Images from Day 3

It was a tough one!

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

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

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

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

Here are some pictures from yesterday's stage.

Phone Call

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

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

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!

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

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

One down!

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!