Trans 333 2004 Part 2

Ray Zahab writes:

The first 66 km's were hot, deep and sand-stormy. I
did my best to stay with the leaders who were all from
France plus one amazing Italian runner named Max.
These guys were amazing. Everybody seemed to really
know their stuff and all were experienced desert
racers so I learned as much as I could from them. They
referred to me as "Canadien" for the remainder fo the
race and it became my nickname !

MORE...

The vastness of the Tenere desert was different then
the Sahara. There is a constant strong wind and sand
blows like blowing snow here. It wore the lamination
off of my sunglasses ! My strategy was to try and run
the first 160 km in around 24 hours. The heat and sand
was making that goal tough but I think I was in around
27 hours. I would run as far as I could and then whip
my bivy sac out of my pack, crash for 10 minutes and
then carry on. Running for hours on your own in the
desert you see cool stuff. I ran through herds of
camels, saw armed men on trucks coming from Libya (I
assume)driving straight through the middle of nowhere
!
After running approx. 230 km's it was apparent I was
in second place ! I couldn't believe it ! My new
Italian friend Max who was 15th at Marathon Des Sables
was ahead of me but had to drop out because of a knee
injury. He came back in a landrover to tell me my
position. The cp support staff in this race were
amazing. We would come in and they would immediately
offer us food, water and our dropbags. Cp's were
always where they said they would be to the meter and
the staff were so-o-o friendly. I love you Marie !
Without them this race would be impossible. I
maintained my 2nd place until the last cp at km no.
310. As I was about to leave Theo, the French runner
who won last years edition was coming into the cp. I
asked if he would like to run together to the finish
and he agreed so I waited while he grabbed a bite and
off we went. With about 1.5 km's to go we got
seperated and ended up at the finish 12 minutes apart.
I was still so happy to finish third among these
awesome runners! This was a toughy. Much different
than the Marathon Des Sables. I guess because all the
miles are done at once. The sand was also tougher to
run in. I made lots of new friends in this race that I
hope to keep contact with and hope to see at the
Marathon Des Sables in 2005. Thanks Tim and "Dragon of
Leeds" for helping me to get home.

Cheers For Now !!
Ray Zahab
www.ecofitadventures.com

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