Time of posting this - 9.15pm, Saturday UK time (the clock on this blogspot site seems to have a mind of its own). It's probably my last posting to keep you all up to date until Steven arrives back in the UK late Monday/early Tuesday, when he will no doubt have a long story to tell.
Just had a phone call and two texts from the Desert Dasher, who has just arrived back at his hotel accommodation and relative civilisation after the 3-4 hour transfer from the finish.
Firstly he wants to express his gratitude to all who have sent him messages of support, which have given him so much encouragement to keep going when there were many times he was struggling to press on. I quote one of the text messages from him as follows:
"i have just finished the MdS, truly the most difficult challenge physical and mental challenge off my life. I wanted to offer a huge vote of thanks for all your messages of support, it has been a role coast of emotions and your letters really did get me through some of the darkest times; in agony on the marathon stage or throwing up and been threatened with the drip on the 82km stage. I really do hope this proves the point to the children of springboard that anything can and is possible what ever the challenge they face if they have someone who believes in them."
Speaking to him as well, on a somewhat dodgy mobile phone connection, reflected the relief of reaching the finish and some of the difficulties of his awesome journey.
He didn't know his finishing time/position for today's stage, but I could tell he was pleased with it. At the first checkpoint he was in 18th place overall and lost about 11 places crossing these.....
 |
| MdS-Stage 6- Dunes of Merzouga - Photo courtesy of Cimbaly Ltd |
 |
| MdS-Stage 6- Dunes of Merzouga - Photo courtesy of Cimbaly Ltd |
Steven's final aggregated position for the whole event was 78 from almost 900 original starters, no mean achievement. Total time 31hrs 36 min 15 sec.
Winner's time 19 hrs 59 min 21 sec (professional), and the last classified finisher's time was in excess of 53 hrs.
Wednsesday's fiasco with the conflicting times at which he set off, and his disappearance off the timing records for much of that distance has a story behind it, which seems to centre around a very late announcement to him from the organisers about his "correct" starting time. Probably more of that from Steven himself.
His first practical task reaching 'proper' accommodation was to have his first shower of the week and chisel through the sand which was embedded everywhere and had left no area unscathed - OUCH!
As was inevitable, the knees and legs have paid dearly (I should think the shoulders have also taken a fair pounding carrying a loaded rucksack for the entire journey), so any work colleagues reading this, go easy on him and don't be surprised if he struggles to remain upright for the first few days back!
Well, that about wraps it up until you see/hear from Steven directly. Thank you for the support and many frequent visits to his site while he's been away on an exceptional life experience, not forgetting the generous donations you have contributed to his chosen charity.
I wonder if I'll be reporting again next year....!
Well done Steven! Truly remarkable!!
ReplyDelete