Dreams Come Alive

It’s rather uncanny how the number ‘6′ featured so heavily in my Sahara adventure.

26 December – my birthday
36 – my age when I set off on the race
6 – the number of stages in the Sahara Race
66 – my race bib number
86 – my finishing position
126 – the number of competitors
6 – the final number of people in my tent
36 – the finishing position of a tent mate, Micheal
56 – the finishing position of another tent mate, Charl
65 – the finishing positon of yet another tent mate, Steve

And all too soon, the adventure is complete.

A single blog entry will never do justice to the marvellous experience that I have just gone through. That is why it’s taken me 5 full days to compile my race report. The difficulty lies in determining what to leave out – so much I have to say and share; and my mind is a whirlwind of introspection and contemplation.

What is absolutely essential though, is a shout-out to all the wonderful people who wrote on my facebook wall and sent me email messages of encouragement. It absolutely lifts my spirits to read and re-read them and gives me joy that so many others are along for the ride. You people are tremendous!!

Out on the course, it sometimes feels as if the next checkpoint will never materialise, the mind numbing trek seemingly endless. And yet when we sit around the campfire reviewing the day’s events, we struggle to recall even the different types of terrain and landscapes that we had just trudged through.

And as I sit and type these words onto my computer, the happenings of the weeklong footrace are fast becoming hazy. And yet I know that deep down inside, in the depths of my subconscious and in my heart, the entire experience lives on forever.

Over the next weeks I will blog about those nuggets of experiences. In the meantime I am busy making plans for the what’s next?

For those who would like to read my race report, do contact me at thaddeus@dreamscomealive.com and I will email you a copy.