Flight home

Rebecca is today on a flight back to Grand Cayman - available to receive emails etc from Wednesday.

Showers and a comfy bed ...... at last!

Back in Ouarzazate. Lots of walking wounded, but everyone happy! Shower, real food and cold beers were so good! And the clean bed, hmm so comfy. Been wandering round today, drinking beer and had the prize giving. All good. The tent next to us, 89, won the team event. Brill. And gave us a shout out in their speeches, tent 87! But Steve and Roddy feet not great, luckily Dave is helping them out. i feel fine, limping a and bad toe but nothing serious. Dashing off again, big night out tonight, before we fly back tomorrow. Sad that it is over. thanks again for your messages. Julian - i remembered to enjoy it, you were right, thanks. Godders, congrats on your passing out. Everyone else - spk to you soon!! One more update to come from Cayman with a few things I don't have time to say now and some observations from the desert and the event that i want to share...apart from the fact that I can't stand non-qwerty bloody keyboards!!!!! Oh, and guess what everyone is talking about today? What their next event will be!!! Love it.

Final Stage - 24th Marathon des Sables - COMPLETED! (written by Rebecca)

Turns out the short last stage on Sat would be cancelled - annoyance in camp but am sure we'll find out why at some point. Last stage was a 42k route. Woke up feeling great after good sleep, food, salt tablets and lots of water. good to go. Loved to whole stage, felt great, ran the whole way, loved the terrain. Totally different to yesterday. not sure what came over me but wish had been like that before. Others complained of the heat, hills, sand etc but I thought it was fab. Quick water replen at each CP and I was off again. ipod day!!! Yoyo,d with Lucy and Neil all day, and ran in the last section with Neil, although he beat me at the sprint finish! Happy to finish but no tears unlike most. think my emotional day had been the day before. Of our tent Roddy and Steve were last in as their feet were awful, but they made it in teh end! Paris Orchestra at night from our sleeping bags, fab.

The story of the 91 Km................. written by Rebecca

Well it may turn out to be one of the shortest ever MDS's but after I finished emailing you after Stage 2 we were all wrapped up in our sleeping bags about to doze off at the crazy time of 8:30pm when the rep came round to inform us that the next stage would be 91k! Oh good, sweet dreams all! Next day started with the usual water and map distribution, lots of general faffing about, taping feet, rushing to the outdoor latrines every mins and a whole load of banter. At this stage everyone in out tent was doing really well. Andy has tuned out to be a racing snake and is currently number 76. Dave is the fastest walker in the world and is beating most runners so far - we suspected this day would be good for him. Wasn't too concerned about the long day at this stage - planned to do it non-stop as you can make up a lot of places by carrying all the way through. So started off running with Karen, from yesterday, but we soon lost each other as I was feeling strong and wanted to run as much as possible to get as many km's as poss behind me early on. In hindsight maybe I started too fast but I still think it was good to make progress while I could. So ran a lot until CP1, and moved straight on to CP2. Stopped here for longer than planned to re-tape the feet. Now, on this day the top 50 competitors start at midday, 3 hours after us, as they finish so far ahead of us all. And CP2 is where they passed me - AMAZING!!! Was so cool to see them sprinting through with their teeny backpacks on. Plan was to run CP2 to CP3 as it was only about 11k and looked pretty flat from the map, so I headed off on my own pretty happy to be running solo at this point. But it turned out to be v soft and sandy so ended up walking it out. Bumped into some of the RAF boys and ended up walking with them - ended up having a friend in common (Nics!!). Felt a bit wierd at CP3 so sat for a bit and ate some snacks then saw Lucy and Steve from our tent. Steve wanted to chill for a bit as he was having some probs so Lucy and I carried on to CP4 together. I think somewhere here we aded an extra k or so as it began to get dark but the glow sticks illuminating the markers hadn't all been cracked yet, and we went off route for a bit before noticing we were heading the wrong way. The competitors were all given glow sticks to attach to the back of their packs for the night stage so as darkness fell you could see faint lights start to mark a trail in the distance and the head torches came out. For Lucy and I, CP3 - CP4 ended up being a 3 hour fast march in silence as we just gritted our teeth and fought it out. Even when we saw the CP in teh far far distance it seemed to never grow any closer. It was SUCH a relief to cross that CP mark and hear the beep of the electonic tag. You should have seen the state of us there!! Somewhere between CP3 and CP4 I started crashing and lost the internal fight with myself to do this stage in a oner. I stopped being bothered about being competitive and just wanted to sleep. In hindsight, after talking with Lucy today we think I just hit the wall and blew up. Should have been eating and drinking a whole lot more during the day than I did which such a schoolgirl error but lost some concentration on what I was meant to be doing and suffered for it. Managed to drag out and blow up my thermrest for us to sit on, off the the side of the med tent, and we both pulled on our warm kit. Tried to get some water on the boil to make food but it was so cold and windy it took forever! While the water was boiling Lucy and I were both leaning back against out backpacks, shivering and shaking, and generally feeling pretty miserable but everyone around was in the same or worse state. Huge queue of people sitting on ground outside med tent. Actually quite funny really - everyone staring at each other and looking back with totally blank faces - in darkness except for bright headtorches shining round everywhere, blinding if you look at them. Steve turned up here not long after us so we decided to move on together to CP5, having realised that we just couldn't stop yet with so far still to go. So off we trotted to CP5, leaving CP4 at 10pm, having arrived just after 9pm - a longer stop than we had planned. But with hot food in us and a plan of action we were a much happier bunch as we set off! The terrain between these CP's was comical. The most ridiculous up and down over sand dunes where we were scrabbling on all fours to try to ascend these dunes. With every step we would just slide back down again - tell you what - we warmed up pretty quick! I bet if we saw the route in daylight there would be a footpath on the flat about 50m off to one side!! This was followed but the steepest ascent of the whole event, up the rocky face of a moutain. Actually quite exciting but pretty high and I didn't fancy losing my footing. Had a few giggling fits as I heard swearing in a multitude of languages coming out the darkness above and below me. Getting down the other side was ok then it was back into the sand. Now, again not sure what happened but sometime around here I had my sense of humour failure. Was just tired really, but was starting to question what on earth I was doing. Fell way behind Lucy and Steve and agreed to meet them at CP5 or back at camp. But in the meantime managed to bump into another friend of a friend I had been looking for all week, Joe (thanks Cal). We stayed together until CP5 and the whole time I just wanted to sleep - but we knew we needed to make it in. Started off chatting but ended up in silence. Lots of struggling going on. Think we became a bit delerious as we started convincing ourselves we must have missed CP5 and be already heading to CP6. Just couldn't work out how it was taking so long. Hmmm, maybe it was just because we were going REALLY slowly!!! Eventually made it there at 2.30am. 4.5 hours to cover 15k - outrageous. Saw Lucy and Steve there who were talking about going on but I didn't care about the rankings then - just wanted to get my head down. 65k down, only 26k to go. Really wish I had taken some pictures at CP5 but was not thinking about my camera at all!! Just sleeping bags and bodies on the ground everywhere. Joe and I agreed to get 3 hours kip then carry on at 5.30 am at first light. Dust storm started so I spent 3 hours in the sleeping bag spitting out sand. Up again at 5.30 and on the track again at 6am. This is where my real troubles kicked in. As soon as we set off i started vomiting - I think maybe from sand and the electrolyte with caffeine I,d been drinking the night before. So with Joe,s bad feet and my vomiting every few steps it was a pretty slow start and unfortch a lot of people passed us. Joe was great to stay with me. I don,t remember much from this leg apart from the rocks. All sizes of flint, sharp-edged rocks that you kick with every other step. Agony. And the growing heat. Had my first emotional moment when a support vehicle stopped to ask if I was ok. Hmm, yes.....er...or maybe no??????!! oh well. Made it to CP6, had another emotional moment and had a short stint in the med tent. Only 12k to go. left CP6 just desperate to get to the Bivouac. Although remember the scenery looked good - a few palm trees around. Well, it was 2 hours or so of staggering in the hottest day I have ever felt but we finally made it to the Bivouac. Was so deydrated and dizzy didn't even register my hug from Patrick (famous race director) but picked up my water rations and headed over to my tent. the boys were amazing. Andy came out to take my water and give me a hug, Coops stripped my bag off my back, Neil made me up some Rigo and within mins I had my head down. Now I know for a fact that during that long stage I was thinking NEVER again. that is it. And nearly quit a million times, but it is amazing how quickly you forget. Hmm. Those rose tinted glasses, eh?! Chilled for rest of afternoon, boys made me some food and had feet sorted at Doc trotters. Last 2 people arrived at 8.45pm, nearly 36hours later. The whole camp turned out to cheer them in, with the camels right behind. I can't describe the feeling of that moment of togetherness. Very emotional for everyone, incredible. This arabic keyboard is driving me nuts. other messages will be short!!

text message received from Rebecca!

Received late last night ...

"Hello quick message now as will email last 3 days news when back in town tomorrow. Currently in sleeping bag in desert listening to Paris Orchestra live in middle of our bivouac. Had a nightmare on the 91k stage as you can prob tell from my time. Was too exhausted when got in to email but made notes so will email tomorrow. Today (Friday) was totally different. Amazing what some hot food and a good night's kip will do. Felt great, had a storming day. Body and feet in bits but loving it!...."

Had another text this morning (Sat) telling me one of the lads in her tent is from Linlithgow in Scotland which is where her gran came from and lots of our relatives still live there! small world when you're in a tent in the middle of nowhere in the desert ....

Finishing in Style!!

What an achievement today for Rebecca, she really went for it this morning and was the 453rd person to cross the finish line of the 42 km stage at 15.33 with a time of 6hrs 31, .... not a bad result...... Was going to send her a message but they have taken away the 'write to competitors' section, maybe she'll get on line later.

got to the end of stage 3 at last - back at camp!

Hi all - just seen the postings and Rebecca made the 91 km stage, crossing the line at 13.54 today with 2 others (think I saw her on the live webcam having photos taken). Did really well to check point 4 (50 km mark) at 20.37 last night, where it looks like a huge group dropped out, including the favorite who has won it 10 times! A big bunch of people made check point 4 by between 8 pm -10pm last night and are still only finishing now at 18.21 today. Not sure what happened then on last 42 km but Rebecca has made it to the end .... did they have a kip, get lost or bad weather I wonder? looking at photos taken last night there were big black clouds in the sky! will post any reports I get as soon as... now another 42 km to look forward to tomorrow, the organisers have cancelled the last stage on Saturday - the half-marathon 'short sprint' to the end!! - but isn't she doing well, At the moment 767 finishers from the starting 812 and think that might be the lot. No, the 771 person has just crossed the line at 1950!
Press Release at 10.08 p.m.
34 hrs 28 mins after setting out on this stage the last two runners, the Swiss G. Dietrich Kohler and the Malaisian Adnan Mohamed Adnan Bin Osman, 68 and 66 years old respectively, reached the finish line under the runners and staff shared clamours. A amazing moment of solidarity and brotherhood, representative of MDS' spirit.
Because of the exceptional weather conditions throughout the Marathon, the safety does not allow the setting of a new bivouac in the area. The race organisation has therefore decided to cancel saturday's stage. The 24th Marathon des Sables will come to an end with a last 42km long stage on friday.

message just appeared on the website at 9.30 pm UK time

On account of the bad weather, the race route has been modified. We are unable to give details of this in advance.

don't know more than this ... sandstorms maybe, will post information as soon as it becomes available.

New Page - now on page 4 of the blog so time to remind you again ..

Don't forget this is the site for sponsorship now Rebecca is up and running......and running......... and running..... (and maybe a bit of walking too) www.justgiving.com/rebeccalillywhite and you can follow the race and send messages through: www.darbaroud.com Help for Heroes would be delighted if she was to go way over her target, and what a boost for her to keep going over the last 2 days when I send a message telling how much she is raising... and I know a big thank you from Rebecca to those who have contributed to date!

Who said they wanted a tough one - now 91 km stage 3......

Stage 3 - Erg Znaïgui/Aferdou Nsooualhine : 91 km
temperature at 9h00 : 20 C and 36% humidity
temperature at 13h00 : 29 C and 29% humidity
13 abandons at12h00
This stage of the 24th Marathon des Sables will be the longest one ever organised. A 91 km long stage with 6 check points, indispensable to the runners looking for water, ...

Finally heard from the girl herself!

message sent by Rebecca after Stage 2 and received this morning ..

"Have limited time on email so will be quick! Was too exhausted yesterday (Monday Stage 1) to queue for email tent and was tucked up in bed v early. After the days of waiting around and not knowing the route it was great to start the race. A countdown from 10 with music blaring and the helicopter filming overhead and we were off, big adrenaline rush. A tough day - apparently as we are only doing 210k instead of 240k they are making it harder which means more dunes! Have had stomach bug which has been a pain and slowed me down a bit but better now at last. Our tent all did well, great tent buddies! Stars are amazing but v cold at night (v hot in the day now too).. Today (Tuesday Stage 2) started slow due to stomach but then ended up running most of the day with RAF girl called Karen, good pace together. More dunes and spectacular scenery. Have black toe nail but had it pierced by Doc this eve. Ouch! But all good. 80k day tomorrow on April Fools..funny... Organisation here v impressive tho. Thanks for your messages. x"..