Post Race Analysis

We had another day in Ouazarzate to pick up race t-shirts, and other assorted faffing which I found a difficult day to fill.  The race was over and I felt like I just wanted to get home now.  I was starting to get a bit fed up of the talk being exclusively about the race.  I wanted to get to a place where my feet could heal and the pain would subside. 

I went to the final Doc Trotters clinic and infected blisters were confirmed as in turn each blister freshly cut open released a dark brown goo over the nice nurse who was unlucky enough to get my feet to care for.  The excellent medical care during the race was probably one of the main reasons I was able to continue and complete the event, and I can’t thank them enough, or apologise enough for having such a terrible impression of them before I first visited them on day 2.

Yannick, one of the excellent medical team who helped me to finish.

Andy, Rich and I went into the town after picking up our race t-shirts and souvenirs, and enjoyed a leisurely lunch and a beer.  And then, as we were Brits abroad, a large group congregated in the hotel lobby to watch a game of football on the telly and drink beers all afternoon. 

The flight home the following day was unfortunately diverted from Gatwick to Luton due to a fire on a plane on the runway at Gatwick.  My folks had gone to Gatwick to welcome us back, and said there were loads of families there with “welcome home” signs made – a real shame we couldn’t have seen that.  Darryl, Rich and I ended up sharing a cab from Luton to Sheffield as it worked out cheaper and quicker than getting new train tickets.  It also saved my feet from having to walk too far, but in the chaos of an overstretched Luton airport immigration section, we didn’t get a chance to say goodbye properly to our friends who had shared so much with us over the last 10 days or so. 

So now, 2 weeks after getting back to the UK, I can sit back and think about the race and all it meant a little more impartially.  My feet are well on the way to recovery and although still look a bit grim are no longer infected or painful.  I felt like my training was good, given the challenges of the injuries I picked up in the 3 months prior to the race.  My kit worked excellently, and the time and effort I put into trying it all out in the UK really paid off.  Could I have done more to protect my feet? I’ll never know I suppose.  I checked for hotspots, I treated blisters as they occurred, but ultimately I think the heat of day 2 just caused some massive degradation in a very short space of time.  The blistering didn’t get any worse after day 2 as temperatures returned to normal (still hot, but not over 50 degrees) but the damage was done.  I’m proud of myself for getting on with it and completing the race and I’m a little surprised at how much I could cope with. 

Reading these daily updates back, it’s possible to get the impression that the race was one that I simply endured, but the reality is that the race for me was far more than the individual stages from A to B.  The build up, the communal living, the people involved and the surroundings all combine to make it a really a magical event.  My tent mates were without exception kind, funny, helpful and supportive and fantastic athletes (all of us came in the top half of the field, with Mark claiming bragging rights for best tent result in 45^th position overall).  It was a brilliant experience which I shall remember and treasure forever.

Tent 64. Andy, Rich, Mark, me, Paula, Elisabet, Colin & James

I’ve been amazed too by the level of support I’ve received during the long build up and during the race.  Rich and I have raised over £6,500 for Macmillan Cancer Support and theBluebell Wood Children’s Hospice, far in excess of our ambitious £5k target, and all thanks to the generosity of our friends, colleagues and some people we’ve never even met.  My family have been hugely accommodating as I sacrificed most weekends from Christmas to April in my quest for ever longer training sessions and putting up with my tiredness and grumpiness when injured or finding things tough.  And on the race itself, my mum and dad and my brother were, it seems, glued to the race organisers website seeking out news of my progress, checking the web cam for my arrival at the end of a stage and sending me loads of messages of support – it was amazing to know that all my efforts were followed so closely by my family and friends back home.

So the big question: would I go back and do it again? I don’t think so.  It was such an intense experience and there are so many factors that can go wrong that I’d be worried about it not living up to my expectations a second time around.  Writing these updates from the notes I took whilst in the desert has been a great process for me, it’s helped me to re-live much of the laughs, the emotion of the race and the pride of completing it, but already I can see that a rose coloured tint is creeping into some aspects of it (not the feet, they’re too raw for that to ease off just yet), and I kind of like that.  I’d like to remember the race in a really positive light, so for me the MdS dream has become a reality and I won’t be seeking it out again – I have the medal, why would I want two?

And besides, there's a new generation on its way who'll be competing in future........

Tent 64 Overall classifications

Overall Position	Race No	Name	Average Pace
45th	468	Mark Lynch	8.47 km/h
148th	635	Colin Barnes	7.08 km/h
169th	642	Elisabet Frankenburg	6.87 km/h
305th	545	James Walker	6.04 km/h
343rd	486	Andy Mucklestone	5.81 km/h
394th	450	Richard Jones	5.57 km/h
415th	565	Ian Wright	5.51 km/h