 |
| Happy as Larry and possibly a bit delirious having just knocked out 255km across the Sahara |
It's been a year and a half since I
took part in MdS27. After the race all I wanted to do was go on holiday
with my family and relax. I was then turned around in short order by the Army
to finish my two year tour in Saudi Arabia early to prepare for a tour of
Afghanistan as an individual augmentee. As you may imagine; adding a
summary to my blog was a little towards the back of my mind.
It wasn't until i bumped into a veteran
of the same race, also in the military, (but not from a unit that publicises
itself in situations like that) that I realised that I had not completed my
online story. So, late as it is; please accept this summing up of how the race
went on reflection.
Strategy
There
were many strategies employed on the race, but mine was to run steadily as far
as physically possible on every stage from the start line and then walk/run as
best as possible after that. I did not
rest during the stages, opting to stop for as long as it took to refill my
water bottles and then crack on. I must
have gone past about 30 people at every check point, many of them overtook me
again, but on the whole – I made places.
The only time I sat down to have five minutes and to dig my socks out
was as it got dark on the 81km stage 4, and guess when the only time that I was
caught on camera in the Euro Sport documentary footage was!
Kit
As
already stated, the sleeping bag and head torch were pants! It was unusually cold at night for that time
of year, but it is worth investing in something a bit more fit for purpose and
I would recommend getting a bag that will protect you down to 0c,
and test it somewhere other than Saudi Arabia in the Spring!
The
mini factor 50 sun sticks that my in-laws brought back from their ski trip
worked perfectly, and 3 was the perfect amount, as I ran out as preparing for
the final start line. Long sleeves were
also a good call, as I saw many burnt and painful looking arms. My goggles and windproof were only deployed
once on the race, but were invaluable, they also came in handy in the night
when the tent was almost being blown down and it felt like someone was shovelling
sand into the hood of my sleeping bag.
My
mini solar charger or MP3 player packed up, possibly due to dust, about an hour
into stage 4, but I didn’t really miss it.
I discarded it as dead weight, so no post-mortem to see what went wrong. I
chucked plenty of solid fuel away after buying three boxes – sharing the
cooking (water boiling) duties helped save it, as did hunting for wood in the
bivvy areas.
 |
| Iain Greer finished well into the twenties |
The Experience
Some
people had a miserable time, as they let the pain and challenge get on top of
them. With the morale in our tent and only wanting to finish; the guys in my
tent had a fantastic time, where having a laugh and taking the mick out of each
other was more important than getting everything perfect for the next day. I chatted to the odd person on the route
round, but did not do more than a few km with anyone, and only stayed with
people that happened to be going at exactly the pace that I wanted to go. I was a lone runner, but a group
adminner! I think that is the way to
approach it if you want to have memories that will last forever. There is nothing special to remember about
sitting around in a tent not talking to anyone about anything, nor is there
from strolling around the desert making polite conversation.
 |
| L-R: Ben, Adam, Dave, Me, Jon - Dan must've taken it. The 'tight' clothes are baggy by this stage! |
Having
bumped into one or two people that were on MdS27, and chatted to some of them
on Facebook; I can say that that bond of commonality that the experience has
given us is the nearest thing to providing instant friendship that I have with
my military mates and my Rugby brothers.
Again?
Dave
Spencer has mentioned doing the race again, but for me it was a onetime
challenge. I had a unique set of
circumstances that allowed me to do it; funding from my Saudi travel allowance,
a predictable post at work that I could guarantee getting time away from,
perfect training conditions of the Arabian desert. I also had the support of my wonderful Wife,
whose patience may wear thin if I were to make it a regular occurrence. The
expense also means that future participation may need to cut into the funds
raised that should be going to charity, and it will be the same generous
friends and family that would be forking out.
I was glad to be able to raise over £10,000 for the Jim Philippson Trust Fund (including the MdS
lunch that the ‘One-O-Four’, now ‘Muse’ in Yarm put on for us). I’ve since done a sit-up
challenge for the Trust, but will have to look for something original and
local to get my hat-trick for them.
