Stage 4 - Aferdou Nsooualhine to Mekta Sfa: 42.2km
Quick results
------------
Position Time
659 out of 771 08:16:17
------------
Well after a little rest on Day 5 after finishing the long day at 09:30 there was now just 26.2 miles seperating Dave and I from the finish line. We all lined up battered, blistered, patched to high heaven and body condition wise we must have been one of the worst looking fields assembled on a marathon start line, and for the first time in my running career I realised I had no fear of the marathon distance, repect yes, but not fear.
Dave's condition had taken a turn for the worse and whilst his spirits were high his bowels had decided that it would be a hard fight for him to the finish line. Dave and I started as usual with a consistent stroll at the back. As the race continued his emergency stops got ,ore frequent and unpredictable, but nothing could dampen his spirits.
This years Marathon stage route ironically seemed to sum up the whole event. There was a tall rocky hill to clinb, lots of sand dunes, and the special signaturue of the MdS 2009, a river ford to cross. The river really distroyed all those carefully placed plasters and so I sat down and tore mine off.
As we approached the finish line we desecended a rocky slope and Dave descided there should be a full on sprint finish as is his usual signature finish, and so with some final words to one another Dave and I went full pelt, and in a blur we legged it over the finish line to the surprise of the spectators as our pqrt of the field was the walking wounded section!
We have our finishers medals now and are quite happily stuffing our faces with lovely desserts in the hotel. Dave is on the mend, and I'm left with a feeling of what next? :)
Thanks for all the messages, they really meant a lot.
Cheers
Andy
No comments:
Post a Comment