An Cosantóir

The Long March 30 | by Capt John Murphy (108 IrishFinn Bn) W ith 250km of Icelandic wilderness lying before us, Capt Rory Arnott (12 Inf Bn), a shivering Heather Irvine (journalist with the Sunday Times, co-editor of Outsider magazine, and former fashion model) and I stood together in the freezing wind and rain. We had met Heather only a handful of times and now, here we were representing Ireland as a team in a world-renowned international endurance race. None of us was sure how this would turn out. 'Racing The Planet: Iceland 2013' would turn out to be a tough footslog, with 278 competitors beginning the race and only 234 crossing the finish line into the Blue Lagoon. The race was from Sunday 4th to Saturday 10th of August. This is the mildest weather of the Icelandic year and daylight lasts for up to 21 hours, making sleep feel unnatural for most competitors. The race format itself is the same as that of the infamous 'Marathon de Sables', with competitors covering ultra-marathon distances over six stages to cover the 250km course. Temperatures were much different, however, and reached as low as -2º C at night inside the campsite tents. Due to the high costs involved we sought sponsorship from several organisations, and 'Bold Puppy', an Irish-based film and TV production company, were delighted to come onboard. As well as individual runners, we were one of five teams from five different countries that would start the event. We also had the disadvantage of having only three members, meaning we would have no redundancy if one of us had to withdraw from the race through injury, as the rules state that three members of the team must complete the entire course, staying never more than 100m apart or they would be disqualified for the team category of the event. Most racers agree that racing as a team is mentally tougher than as an individual, as during your weak moments you need to push on harder and during your strong moments you may have to go slower. As it turned out, the race for the teams ended up being closer than the individual for four solid days with team 'Bold Puppy' (us) playing cat-and-mouse with the Chinese team 'CEIBS'. Stage 1: The race kicked off at the Kerlingarfjoll mountain range amidst high winds and a temperature of just 1ºC. The first stage began between two glaciers and lasted 44.9km. A bitterly cold wind made this stage very difficult for many racers and it was a tight race all day with CEIBS crossing the finish line 16mins 41s before 'Bold Puppy' and Guatemalan team 'Hombres de Maiz' finishing 5mins later. Stage 2: 'Langjokull' (meaning 'long glacier' in Icelandic) brought yet more unrelenting weather conditions as the competitors faced hills and rocky terrain while being swept by the incessant winds. This stage of the race treated competitors to a breath-taking view of a glacial waterfall back-dropped with icy glacier. During this 47km stage CEIBS and ourselves were again neck-andneck, fighting through the aches and pains. In the end we crossed the finish line just a few minutes ahead of them. By the end of stage 2 the number of competitors was down from 278 to 258. Stage 3: 'The Black Sand Desert' saw weather conditions improve greatly. This 43.5km stage started on a dirt path that wound through lava fields where Icelandic folklore says elves and trolls originated. The landscape became increasingly surreal as the battle between the Irish and Chinese teams raged on, with each taking the lead for periods. Although we managed to finish ahead, Heather was suffering from a seriously cut-up and blistered foot. Most competitors including the An Cosantóir October 2013 www.dfmagazine.ie entire Irish team were now carrying injuries: throbbing knees, swollen ankles, blisters and painful Achilles tendons were the norm at this point due to the harsh and hard rocky landscape, which was more suited to boots than trail runners. Stage 4: Through The Lava Tube, began with a 2km sprint to a single-file section winding underground through a 400m lava tube. As the Irish and Chinese teams emerged outside together we were battling hard, overtaking and then being passed again and again for the next 25km. It was a battle of wits that mentally pushed both teams. Then we hit a hilly section where we finally took the lead and held it. We passed through Olkellduhals, a geothermal hotspot where locals had boiled eggs in the hot springs, as is Icelandic tradition. This 40.2km stage saw us establish a two-hour lead in the team section of the race. The Chinese team had hit the wall at the hilly section and two of them were badly injured after four days of hard racing. Heather having what she described as a "shark bite" on one of her heels was also badly hurting but ran through the pain to finish the stage. Camp 5 was a welcome sight to the competitors and was pitched beside an icy cold river. Rory and I took advantage of this and used it as an ice bath to reduce our swollen limbs. Heather's now infected foot was tended again by the medical team. Stage 5: Competitors awoke to cold and wet conditions on the morning of the gruelling 64km penultimate stage, aptly-named 'The Long March'. The route took the 234 remaining competitors through beach terrain and lava cliffs in unyielding rain and high winds. Heather pushed herself beyond any concept of a normal pain barrier and we secured another win, crossing the finish line after 9hrs 25min. The Chinese team suffering incredible pain but working as a solid unit crossed the finish line some 8hrs later. Just as the race appeared to be in the bag with 10km to go, medical staff pulled Heather aside as her foot infection was spreading up her leg. As already mentioned we had to finish with all three people or the team would be disqualified. However, Heather responded well to the antibiotics the doctors gave her and her signs of recovery the next morning were such that the race doctor gave the go-ahead for the team to continue in the race. Stage 6: 'The Final Footsteps' was a short stage to the Blue Lagoon with everyone giving it their best for the promise of a hot shower and real food: a week of freeze-dried dehydrated meals is much worse than army-issue ration packs. We completed this 10km stage in 54min, solidifying our victory in the team division. Our overall time was 34hrs 50min 11s placing us all joint-43rd as individuals and placing Heather as the winner of the under-29 female category also. The Guatemalan team came in second, despite being the pre-race favourites, having previously won the Atacama Crossing 250km race. The finish line landed us at the stunning Blue Lagoon. The natural, geothermal, mineral rich spa was full to the brim with RacingThePlanet competitors by the afternoon and was the perfect end to the indescribably painful but utterly thrilling race across the wonderful island of Iceland.

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