That night we were spoilt with a traditional Moroccan buffet.  You know us English we love a good buffet, fill ya boots lads!  At first I was a little apprehensive after the conversations on the facebook group with everyone worrying about getting a bout of deli belly.  It was amazing I loved the food, you could also have a can of beer if you wanted.  I refrained thinking I'd save myself for the end, unlike Tim and Paul who got stuck in to a tinnie. This wasn't any ordinary buffet this was a 1200 person buffet.  Tables oh yes, chairs er no! We had to sit on the floor to eat, this was actually quite tricky and uncomfortable, but we managed.  Although I did keep putting my hand in someone elses spilt meal, or at least I hope it was food but I could have been wrong going by the toilet antics.

It was now dark, back to the tent for last minute preparations before the official start in the morning.  At least we'd been able to get a bottle of water at meal time this was heavenly!  Since it was dark and no party games it was pretty much sleeping bags and off to sleep.  This turned out to be harder than I thought as was probably a little excited at the thought of getting started in the morning and not knowing what to expect.

Morning has broken!  Oh my god it felt early, that's because it was!  So at 5.30 people started getting up, with us having our luxury apartment in full view and close proximity of the exclusive toilet block we were constantly woken by the early risers going about their business.  First things first, I joined the local rat race to the bathroom.  Then it was all about food, feet and packing the bag ready for off.  Breakfast on this occasion was a lovely variety of porridge with strawberrys, this was probably the only morning I enjoyed porridge.  After that it became a bit of a chore. Whilst I waited for the porridge to mix properly I started taping my feet.  I nearly jumped out of my skin when Paul suddenly screamed out and pointed at my trotters.  His words were something like 'WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY?' or something very similar lol! His face was a picture, startled almost, whether this was just sheer surprise or fear i'm not sure.  What I do know is he hadn't seen feet like mine before ha ha!  All I could say was 'my feet will probably be worse now than yours will be by the end of the week'.  It was a moment I will probably never forget, absolute comedy.

They tent started disappearing, the Berbers were out in force working in a military fashion, very organised.  They were getting round the bivouac at some pace, it was amazing to watch and a spectacle in itself.  The problem was it made me feel anxious and rushed, when in fact we had plenty of time.  Feet taped and ready, porridge downed and kit squashed back into the bag, it was time to start adding the kit to my body.  This turned out to be rather a challenge, having forgotten my wonderful new ones that I got at Christmas from my sister, Lynton had brought me a spare pair of his.  Phew that was yet another close one I seemed to have got away with.  The problem was, I couldn't get them on.  It seemed my calves were the problem lol!  Once I had completed this mini mission or battle should I say, I moved on to the gaiters.  Now maybe on a different day this would have been a simple task, but for some reason it was like the krypton factor.  After eventually getting them on and feeling rather proud of myself I looked at the others and something was very different.  Instead of thinking I might be wrong, I questioned them, 'have you got those on the right way round?' what a plonker!  The replies came back and very obvious answers lol 'er yes, the zip goes on the outside'.  Oh whoops, that will be me that's wrong then!!!!  Once all kitted up pack on, gaiters sorted, drink bottles filled, and snacks at the ready, it was time for a quick pic or two.

There's the chuckle brothers getting ready for battle ha ha!  'to you, to me!'

The camp was being packed up fast, the berbers were on a mission.  Or was that just my roll mat, mmm not sure now!

Oh look its Luigi!  It must be Mario Cart time soon.

The start was looming, we were ready in plenty of time.  Lets chill for a bit was the call, then we'll head over to the start line.  Just watching the rituals and mayhem of the pre-race preparation was actually quite exhausting. I needed a lie down!

Once we'd rested, which is weird since all we'd done was sit down on the plane and coach, we managed to get the tent set up.  Now with us being desert novices and it being only the first day/night we were a little naïve in rigging the tent to suit our needs.  After my many laps of the bivouac looking for the whereabouts of people, I had gained a few tips looking at others tents.  They were set up for you in a pretty standard manner, open and accessible, which is great for when you arrive but not so great when the cold night wind sets in.  So there were lessons to learn, and quick!  Paul soon took this on like a true boy scout.  He soon learnt about adjusting the poles and propping up the corners, what was needed and what we could take out.  The tent soon became our fortress, more compact, protected, weighted down by any rocks we could find.  The first night was a big eye opener, a crispy cold breeze whistling under the tent making us all feel very cold and vulnerable to the elements.  Personally I was ok just my face was a bit cold, the others found the whole night to be a cold restless sleepless experience.  We thought wow if its like this every night we're in bother as they were all wrapped up in any spare clothing and jackets they could find.  As the week progressed though the nights seemed warmer, whether this was an actual fact or because our bodies were exposed to the heat all day every day I'm not sure.

Our first morning, there was lots of hustle and bustle around the camp, excited people dancing about tussling with their kit before the all important kit checks and weigh ins!  Not in our tent, it was more like a morgue due to the lack of sleep during the night and the knowledge our kit checks weren't till after 11 so no hurry.  Unfortunately though what we did manage to cock up on our first day was the first water collection, 3 litres of it, infact our entire days water.  We slept through the 6.30-7.30 one hour window allocated to you collecting your ration.  A very smug Lynton (my mate from Uni), came hovering round the tent probably looking for any food he could scrounge, seeing how we were getting on and revelling in our confused state and bomardment of questions about when we could get some water.  He particularly enjoyed telling us how he had loads in fact about three bottles to be exact, and then proceeded to wander back to his tent.  We all just looked at each other, expressing our stupidity in some very colourful language, and it wasn't French or Spanish!

My first mission was to sort my kit out and test the weight of the pack without water, of course, since we didn't have any aarrgghhh!  We were all desperately packing, emptying and re-packing our packs trying to reduce the weight scrimping and questioning previous decisions and choices.  The obvious goal was to get it down as close as you could to the minimum weight of 6.5kg, but mine was just under 11 oh dear!  I kept taking more and more out, asking everyone's opinion on items I wasn't sure about and then getting the eventual ultimate question of 'do you really need it, or can you eat it?'  Check-in and pack weigh time was fast approaching for Paul and myself, and oh yeah I'm a tad thirsty wonder why that is, numpty!  So all packed up, I tested the weight without water and it was 9.79kg.  This seemed really good at the time compared to the first time I weighed it at just under 11, oh how I did  regret not getting that lower lol!

So off we went to find the check-in tent, all excited at the prospect of not having to worry about my pack any more and to stop stressing over what kit to have and what not to have.  We dumped our hold all bags ready to go on the lorry to the hotel at the end and joined our respective queue's.  This first bit, the weigh in and medical/ECG check seemed ok and pretty quick, we were shunted through the tent and told to then go and join another queue for your race number.  Of I toddled pretty pleased with myself and excited at the prospect of nearly finishing the processing, and joined the next queue.  Once I got to the front I received my bib and I was then handed two more brown bag de kakka's, oh joy!  Yet again I was then directed to another queue which I thought was just to get your official picture taken with the sponsors backboard, so I told Paul we might aswell skip that unless you were that bothered about the pic which I wasn't.  We were soon advised to join the queue as it was a reference picture for them plus you needed to log your tracking device into the system by registering it over the line in the tent.  Ooops nearly another major cock up!  We headed back to the tent happy now we were done and couldn't change anything, by this point I was starting to feel a little weary and dehydrated so was praying for tea time when we could get a drink.  We entered the tent where the other two were still stressing over there kit before heading off.  We rested and dreamt of the forthcoming start line the next day!

The bivouac from a distance.

Paul, Tim and I went for a little walk after all the processing was done.  It was nice to stretch our legs a little and absorb our new environment for the week.  We scrambled up a little hill and took in the views before heading back to camp.

We were now all set and ready for the big off!  Lets have it ha ha!

THE MARATHON DE SABLES
A tale of Endurance, stubbornness and a whole new different way of life!

Where to start when such an epic journey is to be told!

The journey began a long time ago really, the seed was planted after reading a book by an Ultramarathon legend.  I then set about a series of challenges to find out if anyone could do these amazing things or if you needed to be an elite athlete.  What I soon realised was it is in us all to achieve great accomplishments and amazing feats of endurance, you just need to believe you can and want it more than anything or anyone.  Our bodies can go through extreme levels of pain and can endure such levels of exhaustion.  My challenge began with distance, I wanted to be able to show that an ordinary person i.e. me can complete a 100 mile endurance race.  This soon developed into even greater challenges testing not only fitness levels but having the challenge of differing environments with the elements adding even greater difficulty.  So, The Marathon de Sables it was to be!

On Thursday April 6th 2017, I set off from York Station, duffel bag and MdS rucksack in tow.  Standing waiting for the train, excitement and apprehension written all over my face.  Whats going through my mind as I'm about to set off on this journey of a lifetime, a little bit of fear for the unknown, apprehension and wondering if I'm in too deep and can I actually do this, excitement for the forth coming adventure, and yes of course constantly going through my mental kit checklist.  Have I got everything, what have I left behind, what if I haven't thought of every eventuality!  I waved goodbye to my slightly worried parents and that was it, this was what I have been planning for, training for and getting mentally prepared for, 3 years in the planning and we're off!

My first great challenge, and to be honest I had more worries about this than the MdS and this was crossing London and not missing my trains.  The underground was going to be my greatest challenge yet but I was ready for it ha ha!  After being picked up and driven back to my sisters home by her fiancée Justin I was able to relax and yes you guessed it I went through my kit again.  Oh how I will be glad when I don't have to check my kit any more lol! With the prospect of getting up at 3am so we could be off to Gatwick airport on time meant for an early night, would I be able to sleep, that's right, no chance!!!

Arriving at the airport was fun I was actually excited now, seeing other people being dropped off by loved ones and carrying there yellow and black MdS packs made it all good fun we were like cattle gathering.  I checked in and got rid of my bag before saying my goodbyes, then wandered through to the departure lounge where all the other mds'ers were hovering and buzzing round.  This was is it, I was really there, I couldn't quite believe it I think.  It didn't seem real, but it was it was happening there and then.

The idea had been to try and meet up with a couple of the other lads before I headed off, I managed to bump into Matt who I'd met at Leeds Uni whilst doing the heat chamber training but the other boys were on the later flight so I was just getting random messages like 'which airport are we going from?' or 'ooops I've forgotten my hairdryer!' etc etc.  Very amusing and made it all a little less daunting.  So straight from the departure lounge to boarding, my number had been called so on I went, not much time to meet anyone to be fair.  Perfect, I got the aisle seat!  I ended up with two other lads who seemed good quality, we had a bit of a laugh and got all the normally apprehensive jokes out of the way.  I was keen to see if I would see them both by the end of the week, one lad for sure as was a squaddie but seemed to have his head screwed on about it where as the other lad seemed to be winging it a little bit too much.  One of his comments was regarding his Velcro for his gaiters, his words were 'yep, did mine last night at a mates and just used glue but did it myself!' in my eyes this did not bode well but I hope he finished he seemed a nice guy.

From Ouazarate airport we were bundled on to coaches that were to take us to the bivouac, I already knew this was going to be a long journey, it was in the travel documents saying around 6 hours aaarrrggghhh!  My knee was already playing up from the plane so this wasn't going to be much fun.  I sat with Matt and got shuffed in next to the window, an incredibly squashed position the seats seemed so close to each other.  The coach trip was apart from quite painful, also quite an eye opener, a nice little introduction to Morocco before the desert descended upon us.  During the trip we were given a few bits of vital kit and information regarding camp and tents.  They were trying to get us all sorted into groups of 8 for the tent but I wasn't with my friends or the people I had arranged to be with so I just kept quiet.  We were given our first quota of 'bag de kakka' of which there was two.  Without going into too much detail these were for toilet needs (you'll have to use your imagination'.  After a couple of hours we stopped for a quick toilet break, being British I thought there might be some kind of rule like 'women to the left and men to the right' but no, this was my first eye opener.

It was very random and pretty much just go wherever you want and in full view of everyone lol!  The next stop was for food, we were each given what looked like a shoe box full of dates, but it actually turned out to be a build your own sandwich with meat and salad, some fruit and biscuits and a carton drink.  To be fair I thought it was fine more than adequate and did the job.  We were already getting into the habit of anti-bacing our hands at all opportunities as this became more and more important the more we became isolated, self sufficient and vulnerable to picking up germs.

It wasn't long, well I mean about 6 hours lol, before we arrived at the Bivouac, we all departed the coaches grabbing our kit bags and a bottle of water.  The idea now was to register yourself and tent mates and be designated a tent number.  Mmm this could be interesting as I was on my own, the other lads were on the next coach and I couldn't see Joe any where.  So my turn, in my best mixed up francais/anglais I blagged a tent for my buddies and me so off I trotted.  If only it had been that easy!  I still couldn't find Joe and his mate so after going backwards and forwards a few times covering a couple of kilometres already I decided that enough was enough.  I bagged a tent, plonked all my kit and decided I was just going to go and tell them I'm in tent '126' and I was waiting for my mates.  I quickly grabbed Paul and Tim who brought along John and we went to the tent.  Only to find another group had been assigned to 126, but I soon fought for our tent and moved them on.  I was already in protective battle mode, 'don't mess!!' Tim and Paul were shell shocked, a little taken back by my protectiveness but if they'd  walked back and forewards with all there kit as many times as I did they too would have been the same I'd like to think.  We all collapsed and sprawled out in our tent expecting others to join us.  They didn't come, the tent was ours!