MDS Day 3, 38k of trundling and bumbling

Hello again - Our friend Dave (the husband of the Allison mentioned in Dusty's message) was diligent and lucky enough to catch Dusty coming over the finish line of today's stage. He graciously captured a few screen shots and sent them to me. Those of you that have seen Dusty finish a race before know that she always does a cartwheel over the finish line. Dave just missed getting a shot of the actual cartwheel, but in the first picture he did get, you can see her prepping for it. Two of the screen shots are below and then Dusty's note for the day.

Another beautiful day! It got warm today but the wind was blowing so it was bearable. I ran well today and actually ran quite a bit. My stomach stayed good. We started the day running through a village. Some children grabbed my hands and started running with me! It was like something out of a movie. There's a unbelievable amount of sand and dunes here. It's more beautiful than I can describe. This race is organized incredibly well. There are photographers and helicopters everywhere, making back of the pack people like me feel like an absolute Super Star (supasta for Allison). I feel very good,not too sore and have a good appetite. Tomorrow is 88k or 82k or something that equals 53 miles. I anticipate it taking me about 20 hours.


Thanks for the emails!!!!!! I nearly cried when they finally brought them this morning!!
Dusty

MDS Day 2

Hi All (Paul again) - If you have been tracking Dusty on the MDS web site you know that it took her about 18 minutes longer to finish today than yesterday and this stage was 5K longer. I have been trying to catch her on the finish line web cam, but with over 900 participants and not really knowing what time they start so that I can judge, it is pretty hard. As you will read below, she is in very good spirits and doing well. I am so very proud. She requests emails from the MDS site so that she can be "popular" (I am sure that she is regardless). Here is the direct link to the email a competitor site if you would like to send her some encouraging words (and help her in the popularity contest of course). They print them and deliver them to the participants each day.
http://www.darbaroud.com/uk/html/mds/general/uk_26mds_write-competitor.php 

From Dusty:
Hi!!


Once again, wow! So beautiful here. We started out today listening to AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" with huge sand storm that lasted the entire day. It stayed cool and overcast but now I have sand lodged in every body part. I was not sore this morning at the start of 38 k but suspect I will be tomorrow morning for Day 3's 38 k. I had a nice day hiking with Ed. I ran down every sand dune that was steep. My stomach was perfect today probably because of the lower temps, better hydration and slower pace than yesterday. The dunes were pretty minimal. Toward the end, I saw an entire heard of camels. It was amazing. Tomorrow will be tougher than today. I hope I get more sleep tonight than last night. My ankle doesn't hurt when I'm walking or running but sleeping,it hurts badly.

Please email me, we have a popularity contest and I'm losing by a mile.
 
Dusty :)

Hello all (this is Paul). I have not spoken to Dusty since she left on Tuesday. She emailed me briefly on Thursday, basically to tell me that she arrived. I know that Dusty can more than take care of herself, but we have not been out of touch for more than a day since we met 9 hears ago. I am the worrier of this pair. I have been checking for her email obsessively. I finally received the below a short while ago. As usual, I worry for no reason. Our girl is doing great and seems to be thrilled with the experience. Here is her note:

Wow!!!!! This has been absolutely amazing!!! Thursday was a 5 hour bus ride through Morocco to the initial bivouac. The food and "production" have been incredible, Music, Wine, beer, tables.

Today we had our first day of the race!!!!!!!!!!! It was 33 k, stunningly beautiful and VERY hard. Of course I was tremendously nauseous, 30 minutes after finishing,I was fine. We did 13 k through huge dunes. There were clouds so temps only hit 90 or so. I took 8 hours to finish today, the winner 3. I'm still very happy, it was amazing. Helicopters flying overhead, filming and waving cheerful volunteers calling me Justine. Tomorrow 38k. 

Dusty