The Times journalist asked me how i felt on crossing the finish line, possibly expecting a response akin to elation, triumph and joy, but in fact both myself and douglas both noted the anti-climax of the finish line. All we wanted to do was flop down, take our shoes off and get some food and water down us!
We still faced a 6 hour bus ride to the hotel before we could relax, sit by the pool, and contemplate our experience. It was an amazing event that has surely left an impact on our minds. The physical strain of running such an event is not nearly as tough as the psychological. At home here we covered similar distances on the road in training but nothing compares to the Sahara.
To give you an idea, the 3rd checkpoint on Stage Three took me 2 hours of hard slog just to cover 7 km! Other days were faster but the terrain made it extremely difficult. The side-to-side and front-to-back movement of your feet in the heat as you run on rocks and down sand dunes literally tears your skin off.
At one point I had to take two toenails off myself with a surgical knife, so i could get my feet in my shoes they where so swollen! Sleep deprivation and limited calorie intake made recovery difficult and the accumulation of tiredness over the 7 days took it's toll.
Douglas had bad shin splints which hampered his speed, which made his finishing even more remarkable. We both have a lot of respect for our tent-mates, in particular two of them who had the worst foot injuries we've ever seen. Alex and Richard are two big guys with immense determination. They hobbled through 250km of this event on bleeding blisters and sores that literally covered the soles of their feet.
To make it worse, Alex reacted negatively to medication which made him even weaker - yet, they soldiered on and conquered the Marathon Des Sables showing true character.
Our other tent mates where a great bunch. A polar explorer who showed us what 'managing' such an event was all about; a happy-go-lucky chap with amazing stories of treks all over the world; and a vet with equally interesting life experiences.
Tent 103 couldn't have been more diverse and interesting and I salute them all! Their camaraderie made the event far more enjoyable, through sharing the difficult conditions. It is only now that the effect of an extreme event can be appreciated, not at the finish line. I look back at the photos and videos and think about what all this meant for me.
Since we have achieved our fundraising goals and hope to raise our target to Euros 45,000 before we call it "closed", we can feel satisfied. We completed the event well and are pleased with our management and preparation of the challenge. Yet finishing such an event leaves a sense of emptiness that will quite possibly grow as time passes.
The 'space' in the minds of people like myself and Douglas who crave the extreme, the challenge and pushing our limits. But now, the aim is to enjoy those we love; the ones we missed and thought of throughout our challenge. The ones who were our light in the dark moments when tiredness, stomach upset, pain and discomfort prodded our consciousness, telling us to give up.