Today's stage was supposed to begin at 6am and go for 15 hours however we awoke to gusting winds of 35 knots, choppy seas, and sideways snow. Unfortunately the weather conditions were too dangerous to get competitors over to the mainland in the small inflatable Zodiacs, so we had to wait for the weather to clear before commencing with Stage 1. Luckily we got a little window just after breakfast and were able to kick off our first stage of the Last Desert at noon.

 

The course was a 14.5km loop between a Chinese science and research base and an Uruguayan base with a short mandatory walk section through a Russian base. Today's objective was to cover as much ground and complete as many loops as possible in 9 hours. The start of the race was cold and windy with temperatures right around 0 degrees and wind at about 20 knots. By the time the first loop was finished the course had become thick, slimy mud, slushy uneven snow, and where frozen ice had been, streams of water now rushed down the hills. By the time we were 30km in most runners were suffering with various degrees of frostbite. Luckily my gear gave me a nice advantage. The Gore-Tex trainers I wore kept the mud and water out while the trekking poles I used kept me on balance and also proved useful in pole vaulting over wider bodies of water. I've not run with poles before but Jem's dad gave them to me for my birthday and they were undoubtedly my MVP today. I really would've struggled without them, instead, I was able to get 60km done and finish the day 7th overall. Meanwhile, everyone's favorite desert running super hero, Ryan Sandes, finished 7 laps for a staggering 104km.

 

It was a good day but everyone is fairly destroyed and trying to thaw out. It's 9:45pm now so we'll have dinner at 10pm and then prepare for another 3:45am wake up call and 15 hours of running tomorrow in what is supposed to be heavy snow.

 

Thanks to everyone for your support, I'm looking forward to catching up soon. Be well and good running!

 

Rp