Hi Folks,

I count myself very fortunate to have had the opportunity & resources to have gone to the Sahara Desert for this years Marathon des Sables.

To live with very little, not much than the clothes, food, stove, sleeping bag in our ruck sacks for the week & travel across some amazing landscapes with some inspiring, wonderful people for the week has been very humbling.

Starting with an 11kg rucksack, heavy compared to a lot of others as I like my food, I was never going to run a fast race. As there is very little speed differential between my fast run & slow walk I opted for walking it all.

This saw me making it back to our shared tent most days as fourth out of the seven of us that were sharing the open sided Berber canvas.

The camaraderie amongst the six Irish man & myself (as I'd bagged a place in one of the Irish tents due to a meeting a couple of the guys on another event) was incredible & a true high light of the event as we cried & laughed at each others misfortunes, including surviving the sand storm on the night of the second day which flattened the camp.

The 53 mile long stage on day 4 was mentally as well as physically hard. Luckily I teamed up with another competitor out on the course to get through what turned out to be a 23 hour day. When you see a sun set & a sun rise on the same course you know you've been going for a while.

There are more details on my blog below if anyone's interested.

I'm still collecting in charity donations / sponsorship for the Nottingham Mencap charity & thanks to people's amazing generosity the total is currently at around £1250.

If anyone would still like to donate please see the link to my Just Giving account below, & I'm also accepting cash.

Thanks for taking the time to read this & huge appreciation to very one who's wished me well, or already donated.

Take care,

Pirate Pete    

www.justgiving.com/fundraising/piratepetesdesertadventure

http://piratepetesadventures.blogspot.co.uk/

Day 7, Charity / Solidarity Stage.

Our group of tent mates walked the 4 mile stage together (as most do) through some impressive dunes, the Mezouga sand dunes. Onto the buses & a 5 hour drive to the hotel.
It's a luxury hotel & living a frugal existence for the last 7 to 9 days really makes you appreciate decent beds, bathrooms, food & cold beer.
When we stopped to eat our packed lunches at the side of the road during the bus journey, the locals who we gave our excess food to looked like they really needed & appreciated it. It made us realise how lucky we are. I talked to the 71 year ild Brit. Mahmet who was the last in at 34 hours on the long stage (day 4). He was sadly timed out just before the finish on day 6, but I found him an inspiration.
Many thanks to everyone for all the very welcome & supportive emails I was sent during the race. Thanks for peoples' interest in following my progress & all the very generous donations to the just giving account for Nottingham Mencap www.justgiving.com/fundraising/piratepetesdesertadventure
We're well on target for the £1000 but any further donations are very welcome.
Chilling out today before flying home tomorrow.
It's been an incredible experience on every level.
Thanks again,
Pirate Pete.

Pirate Pete's Medal Post!

MdS, Day 6

Well felt mentally and physically drained during the rest day yesterday, but picked up after a bit of food and sleep (not enough).

I thought that today at a marathon distance, 26 miles may be a bit harder than most of us were expecting.

The wind was blowing a minor sand storm at the start, which I was a bit late for.

So I joined the lone crazy competitor with his air guitar solo to Highway to Hell on the start line after all te others had left.

It only took a minute to catch up with the tail enders.Including the 72 year old Brit. who was last back into camp yesterday,after 35 hours on the course during the long day(s).Inspirational.

Well just when you thing the MdS has finished spanking you, there's a slight lull, then it carries on.A head/side wind for most of the day killed me. It dropped early pm in the sand dunes then picked up for the long flat end of the day.The Jolly Rodger was flying off my trekking poles as I crossed the line to get my medal.

Got the 4 mile charity stage tomorrow.

Pete's report of that last stage!

MdS, Day 4 & 5!

What a day and night and....... morning. It was the long day, which we all pay our entry fees for. 51 miles and an 8.30am  start. I decided to push on a little early on before it got too hot, still walking. By midday the eat was intense & I only had one pace. Around 2pm I'd chatted with Connor from N. Ireland. By 5-6pm I was still feeling low on energy I asked if we could walk and talk.

He got me to check point 4 & we decided to stop for an hour  have some snack food and sort ourselves out for a windy night; windproofs, buff, head torch  mandatory glow stick on back. We got on well and he intended to stop and sleep at CP 5, which a lot of people do. 

I advised him not to sleep and we'd stop again, this time for hot food then push onto the finish, as it's very difficult to get going again when you sleep. We went through the night together across the dunes and as we left CP7, the last one the sun began to rise. A very long 6 mies to the finish. 

A long, very hard day. Connor's first ultra!         

Pirate Pete's fourth stage.

This article is posted on behalf of Pete as he warned that stage four was a long one........... and he may not get chance to up date!

So, he was seen this morning  on live camera to cross the line waving a Pirate flag with a big grin after a gruelling 20 hours 56 min 15 seconds!

The evidence is shown!

Pirate Petes third stage report

Marathon des Sables, Day 3.

Oh what a night! We'd been asleep 2 hours when at 11pm a sand storm hit camp flattening tents & sending peoples' gear out of sight, into the night. 

One lad in our tent got hit on the hand by a large iron tent peg, but luckily was not seriously hurt. Our tent was about to literally take off, or tear in two so we collapsed all the poles & slept under the coarse wool tent covering. We spent the rest of the night   with it banging & flapping on our heads.

Definitely character building.

The race started on time this am & the 21 miles included flat plains, sand dunes, jebels (rock hills / mountains) and we even went along a narrow rock ridge covered in sand. It reminded me of the ridges in the Scottish highlands, but with sand instead of snow & ice.

I felt I was going pretty well and was loving the technical rock sections, especially the sandy and rocky descents.

Unfortunately with about 4 miles to go the heat bit!  Made it in not too badly.

Tomorrow's the long one 53 mls (See below) 

XX

Pirate Petes 2nd Stage report

Day 2 on the MdS

Well all good after day 1 and no blisters (so far)

I was worried that day 1 was fairly easy and may lull us into a false sense of security. I was right!

So after yesterdays 19 miles we had  24.5 to do today and it was going to be very sandy. I walked all day and chatted to lots of different people on the way.

I deliberately started near the back of the pack and it meant I was mainly overtaking people, which was nice.

Luckily, as yesterday there was a cooling breeze for most of the day. That is until 5 or 6 hours in when the wind went and we entered a rock gulley which took us climbing over a large rock jebel (large hill). The heat was punishing.

I stopped at the top of the gulley to take some photos (not to catch my breath you understand) On the summit a one legged racer caught me up. Amazing, such drive!

Managed to make my water last. Left foot is a bit sore but no blisters and even sand skied down

Thanks to all Pete xx