Several friends have asked me to write a blog about this event and my experience of it. I’ve been completely overwhelmed by the scale of interest, excitement, support, generosity and love. I felt the very least I could do was try and convey a little of what it was like and just how much your love meant, especially when I was at my very lowest point.
My purpose for attempting this challenge was to raise awareness and money for Cancer Research UK (CRUK). Many of you will know that I have spent the last year volunteering as a vaccinator, planning, preparing and training for this event and dedicating the rest of my time to the campaigning, fundraising and other work I undertake for CRUK. Every two minutes someone is told they have cancer and I am passionate about improving the outcomes through more prevention, earlier diagnosis and better treatments.
So I start my blog with a heartfelt THANK YOU. Your support has helped me reach my £10,000 fundraising target for this year. My lowest point during the Marathon des Sables (MDS) arrived early – at the end of Stage One where I found myself severely dehydrated, with a needle in my arm on an IV drip. At the same time, a friend of mine had a needle in her arm, not for dehydration but for chemotherapy. Your generosity and support will improve cancer outcomes. If anyone wants to know if I would I do it again…well lets see when we get to the end.
I am writing one blog for each day of the race, plus some pre and post shenanigans and reflections, with plenty of corresponding pictures and videos. In this first one I cover the hectic week leading up to departure as well as our arrival at the first bivouac in the Sahara. Feel free to comment and ask as many questions as you want. More will be revealed in subsequent blogs and I’ll do my best to answer them. I have strived to be as factual as possible and I’m sure my tent mates will correct any discrepancies!
Pre-departure week
After two and a half years of planning, preparation and training, the few days before flying to Errachidia in Southern Morocco, were some of the most stressful I’ve ever encountered. Judging by the chatter on the Official UKI MDS Facebook Group, various Messenger and Whats App groups, I think most others felt the same. The dangers of last minute derailment felt high, exacerbated by COVID-19 and the risk of a positive PCR test which would mean game over.
Sat 25th Sept
I’d been avoiding group contact wherever reasonable possible, however I wasn’t about to miss Olivia’s graduation from Oxford, one of the product days of my life and a truly wonderful experience. The drive home ended with drama, since every petrol station from Heston on the M4 to home had no fuel. I scoured half a dozen local stations around South London that evening to no avail.
Sun 26th Sept
The following morning I had planned to drive to Camber Sands in Kent, which has some little sand dunes, for some final kit testing and photographs. Alas a further ten petrol stations were fuel-less and the car was now running on fumes.
Photos in the garden would have to suffice for my CRUK press release and I’d have plenty of sand to practice with in the Sahara! The week continued with my daily hot baths to help acclimatise, in lieu of the Environmental Chambers with treadmills at St Mary’s University, which were still closed because of COVID-19.
Mon 27th Sept
No fuel. No heat chamber. My challenges were only just beginning. William was back at school, enthusiastically getting stuck into his A Levels and Sixth Form living. We’d all been fortunate to avoid COVID-19, we’d all been double jabbed (Will and Olivia both volunteer at one of our vaccination centres so got theirs early) and we were all doing lateral flow tests (LFT), seemingly every day. Will came back from school that afternoon and was ushered to his room to do his LFT. Half an hour later, I went upstairs to check in on him, his face suddenly drained of colour when he looked down at the test result.
How was it possible that we had all dodged this thing for a year and a half…… and yet four days before I was flying, four days before I needed a negative PCR test, poor Will tests positive. Operation quarantine commenced and like all good teenagers, he obediently remained locked in his room while everyone else’s stress levels burst through the roof.
Sheep or Shave?
The people had voted and that evening I was reunited with Boki, my hairdresser of twenty five plus years and provided some entertainment with a live-stream of my lockdown hair being shaved off. Good decision as I was soon to learn – and hopefully the Little Princess Trust could also make use of my locks. I ran from Boki’s to see Steph, my physio at Crystal Palace for some final treatment. Frankly it’s a miracle my legs were still in one piece after a succession of injuries intermixed with other running challenges, most latterly my eighth Great North Run, dressed in a scientists costume chasing a Guinness World Record!
Tue 28th Sept
More acclimation training, finalising my press release and other media work for CRUK, packing and repacking my kit for the hundredth time, final strength session. Stress levels are starting to build. My to-do list is never ending and I feel like I’m running out of time, despite having had over two years to prepare! My pack weight is still not where it needs to be so a few more grams must be found. Either one or two of my luxury items will have bite the bullet or I need to get even more creative.
I’m certain more of the food can go and after I decant my Expedition Food rations into Ikea zip-lock bags I also dispense with all the flapjacks, some of the Cliff Shot Bloks, several Peperami, a bag of Twiglets and half the Caffeine Bullets. Still not enough. I start to cut the labels from all my clothing. Another three grams. I slice my Nivea Lip Sun Block in half and clingfilm the end. Slowly getting there.
Wed 29th Sept
Squeaky bum time. About a week prior, we received an email from the MDS organisers with the subject ‘MDS 2021 – Race Organisers Protocols’. This detailed a long list of health protocols and final reminders. Over the preceding few weeks, there were collective sighs of relief that the Moroccan authorities didn’t require a negative PCR test for double vaccinated UK residents (everyone at the MDS had to be double vaccinated). The email outlined a requirement for a PCR test but appeared that was only for French residents (France was on a less favourable COVID-19 status compared than the UK). Within seconds of receipt of that email, the Official UKI MDS Facebook group lit up with comments. A few hours later, the feared clarification comes from RunUltra the UKI organisers:
‘We now have the required clarification from the race organisers, and can confirm that YOU WILL REQUIRE PROOF OF A NEGATIVE PCR TEST taken no more than 48 hours prior to your arrival at Errachidia airport. This is a race entry requirement and not a Moroccan immigration requirement.’
And so the chatter escalates to a fever pitch level: how can you be certain to get one back in time? Stress levels are going through the roof.
I take my PCR test and hand deposit it into a Randox drop box collection point in Kensington. And then hope and pray. Still no fuel. No plan B if my COVID-19 test doesn’t come back in time. I’m itching to run and struggle to restrain myself from joining our weekly club run with Dulwich Runners AC. The interest, support and generosity from club-mates has been incredible, sprinkled with a healthy dose of skepticism at my sanity. It wasn’t my first crazy challenge and I hoped it wouldn’t be the last!
Thu 30th Sept
03:30am email from Randox Health: ‘Your coronavirus (COVID-19) test result is negative, meaning you did not have the virus when the test was done’. I breathe a sigh of relief. Another step closer to the start line. Final Pilates class with Steve Dowse, who has been an incredible support and absolutely central to my strength and conditioning training and post injury rehab. Steve also kindly sent out an overview of the MDS to all my amazing classmates, who have been so supportive and generous.
Final hot bath acclimation training felt so much better than the first one – I start to think it is actually working.
Lots of fundraising, PR and media stuff for CRUK and some work on the big campaign we are running, #CancerWontWait – ahead of the upcoming Comprehensive Spending Review.
Final kit testing, finding a few more grams, yet more MDS forms, more admin, sending out all the tracking and messaging links. [I had no idea just how important these would turn out to be when I am about to withdraw from the race after the first day]. I re-re sort my race pack and additional travel bag. One will get taken away before the race starts. The other will live on my back or in our bivouac for the next week.
Running All Over Cancer 