Marathon Des Sables - 23rd Edition 2008 • Page 6 • Collecting General • The Acaeum

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Marathon Des Sables - 23rd Edition 2008
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jasonw1239
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Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 6:18 pm

Glad to hear you got home Al!
Take care of those feet!

Jason

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Improv
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Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 8:42 pm

Badmike wrote:
Trying something? You didn't walk barefoot, did you Al? Ouch!

No .. he tried riding that giant shrew of his :-)

Al, well done! Very impressive!

"... and may I remind you that this ain't the end. I can still kick some ass." - Tom Petty

Prufrock
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 8:00 am

Congrats Alan,

Incredible. To trash your feet first thing and still have the will to finish.

Martin

Kingofpain89
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 8:27 am

Willpower is an amazing resource. With enough faith in yourself you can do almost anything. Run across the Sahara on injured feet, climb Mt. Everest, or not poop for five days on a camping trip to the Colorado wilderness.

Congrats Al.

You don't like your job, you don't strike. You go in every day and do it really half-assed. That's the American way. - Homer Simpson

Deadlord
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 8:59 am

God bless those Boots of Striding. Well done, Al!

If you hit a Rowsdower, you get to keep it.

killjoy32
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 10:08 am

my feet after stage 1...

Are we nearly there yet?

Badmike
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 10:47 am

[quote="killjoy32"]my feet after stage 1...

/quote]

What the hell did you do? Wear barbed wire instead of shoes?

Sheesh!

Mike B.

"THE MORE YOU THINK ABOUT WHY i DONE WHAT i DONE THE MORE i LAUGH" Cougar
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killjoy32
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 10:51 am

the inside of the heel of each shoe was wearing away so i placed some padded plaster there to give some cushioning. when i began to sweat, it had the opposite effect to what i had hoped. by the time i had stopped to fix it, it was too late, so that was my heels trashed and then the rest of the feet followed, because i couldnt walk on my heels properly.

cest la vie.

Al

Are we nearly there yet?

Iluvatar
Active Collector

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Location: Kalundborg, Denmark

Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 10:56 am

Damn, that must have hurt like hell. The only time I've seen something similar was on a 14-day summer trekking trip to Lapland, were someone had been foolish enough to wear brand new boots. :/

I salute you for having the willpower to finish with those heels. Damn.

M. Parthes
FINDNPLAY.COM

"PC's are like snowflakes; Ephemeral things destined to vanish very shortly after their creation."

jasonw1239
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 11:24 am

Wow!

What a picture.
If that is what they looked like at the end of the 1st stage, what were they like at the finish line?
You are one determined running fiend!

Check out my Chaosium sourcebook.
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killjoy32
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 6:24 pm

when i get a chance i will post a pic from back in the hotel. not nice. into the 2nd layer of skin though.

little toe is totalled too. lost 2 layers of skin on half the toe, including the nail, nail bed and all that. toe doesnt quite resemble a toe tbh but hey there you go

price to pay for doing these things

Are we nearly there yet?

copycat
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 6:32 pm

Welcome back, Al. Glad you survived.

Those who can, don't. Those who should not, do.

Badmike
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 8:20 pm

killjoy32 wrote:when i get a chance i will post a pic from back in the hotel. not nice. into the 2nd layer of skin though.

little toe is totalled too. lost 2 layers of skin on half the toe, including the nail, nail bed and all that. toe doesnt quite resemble a toe tbh but hey there you go price to pay for doing these things

Al

You crazy damn Brit. You could have been drinking a beer and eating a bacom cheesburger instead of grinding your feet into mincemeat pie. Anyway we are proud of you, you hold the standard for hard core gamers that look like me (round and 50 lbs overweight), what can I say, I want to be like you when I grow up...!

Mike B.

"THE MORE YOU THINK ABOUT WHY i DONE WHAT i DONE THE MORE i LAUGH" Cougar
"The Acaeum hates fun" Sir Allen
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killjoy32
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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 6:08 am

well one thing i found again, though i wished it had turned out differently, is that i have a very deep inner-strength. i still can't believe i managed to get to the end. it really was a hard long haul, constantly striving against the pain and want to give up because it was really bad, but i did it.

i feel very proud of having completed it twice now and yes, it is now laid to rest. i COULD say i want to do it again and do better, because i know i can, but i have no need to. enough is enough.

i have the mongol rally next year - the year after, i am talking about doing the Comrades in south africa, but thats a long way away yet, so we shall see what unfurls when my feet are repaired and i get back to running again.

mongol rally:

http://mongolrally.theadventurists.com/

Comrades:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comrades_Marathon

Al

Are we nearly there yet?

bombadil
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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 7:07 am

Welcome back, Al. Really freakin' impressive, to say the least!

Let mirth prevail!

killjoy32
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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 10:16 am

bombadil wrote:Welcome back, Al. Really freakin' impressive, to say the least!

thanks stephen!

i will be kinda out-of-sorts the rest of the week methinks...not quite with it etc....but should be ok next week. poor feet are really hammered though.

Al

Are we nearly there yet?

killjoy32
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Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 5:44 am

hey guys.

dont think i mentioned before. i have uploaded 20+ videos that i recorded on the MDS, to youtube, link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsHecWoM3gk

if you click on the "more from alansilcock" on the right, you will see the links to the rest of the clips i have put there.

the above link will take you to the clip of me, appx 1km from the finish line at the end of the race, having covered 152miles / 245.3kilometres.

enjoy

Al

ps. i have stuck a heap of pictures onto my facebook account too, if you want to go have a look. there are some pics of my poor mangled feet too.

Are we nearly there yet?

jasonw1239
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Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 10:25 am

Holy crap Al! That epitomizes the phrase barren landscape.
How the hell do you find a spot to lay down and sleep without having rocks stick in your arse?

Check out my Chaosium sourcebook.
Secrets of Tibet

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