Headed to the start

I got an update from Leigh today. A couple actually. One was received at 5:30 a.m. MDT (11:30 a.m. there). She had been running with a gentleman named Mufasa and his friend.

She's made one purchase thus far because, as she says, "i am so afraid of buying anything because i do not understand the language or currency." She has picked up a "scarf thingy" for 50 dirhams. Apparently it involved some haggling--a skill she'd like to thank her Partner, Dana, for teaching her through various vehicle purchases.

Sleep has not been easy for her due to the time change. Personally, I think her biggest surprise with the sleeping will happen the first night in her sleeping bag on top of the thin pad/mat she'll call a mattress for the next week.

They leave first thing in the morning for the first bivouac--an eight hour drive from Morocco. There will absolutely be no more emails coming to me from her until they get the participant email system set up and running--again, I anticipate that to occur on the 29th based on info from the Marathon Des Sables web site.

If you're looking for more general details about the Dreamchaser's group, you can log on to Lisa Smith-Batchen's blog and follow along there. You can also sign up for email updates there as well (on the right side of the blog).

Anybody who wants can send Leigh an email but it has to go through the official website. You can do that by logging onto the site via the link above. Click on TIMING MDS found on the left hand side of the screen (you may need to scroll down a bit). Click on that link and then, hopefully, somewhere on that page will be a link that directs you to the message center. You'll need the surname, first name, and race number.

For Leigh: Corbin, Leigh, 479
For George: Velasco, George, 537

If you get to the website and everything looks French (and you suddenly realize you have no idea how to read French), click on the flag in the top right corner that is half Stars and Stripes and half Union Jack.

She is very excited, but I think the desert air may have affected her mental state some--she said I would love it over there.