Day 6

Day 6 course: 34K - 8K big sand dunes, 19K plains trails, 7K huge sand dunes

Times: Budjargal - 4:40, Owen and Me - 5:10

A really tough but tremendous final day of the challenge. My leg was still hurting this morning and we think it's probably either my lateral hamstring or perhaps the IT band. The doctor worked on it but that didn't really help much. Owen's foot has not got any better and he was tramadol to ease the pain.

The stage went straight up into the dunes to a high point where we met Ali Greene checking everyone in. Budjargal had already shot off into the distance and both Owen and I were struggling enough to be quite a bit slower than previous days. At the end of the dunes we were joined by Ian who proceeded to stay with us for almost all of the plains. We walked a lot and ran in patches for the 19K across the plains, seeming to take an age to cover the ground. Behind us, Ryan was going very well and kept us in sight for most of that time. I couldn't run more than about 200 yards without my knee seizing up and having to walk for 100 yards or so. Ryan later said that the sight of me catching up with Owen and Ian, then falling back, then catching them again for quite a few K across the desert was a funny one to watch. It was actually really nice to have some time to chat with Ian and Owen, even if it was frustrating to be held back so much by my knee.

A couple of K before we spotted camp my knee eased up and we ran from there, losing Ian in the process. After a quick water fill-up it was time to head straight up Khongoryn Els, the biggest sand dune in Asia. From camp the ridge loomed over us and we tackled the dune head on with a decent reserve of energy after a slow start to the day. I'd been worried about the climb with a bad knee but it didn't hurt on the way up. Everything else did though.

There was no obvious way up on hard sand so we gave it a full frontal assault, scrambling up on hands and knees, stopping every minute or so to catch a breath and a drink of water. It was also a chance to cool down hot hands, burning from the heat of the sand. By half way up we were breathing harder than any other time in the race and it must have taken over 1/2 hour to ascend the few hundred metres up to the top. My shoes were absolutely full of sand and as I stopped to dump them out Owen pressed on toward Phil at the far end of the ridge. The view from the top was amazing - mountains to north and south, the full extent of the dunes spreading out to the east, back the way we'd come over the last 6 days. Footing at the top was not easy and so it was a fair old trudge along the top. When we finally got to Phil it felt like we'd conquered the dunes and with it the Gobi Challenge. All that was left was a spectacularly fast descent and a quick 2K amble to the finish.
Given our slower overall pace for the day, we were less tired than other days and therefore even more able to enjoy seeing everyone else come in to the finish. The warm-ish beers that appeared mid-afternoon were most welcome and the goat that gave its life to be our race feast was appreciated fully. Owen may well have broken the course record, even with a slower final day. Budjargal ended up with a slightly faster time than me, but it appears he missed a couple of bits of the last day which saved him a few minutes. He was in the supported runner category so I finished a clear 2nd overall but regardless I enjoyed the challenge of running against him and was proud to finish 2nd on days 3, 4 and 5.

All in all I was extremely pleased to finish in mostly good health, with no blisters, faster than I would have thought, and having run about 75 to 80% of the whole course. I don't know that I'm desperate to do another multi-day event straight away but the experience of a week with all these great new people in this wonderful place would make me open to the idea of another at some point.