MDS Part 1 - Getting to the start line

Well the adventure is over and I'm sat in my lounge with 1) a comfy chair & 2) access to water and
food whenever I like. Quite a difference from this time last week when I was tackling the long
81km stage in 45 degree heat....

Flying out from Gatwick on Friday was a great way to break those pre race nerves and chatting with
my tent buddies was a great way to start. My tent mates Marcus Escott, Tom Parry, Emma
Waterfall, Alfie PearceHiggins and Abby Gouch had been arranged some time ago. There was panic buying of food in order to stock up our fat stores and we even wolfed down the in flight meal with a gusto. When we landed in Morocco it was almost comedic, our luggage was piled on the tarmac and the terminal was no
bigger than a small toilet block. We were treated well and soon ushered out of the heat, onto our
coach and given a packed lunch, this again was inhaled as we headed off into the abyss.

Some time later we drifted off the dusty road, we stopped for a moment and pretty much every
male on the 6 coaches emptied their bladders in unison, if it wasn't so hilarious I would have loved
the view as the evening sun set. It was here while chilling that I bumped into Tim Evans who I
met at the Meon Valley Plod some months previous. We were still one short for our tent and Tim agreed to
join us. We then headed a few miles down a very rough sand path and arrived at our bivouac for
the next 2 nights. Alfie and I dashed ahead, keen to secure a tent and we found 109 empty. Rob
Leonard had been given the 2nd flight so he arrived some time later making tent 109 complete :-)
For the 2 nights before the race starts you are fed by the bivouac team which was great, cous
cous, chicken, bread, that kind of stuff. We had all packed extra goodies too so we carb loaded and
evaluated what we would need for the week ahead. Spending 2 nights at the bivouac also gave
everyone a chance to test their equipment, sleeping bag, mat etc while getting the overall pack
weight as light as possible.

The Saturday was pretty much spent with final preparations and queueing. We had briefings, our
kit checked, race numbers and flares allocated etc. My final pack weight was around 7.5 kilo
including all compulsory items. One final meal and it was early to bed ... It all starts for real in the morning .......