco. It feels like a week ago when I did a 96 days to go post and now I am almost standing on that MDS starting line! What great adventure awaits me!

The last week has been a roller coaster of emotions with the Dubai 92 Hook Up as well as the prospect of being without my wife for almost two weeks. I must thank Fiona for taking this journey with me, it has been a long 10 months and Fi has been my motivation and rock through this all. Taking on something like this is a pretty selfish thing to do as there is obvious worries about my health ect, but not once did Fi get negative about my adventure and supported me 100% all the way. Thank you babe!

And then of course there is everyone who has support me through this and your comments like HeadCase, Why Why and Seriously Dude kept me going all the way. My running partners, for the early mornings and afternoon grids, without you it would have been 100% less fun......if you can call running fun. Everyone making a donation to the Ernie Els Foundation, thank you very much. It humbles me when someone takes money that could be used for a 1000 other reasons and putting it forward to help the fight against autism. Ernie and the folks at the foundation really appreciates your contributions and keep on spreading the word! Togehter we can make a difference.

So, all that remains now is to make sure all the equipment is in the bag and double checked. I will post a complete equipment update tomorrow and share my final thoughts before I head out on Wednesday afternoon. After that I will leave you in the capable hands of Fiona who will be posting my daily updates out of Morocco. I am very fortunate that I have been given the talent to be able to even consider taking on a challenge like this.

When I am in the Sahara, you will be in my thoughts Seano, you have always been a great inspiration to me and I will dedicate part of this run to you my friend!

Dups

Nivea

2010-03-28T18:01:00.003+04:00

Today I went to meet Robert and the team of Nivea, as Nivea has come forward and sponsored $ 7144 towards my MDS expenses. What a bunch of Legends! I am extremely humbled by their massive contribution and would like to thank Robert and Jan for making this all possible. You have made it possible for me to go to Morocco and run to raise awareness for the Dubai Autism Center and the Ernie Els for Autism Foundation. Thank you so much!

Hook Up Pictures!

2010-03-25T12:01:00.007+04:00

A pretty emotional morning

Me and Helen Barrett - Helen donated AED 5000 and cancelled her trip to Paris.....

Me and Jan from Nivea

Feet is still OK......for now!

Massive thank you to everyone involved!

Dubai 92 Hook Up - Audio Clip

2010-03-25T11:34:00.001+04:00

Thank you for making this possible Dubai 92.

http://dubai92.com/breakfast-highlights/catboys-hook-up-blog/