18 May - Rest Day

Today is rest day or at least it is to those of us who have finished early enough to have had some semblance of a night's sleep. As I awake, many are still out on the course and some of those will not finish until this afternoon. Some who have finished and are now in their various sleep positions around me are Sarah, Chris, Ian and Cecile. Chris has managed to injure himself not long after I met him and was reduced to a walk after that. Sarah eventually finished an hour and a half in front of me in race time but an hour and half behind me in actual time. It seems the second half of the course has been an extreme lick for everyone, which makes me even more satisfied with my performance.

View from the tent

We have been awakened by a familiar sound and hastily retrieve kit that has been left outside the tent. The rain quickly clears and the sun shines once more. As I look out of the tent window I am treated to a sight more associated with Hawai'i. The beach and ocean are beautiful and all too soon the latter is laden with broken, dirty, sweaty bodies.

Fugees

There follows a prolonged rotation of eat, sleep, bathe, repeat. (Thanks to Fatboy Slim for the paraphrase). In between one of the above I have a wander around camp. There is a pavilion at one corner of the campsite which

offers respite from the sun, which is now blazing. Not only is the pavilion in shade but there is a pleasant breeze blowing through. A number of racers have decided that this is the place to rest and the sight is not too dissimilar to a (very small) refugee camp. I decide that I will send Claire an email and then move my mat over and join them. I manage to get quite a lengthy catch up email done as there is little demand for the laptops for some reason.

As I have been moving around camp my furoshiki shoes have been catching the eye and I have to demonstrate them a number of times. They are pretty cool shoes but I would have thought more people would have been aware of them. Seems I'm more of a fashion icon than I realised!!

The later of the finishers have been arriving throughout the day culminating with Yao Chen or Papa Chen as he is affectionately known to all, not only his 2 sons. He has taken 31 hours to complete the course and, to every one of us, he is a hero. There are others worthy of mention including Gregory who has toughed it out with a bad muscle strain and sprained ankle. He has been supported to the end by Gilles, which demonstrates the camaraderie of this event and the ethos of not leaving a fellow runner on the ground. The fact that they are both French helps a bit I suppose but we all would have done the same

I return to the pavilion and, after taking a couple more photos of the ocean, settle down on top of my

View from the pavilion

Like a baby...

mat and bag for the best sleep in days. I am awakened by the news that 'the treat' is here. G2G alumni are aware exactly what this means. Cans of ice cold fizzy drinks are near. it is the sort of knowledge that gives you the mental fortitude to make it this far in the race. never mind the months of hard training. Never mind the countless pounds, dollars, euros or whatever we have spent to get to the start line. A cold soda is what counts!! As I near the ice box, an uncomfortable emotion starts to come over me. Everyone seems to be drinking Coke and there is not a can of Sprite in sight. I have never liked Coke and am devastated to find that, actually, this is the only option. Well, it's not quite the only option - I could have another bottle of warm water. The Cokes are accompanied by donuts, which I do fancy one of so I take a Coke to wash it down, hoping that it will be too cold to taste. It isn't.

Tent harmony has improved as the week has gone on and we are chatting away quite freely now when we are all together. I take advantage of one of these moments by regaling all about our wedding. It takes my mind off the Coke at least!

Versace look out!

The Fatboy Slim rotation continues and the day disappears all too quickly. I feel I should have an early night but the beach is west facing so it would be criminal not to view the sunset. I wander down to the oceanside in my other style guru item and settle down to wait on the sunset. It is ultimately disappointing as low lying cloud obscures its final demise. I get a couple of pics including a decent panoramic and hope that tomorrow is a better view and that I have completed the stage in order to be able to capture it.

Our beach home

The cyber tent is still sparse of bodies so I decide to send Claire another email before retiring. From G2G memory, this is the last time we will have the opportunity to send messages to loved ones. As I think of the pictures I have taken today, I am conscious that I have taken very few on the course so make the decision to fork out a few more dollars for the official package.

Tomorrow is the final push. There is still a 6th stage but this is no more a hindrance than the Tour de France procession into Paris. Everyone who finishes Stage 5 will finish Stage 6. Plus it is nearly all downhill. What can go wrong?