Stage Four... 47 miles to Epipphany or..."Do I go with one sock or two?"

This quote comes from my friend KAM.
A perfect fit for Stage Four

"I've got a mountain to climb before I get over this hill,
I've got the world to unwind before I ever sit still.
There's a thing called peace of mind that I've never known,
I've got a long way to get before I get back home..."
--Bob Schneider

Awaiting the start of Stage Four

For someone like Laurie Andrews, Stage Four seems to have been run on athletic prowess. She finished it in 9 hours or so. For me, it was purely a mental endeavor. For “M” however it was a reflective of “do I go with one sock or two" as quoted from Nightline.

and off we go!

I did not have a plan for any of my stages but for Stage Four I did have a definite goal and that was to go through the night in one shot. Many choose to stay out all night long and finish this stage the next day and that seemed like it would be fun too but for me, finishing in one shot was important.

I think that everyone was starting tired as we had just come off the heals of a gnarly sandstorm and sleep was difficult to find during the night. This would prove to be a long rough day! As always, the start was energizing and for me, I found myself in very good spirits and ready to tackle what lay ahead. I was confident in my ability to cover this distance in one shot. I was thinking that I would be done between 2 and 4am. This stage was more difficult then many imagined and George and I finished just after 6am, making it indeed, one very long shot.

The day started at 8am for us. For the elite runners it started three hours later as they were given a penalty for being fast. Americas very own Rock Star Ted Archer was in this group which consisted of the 50 fastest males and the 5 fastest females. At about five miles into this stage came the El Oftal jeble. A jebel is a really really big hill. To me it was a mountain. With its 25 degree slope it was unlike anything that I have ever attempted to do. Let me walk you though my climb as gently as I can.

the climb up the easy part

OK, wait! It's getting harder!

The first portion was up the sand. This was very steep but I was able to find some good foot holds and make my way up the sand as if I were climbing stairs. There was a man wearing a long skirt that liked my strategy and got behind me to follow what I was doing. I am not sure if he was trying to be helpful or if he was trying to get me out of his way but I felt his hand on the back of my back and he was pushing me along for the last bit. Once up we were able to exchange looks of “wow that was tough” and he was on his way never to be seen again. The first part of the climb was completed with relative ease now came a big decision. Do we climb up the sand dune to get to the top as we were noticing many doing or do we climb up the rock section which had the majority of the people and seemed to have a bit of a bottle neck going. George and I decided to go up the rocks even though it had more people and would be a slow go but we felt that it would be easier.

Could i die up here?

I can’t say for sure if it was any easier but it was one of the scariest things that I have ever done in my life. I had a few thoughts as I made my way up. My first thought was that I would be in trouble with my mom if she had any idea what I was up too at the moment. My second thought was that my kids would not have been happy with what I was doing. My third thought was that my husband would say “go for it” and my final thought was that I could very easily die up here and maybe I should turn around. I would have done exactly that if there weren’t about 100 people behind me. I was so fearful of my climb up the rocks that there were moments that I felt paralyzed by fear. At one point I even started to make my own path up. Lucky for me, I had George ahead to guide me up and I also made a new friend for life as I had “The Bulldog” behind me cracking jokes and making things seem normal. I was mortified for about a nano-second when I realized that the “Bulldog” and all behind me had a shot of my butt all the way up the climb as I was wearing a skirt and had no compression shorts on. But on the other hand at that moment I could not worry myself with thoughts of modesty because I was busy planning my own funeral.

I was relived when we finally reached to cable and I had something to hold on too even if it did seem like too little too late. I was very grateful to have made it to the top were I was able to celebrate the view with my climbing mates, George and “Bulldog”!

Yay! I did it! at the top with "Bulldog"

As we made out way down the other side, it was an ankle turner for sure. Very hot and very technical. I shot this picture of George as he made his way down. Just a few miles of dunes to go and we would be at CP1. That was a long and hard 12K but the next 11 or so klicks were not going to be easy either. We would not make it to CP2 until about 2 or so in the afternoon. We had to travel along a flat and rocky plane. The only exciting thing happening here was the fact that we got to see the front runners run past us. They were running and the rest of us were walking. We were with some others in our group and together we awaited the arrival of our friend Ted. We welcomed him and wished him well and got some pictures.

George makes his way down the other side

Our very Own Champion Ted!

CP2 was a great relief to get to. It was like an oasis and as we found a spot in the shade, we took a time out to rest. One guy put it rather nicely when he said that it is only going to get cooler. At the check points they would set up a few berber canopies and if you were lucky enough to find a spot, you could rest up for the next leg of the journey. On this particular stage, we took this luxury and rested when we could, if only for a bit.

CP2. A refreshing Oasis!

feet up for a little break

The way to CP3 we had more salt flats/dried river beds and a nice jebel to climb. It was a long and hot haul. When we made it to the next check point we did not stay for long.

George making his way along the dried lake bed in the heat of the day.

At the top of the jebel i was met by some eager locals

We wanted to make it to CP4 before we had our dinner so on we went. We were turned around by the helicopter as a bunch of us realized that we had gone about a mile out of the way and had to make our way back. One more big climb, the last of the day. And who would you think would be there with us to make it to the top? “Bulldog”.

the last big climb of the day

We enjoyed his company many times along the way to CP4 and we even stopped to meet the Race Director Patrick Bauer who happens to be a friend of Rory’s (Bulldog). We got to catch up on all the news about the Royals and thoughts of Princess Diana. (Rory is from England) We learned about Rory and how he started to run and he learned about me and how I started to run.

George and I made it into CP4 at about 10pm. It was time to get off the feet and have something to eat. We were sure not to get too comfortable as we did not want to spend too much time here. Within the hour we were on our way. This time following the green laser that was high in the sky signaling CP5.

May the force be with you!

For the remainder of Stage Four, we would travel through flat terrain and sandy wadis. A wadi is a dry river bed that can be extremely flat and sandy. To be traveling along this for hours on end was one of the most mentally challenging things that I have ever done. One of you tent mates but it this way after we got back. Martin: “it was like trying to run on a #*%&$*# treadmill!” Meaning you are going… nowhere!

As the temperature began to drop I got cold. George had a Tyvek suite so I put it on as mine went back to Ozz with all the stuff that I thought I would not need but wish I had. As I began to chill, my body began to rid itself of all unnecessary water. So about every 15 minutes I would have to pee. Hard to do in a one piece suit with 18 pounds on your back. I used my pocket knife and made a funnel out of a water bottle and thought that this would work just fine as I could pee into it without dumping my back and getting myself undressed. It worked so so until my legs were getting too wet and I had to worry about chafing as I slogged along. So whether I wanted to or not, off came the pack and suit and this I did about every 15 to 30 minutes, for hours.

As George and I became deliriously tired with the boring trek it was not uncommon to become irritated with one another. At one point I had weaved into George which had set him off just enough to get me upset. Honestly, at that moment I think anything would have made me come unglued. George and I recall it something like this….

As Leigh was weeping and wailing through the desert, other runners would pass by and give George a look as if to say, “Dude, what did you do to her” this went on for quite a time and I swear at that moment if there had been a race official, I would have torn off my tags and said “DONE!”

These early morning hours were quite eerie as many were wearing Tyvek suites which are all white. We had green glow sticks on out packs behind us and that made everyone wearing white have an eerie green glow cast about them. In Georges words “it looked like Night of the Living Dead” as many stumbled there way through the night.

early morning hours with glow sticks

CP5 was a very lonely and quiet place to be. Runners who were too tired to keep moving decided to hunker down and wait till morning. We collected our water and were on our way. By dawn we had just over one mile left to go. As we got closer to the bivouac we began to see others making their way in. We were excited as we were able to pass some. One was our very own Ashley. Wow, we were surprised to see her here. She is a speedy little 23 year old from Canada. As we came upon her we noticed that she could barley move as she made her way to the bivouac. She had acquired someone’s trekking poles and she was using them as a way of crutches. I could see that she was in pain and a man was with her and had been helping her along. Ashley is one of the most inspiring stories that come out of this adventure for me. She kept on going even when most would have seen it to be impossible. For the next two days, whenever I saw Ashley, she was smiling and striking up a conversation with someone, never once complaining about her pain and always with an eye on the finish. I will always remember her as she hobbled along with a big grin, just so happy to be there! I took a lot with me after finishing MDS but I can tell you this, I did not come away with a fraction of what Ashley came away with. Her journey was made that much richer because of what she had to endure and how she chose to handle it! Bravo, Ashley! You are a real hero!

April 3, not even sure what day it was, but for me, it was a day of rest. TBC