Day one: 29.6km - done!

All well. I got back to our tent first with Sark 5 minutes behind. Took it easy and walked (fast) a large percentage of it. 4hrs 50 mins; I'm in 288th place.

The terrain is amazing. Ruggedly beautiful. Lots of small sand dunes and hills. Very tough going underfoot and up to 40 degrees C. Aim was to get in the first day unscathed, so have achieved that. No blisters, I can feel my bum knee but it’s okay.

This really is the most incredible event. The atmosphere is so real. A mix of ultra-fit serious endurance athletes, and then people like us, and then those who will get through on sheer will power.

We do 35km tomorrow. Most difficult so far is the organisation of food. Got my pack down in weight to 8.5kg at check-in. Very pleased, it gets lighter every day now!

Day of reckoning

As of 9 this morning, Ed was in base camp, about 100km east of Tazarine, along with 700+ other runners. He was making his last phone call before turning in his travel bag and all other non-essential items. At 2pm today, he will be self-sufficient, carrying everything he needs for the next seven days on his back. The good news is he's able to trim his load even more (no luxuries at all!) and everything so far has gone well. But he is scared at what's up ahead.

Wha exactly is up ahead? 29km the first day, 33 the second, 35 the third, 70 the fourth, rest the fifth, 42 the sixth, then 11 the last. But the last day is all sand dunes! It is a circular route that takes them to a place called Merzouga.

Tess

PO Box 1, Sahara Desert

Please send me messages, apparently they get delivered to our tents in the Sahara! Here are details:

Go to www.darbaroud.com, look for US/UK flag for site in English (It is also hyper linked on the right of this page - Ed). Each day, the organisers list all that day’s results with times and positions. Messages can be sent from 25 – 31 March. In order to send a message, they will need to go to www.darbaroud.com web site and under the special heading “ecrire aux concurrents” (write to competitors) fill in a message form which will require your surname, first name and competitors ID number (Mine is 698 - Ed) . ONLY send text messages and NO attachments or pictures.

Thanks for your support!

Sand Gaiters

It's getting close to decision time for the sand gaiters. They're meant to stop sand getting in your shoes to try to prevent the inevitable blisters. The green ones were supplied by an MdS Veteran who swears by them. The red ones were supplied free this year by New Balance. At the moment I am only going on looks (?!) and the red ones seem more fashionable. They'll be wearing them down the Kings Road next.

Send-off Cake

I returned home from some Sunday shopping to find a reception committee having baked a send-off cake. Bless them! Tess and Bruno have been very hard-done-by for the past few months so are looking forward to me getting this race out of my system and returning to being a normal dad/husband. By the way, the black squiggle on the cake is a snake...

Healing Hands

I have many people to thank for their support to get me to the start line of MdS and my osteopath Simone Sorrell is one of them. This gorgeous and caring lady has an amazing ability to get my misaligned body back into shape. She's also a yoga teacher and mother. Thanks Simone - you're a star! You might even get me on a yoga mat one day...

Spring Has Sprung

The colours of spring are here and the magnolia trees are blossoming. They fuelled my joyful mood on my walk down to my osteopath this morning.

The Man from Tesco He Says No

Ref entry on Feb 26, I received a reply from Tesco. They said thanks for feedback on novel use of OJ cartons but no to donation. Shame! I'll try same with Sainsbury's now...

There be Scorpions

My latest piece of desert kit is helping at least one member of the family sleep better. Our son Bruno was getting increasingly worried about Daddy being bitten by scorpions in the Sahara. With my new AspiVenin venom pump as part of the mandatory kit for all MdS Competitors, he is a lot happier to let Daddy go now.

Coasting along the Coast

On top of Salcombe Hill Cliff looking west along to Dunscombe Cliff to my right, and the sinking MS Napoli out at sea to my left. The ship was caught in bad weather in January and started to sink depositing many of its containers and rubbish on the picturesque beach of Branscombe. Scavengers descended causing havoc to this remote area and it was a major news item. The beach was still closed but Sark and I managed to run along a fair old stretch of it. We were out for five and a half hours going up and down the cliffs and then along the beach.

A Beer in Beer

The signs along the trail kept on giving us a destination and an incentive. And sure enough we eventually reached Beer, the cute little Devon fishing village. Once there it would have been rude not have stopped and indulged in a pint. All part of the training - carbohydrate loading!

Running on Rocks

Tucked in behind Sark plodding along Branscombe beach in East Devon, it struck me how strange we must have looked. We went down for an annual running race called 'The Grizzly' a tortuous 20-mile course starting and finishing at Seaton, a pretty coastal town. Due to a shipwreck off the coast and the ensuing rubbish the beach has been closed which forced the cancellation of the the Grizzly this year. But hundreds of runners still went for quickly organised 'Un-Grizzly' runs over slightly different routes. We peeled off from the main group of runners on Sunday morning and continued on towards Sidmouth before returning home, ending up running for a good few miles on this beach. Some sand but mainly rocks and pebbles of varying sizes. Very tough running and great training. Wish we'd done it three months before not two weeks!

All Publicity is Good Publicity

Sunday March 4 - Amersham
I felt pretty silly dressed up in full Sahara desert gear in my parents Buckinghamshire back garden. But it was for the benefit of a photographer from the local paper. Mum and Dad are patrons of Workaid and Kate the wonderful publicity volunteer has arranged some publicity in the local paper. "Local boy runs across Sahara" type story. Hopefully it will direct more traffic to my site and raise more funds and awareness for them.

ECG or Not to ECG

Went to a clinic at the CRY Centre for Sports Cardiology at the Olympic Medical Institute today.

The wonderful folks at CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young) were providing a specialist cardiology clinic and a number of us MdS runners had been referred there by our GPs. It seems the ECG reports of fit ultra-runners can mimic those of people with potential cardiac problems. We need to have an ECG and medical check before we go to the desert.

The lovely Lorna hooked me up to the machine, and fed us with cups of tea and croissants. All was fine and Dr Agnes checked me over and gave me the all-clear. Yet another expense (£35) which I could do without but it all goes to CRY, a registered charity. It's good to know my ticker is in good working order. Now, would you believe it, I have to do it all over again with my GP, since only they can sign off on the actual form.

Run and Become

One size too big, they said. And so Sark and I duly trooped down to the best running shop in London, Run and Become in Victoria. Me to buy a pair of Saucony Omni Grids and Sark to get Asics. We had been down in January to buy exactly the same shoes and now bought our pair for MdS, just a full size bigger. This is apparently to cope with the inevitable feet swelling due to the Saharan heat. We were served again by the wonderful Des. Many thanks to her, owner Shankara, and all the staff for their expertise and enthusiasm.