Stage 3

by Ian | Mar 9, 2011 | Atacama, Team HSX

The guys remain in 23rd after another 7 hour day. The distance and the climate seem to be taking their toll on the field, as it looks like around 17 people have pulled out already.

We’ve had another good day. Not quite as strong during the race as stages 1 and 2, but we all felt pretty good at the end so can hopefully keep up the pace tomorrow. Feet and legs are in reasonable shape although my rucksack straps are starting to take their toll on my shoulders.

A Japanese film crew are filming a documentary about the race, and allegedly we have a Japanese celebrity taking part although so far we’ve failed to establish who it is or what they’re famous for. Hiroshi (or anyone with Google and a lot of time!): can you shed any light on this?

Hope all is going well for those in Barcelona. 3 days in, I can confirm that this is a piece of piss compared to winter testing. The tent is only marginally less comfortable than the Granollers, and I’m getting 9, yes NINE, hours of sleep!

For the benefit of Tom and everyone else from HSX, we agree that this isn’t as hard as advanced training!

I hope you’re all enjoying the photos and videos on the race website. We can’t see them from here, but I’ve just had a look over the shoulder of  the event photographer and his shots look stunning. I think they give a pretty good  impression of the terrain and scenery we’ve been running through.

So, onwards to the infamous salt flats of stage 4…

Stage 2

by Ian | Mar 8, 2011 | Atacama, Team HSX

A long second day, taking the guys over 7 hours to complete around 41km – but teamHSX are the top placed team! Will their competitive edge get the better on them and tempt them to push too hard? Let’s just hope their steady approach continues to work for them.

We’ve now ticked off the 41.8km of stage 2. It seemed much harder going than yesterday, but looking at our finishing position it seems to have been a similar story for everyone. Amazingly, we’re still the first placed team, although this really isn’t part of our game plan: we’re not here to win!

We’ve had another delightful freeze dried dinner. Tonight it was 800kcal of chicken korma followed by a well-earned cup of tea while watching the spectacular sunset. Once that’s disappeared we’ll no doubt be treated to another awesome view of the stars.

Thank you very much to Alex for his concise summary of Licancabur volcano, and thank you to everyone else who has sent us messages of support. We really do appreciate it.

Tomorrow it’s another 40km. Bring it on!

If you’d like to drop the team a message, you can do so here. I’m sure it will give them a big boost, just as tiredness starts to kick in and the finish line still seems a long way to go.

Stage 1

by Ian | Mar 6, 2011 | Atacama, Team HSX

teamHSX seem to have had a great start, sitting in 25th place. 5h11min. Keep it steady guys

Latest Race Results Here

Photos from http://www.4deserts.com/

Race Day

by Ian | Mar 6, 2011 | Atacama, Team HSX

TeamHSX are making the final preparations for race day! Join me in wishing Alan, Chris and Richard the best of luck for the next week and hope that they all survive the dessert to complete the Atacama Challenge! Attached are some photos I found of the 4dessert website! Please encourage everyone you know to sponsor their challenge through the Just Giving site.