“The CRUD you walk through in life, adversity experienced, gives you strength to endure” – Me Day 3 – Atacama Desert Run As we closed up camp around the fire after 83KM down after two days, one of our friends and Six time veteran shared that Day 3 would be the most challenging. He said you’ll see some terrain you have never experienced before that will mentally wear you down. As we finished the 2nd checkpoint and the first 20km, we were about to enter a difficult stretch. The race organizer as we passed said you are about to enter 10km of Crud. We asked if it was runable. She laughed and said not really. It’s one of those responses that was unsettling, and vastly under stated. Little did we know we were not only entering the most difficult stage of the entire race but what the three of us running together would describe as the most difficult stage we had ever run (or would walk) in our combined 10 desert races. If you would …

“Well you probably needed a good butt kicking in your prep for Antartica.  Better to struggle out here than down there!  Now we know where we need to focus the next three months,” said my running coach and mentor Ray Zahab. He would know. He has crossed most of the world’s deserts and poles on serious expeditions. In the spring he recently completed back to back treks–through the Canadian Arctic and right after across the Atacama Desert in Chile–in over 40 days. This three day race was short, compact and the terrain was difficult. It was great to be back on home soil in Canada and see the challenge it presented for me and other competitors in all its beauty…and it kicked my butt! My hydration was off in the sweltering 97F heat the first day and it impacted me the rest of the race. I was was able to gut out a decent run over 53KM on day one, but when you forget to change the oil often enough on your car, it will start …