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Category Key
Races- Training Runs
Race blog as written from a tent in the Sahara!
DAY ONE
First stage complete! Goodness me what a start! The toughest 20 miles Ive ever covered! Infact tough is not the best word I think immese is better, immense heat (45 Im told), immense climbs, immense weight, immense beauty and an immense feeling of the shared goal we all hold. Typical Mina style I managed to split the end of my little toe on a rock BEFORE the start line so was Doc Trotters first patient on Friday! It has given me quite a bit of pain today but it has taken my mind off the sore shoulders, back, legs and feet! I wish i could share the indescribable beauty of the Sahara with you all, its quite beyond words which is heightened by its completely unforgiving nature. Ive met some wonderful people and am in the brilliant tent no.73 of supurb British men, along with the fab Lin. Beyond their support I’ve thought of you all and have felt you willing me up the mighty dunes and thought of your faces. Sending so much love back home, from the one stage completed mina/miss king xxxx
DAY TWO
Stage 2 complete. Golly galloops it was a hot and windy day toping 52 degrees. As tough as yesterday but in different ways. My little toe is probably the only part of me not hurting at the moment so i taped it up well! This is going to be tougher than i ever imagined but thoughts of you all are keeping me going as were lin and Raz today, along with penny, kevin, jake the gorilla and sparticus josh! thinking lots of family friends and elmlea lovelies. Getting messages last night was too amazing for words thank you! If anyone wanted to send Lin Holley 437 a quick line she has been a legend! 2.5 hours crossing completely straight dry salt lake had to be the toughest point and highlights were the views and the finish line! my contact lenses survived a mild sand storm and spirit has survived to take one another stage! huge big mina love to all x x x x x
DAY THREE
Stage 3 complete! I\’m currently in a very remote tent with a crazy sandstorm flying around outside! Another windy scorching day and my legs are very sore but I will show great stickability and get up for the long stage tomorrow. Lin and I are going to do the 52 miles together as she is worried about being out in the dark and I need her good company to keep me going! A lot of dunes covered today and vast mesmorising panoramic scenes of overpowering dunes stretching to the horizon, a landscape to be respected! There is amazing commoradorie amoungst competitors as we all want each other to get through. None more so than in my tent, I\’ve defintely made some friends for life. There is a blind runner with a guide and a group of 7 firefighters transporting disabled children between checkpoints, oh and an extreme ironing boarder man with real iron and board on his back! Some real barmy people but each brilliant in their own unique way! write thurs when longest stage complete. So much love x x
DAYS FOUR AND FIVE
Stage 4 complete! By far the most demanding 23.5 hours of my life so far!i’ve been through tough physical challenges and tough emotional ones but this was a combination of the 2 at their most extreme.I’m glad I couldn’t write as soon as i got in this morning as i would probably have been quite negative!Had vowed never again and no more running ever!Even though Ive only had 30mins sleep Ive eaten and rested and reflected on it all and its much more in perspective!One of the reasons for choosing this challenge was to push my limits and find inner strength,I certainly came a breath away from the limit but at that moment felt lin and Raza holding my hands and willing me on.Friendships are what get you through life, as well as thoughts of New Hope and Elmlea children, family and friends!From the top of dunes the stars put on a briliant show, the dunes are rather lonely and unnerving place to be in the dark. Had mild hallucinations at about 4am so glad its done!LovexxLin loved messages thnx!
DAY SIX
Stage 5 complete! What a day! The most painful calves Ive ever had but such a positive mind today that I managed to hobble on through and even muster a trot over the line! It completely comes down to the messages you’ve been sending, I was going over and over them in my mind and just felt so much love. I really have been choked with emotion each evening when they deliver my mail, I save it till just before i sleep, after all my boring chores are done, such a treat! We went through some enormous rolling dunes that were just so beautiful I could have cried (I did just a little). Again Lin drew me on through the immense pain my legs were trying to communicate to me, mind over matter mina, every step is another one less to do. Nothing (!) can stop me now reaching that line tomorrow and seeing James. Nothing! Have medication from the docs for leg cramping so all will be well. Cannot wait to be clean, I’m unacceptably grim! Cannot wait to hug everyone tightly. For the last time so much lovex
DAY SEVEN
Mina crossed the finish line at 13:27:46 this afternoon!!!!!! Total time 59 hours 23 minutes and 40 seconds!
I stood at the start line dosed up on pain killers, muscle relaxant tablets and anti-inflamatories as prescribed by Doc Trotters the night before! Was able to break into a run straight away as did Lin, although this was very painful for her with massive blisters on her heals! We whizzed straight through to check point one, knowing there was just 9km after this left to go! 9km of dunes isn’t quite the easy finish you might hope for but nothing really mattered, I knew James was at the end of it! Up and down, up and down through the Sahara’s largest dunes, their Orange glow seemed more intense than any sand I’d seen before, possibly because everything seemed so amazing knowing the line was within reach! The pain killers wore off with a few km to go but by that time I was flying as nothing mattered more than getting to the end. As we decended from the final dune both of us let out the loudest screams of joy I’ve ever heard! We sprinted over the line, twirling the final few steps and then hugging whilst laughing with a combination of delirium, joy and relief! James was waving from over a blow-up barrier so I ran and launched myself at it and we held each other, unable to do anything but cry! This has been captured pretty well on the official video; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DuoZgTl-i4
So much thanks for all of your support, love and messages. Huge thanks to Lin, Raza, Matthew, Saadi, Phil, Ed and Andy for getting me through it! xxxx
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Many thanks to my superly brilliant coach Matt Edwards who has helped break down the mammouth task of training for such a whopping event, into lovely manageable weekly plans! If anyone reading this is wanting to take on a challenge and thinks a coach would come in handy then do contact him at: matt.edwards@bristol.ac.uk or visit his blog thingy at: http://www.triblogs.com/blog/edwarma. He starts from where you’re at, considers your whole being and has a list of qualifications and event finishes as long as your arm. Thanks Matt!
