You either win or you learn, it's NEVER a failure.
It's not without the heaviest of hearts that I have to report that I was forced to make the hard decision to withdraw from the race after stage 1. I was hit with severe dehydration due to the extreme heat experienced on the course (31°c on sunday) and this lead to me not being able to take in any food for 19hrs+ and as a result my body would not have been able to sustain the next stage with only a few hours rest and recovery.
A very hard decision to make in that moment but without a doubt the right one. We later heard of several other runners that had the same issues and some even having injured themselves and having to be rescued off the mountain. Not what we wanted to have happen to us out there as it's an environment that can quickly turn deadly if you're not prepared.
All in all a truly fantastic experience nonetheless and happy with what we achieved albeit only a small section in the end.
Final distance done was approx, 80km with 5500m altitude gain. Incredible landscapes but very brutal indeed.
We live to fight another day as they say, these things happen in these types of races and you can't plan for every eventuality, it wasn't meant to be for us this time but many more adventures to come nevertheless. I'm planning on still taking part in another 100km distance race in the coming weeks as my body and mind are not ready to call it a day just yet.
Many thanks to all that supported us on this amazing adventure! We still have some days to go for the fundraising and we are close to reaching our target, please do continue to contribute to this incredible cause. I may have only been able to complete a small section of this race but the levels of endurance needed to do so only pale in comparison to what NetAP dedicates day in day out for the many animals in need. Your support is invaluable to the true heros of NetAP!
Kind regards
Leigh
