The race finally began and it began beautifully, although of course not without its drama.

We went up to that dismal hilltop at 8am and the condition was no better than last night. Despite the schedule being so tight, Mary decided after we got there that it would not work, so we switched to a little village on the way up. In record time, we battled the numbing cold, picked everything up and headed over to the village. To Mary’s credit, the village had always been planned as the alternative site and we had a good relationship with the village chief. He even allowed us to start the race at their little church by the hillside. We could not have hoped for anything better.

So on this glorious Sunday, at the ring of the church bell, 132 competitors from all over the world started off on probably their most physically challenging seven days to date. The start could not have been better planned, despite the last minute changes, and it was such a beautiful sight. Hope everyone will finish their first day safely and have some fun along the way.

One of the most interesting team of competitors is the Save the Rhino team from the UK. They have run on numerous marathons in a rhino suit to raise awareness of the endangered animal but this is the first time they have participated in a racingtheplanet event. Running on this course is tough enough and I just can’t imagine anyone would want to run in a rhino costume in this blazing desert heat. I have the utmost respect for these lads and it certainly raised my awareness of their cause. Very anxious to see they come back safely tonight.

Going mostly downhill but via many creek crossings, many runners thought the course was quite tough. First person comes in at 2:24pm, only about 4 hours after starting. As I am typing this at the finish line at 5:15pm, 56 very fit racers have already come in. It’s going to be a long night I think, and the temperature is falling very quickly. Despite this, tonight’s camp is next to an Inca ruin and the sight is quite amazing as the sun slowly comes down, quite unimaginable for me even from only a week ago, in the modern skyscraper forest of Canary Wharf.