January 2009

The third chapter in the tale of the 4 deserts finished at the perfect time for me. When the 5th and final stage of the Last Desert got cancelled it was actually a relief. When Mary told us that there was just no way we could risk a landing in the horrendous conditions of the Drake Passage I don't mind admitting that Paul & I exhaled heavily, slapped each other on the back and sat at the bar for 3 days. Most were more than happy to pack away the gear, accept that mother nature (and the good grace of god) had at least granted the opportunity to race 4 stages in the white wilderness. A medal is a medal after all and not a soul on board would have doubt that each one of us fully deserved to wear them with pride. I think the thought in the back of both our minds come the end of stage 4 were 'oh no, dean and evgeniy are getting stronger' and whilst neither of us would shy away from a hard race I think 4 deserts in one year for him and 12 months of solid racing for me including 3 big international trips had taken its toll. So we got back to dry land and it took around 30 minutes to come up with the next idea, Rocky Raccoon 100 in Texas on the 7th Feb. I signed up the day I got & back booked some flights. Frank then e mailed us stating that whether we were in or not he would be going into the lottery for the UTMB in August a 100 miler through France, Switzerland and Italy, so stop messing about and get involved after all 46 hour cut off is easily do-able. Bocket and I duly signed up after all how can you turn down a race which has been classed alongside and has the same elevation gains and losses (30,000 feet) as Hardrock. We all got in. Looking forward to a great year.