Last Desert Race, Day Five – Deception Island Round 2

(first published on the Last Desert website on 9 November 2014)

Greetings from the Plancius

The Last Desert Race 2014 is something of the past. We returned to Deception Island (venue of stage 1), although in a different location for the 5th and final stage, due to extreme weather conditions in the Antarctic. We had to run a 2.8 km course for just over 4 hours and I was on fire today! We had to run through soft snow and strong winds throughout the stage, but it was most probably my best desert race stage ever and I completed 10 laps for a 6th or 7th position on the day and a 15th position overall for the race. Fantastic day, very emotional, and very grateful that I had the opportunity to participate in this race.

Antarctica is unique and beautiful in so many ways, and I will treasure this experience forever.

Thank you for all the support before and during the race. Thank you to my family for giving me the time and opportunity to prepare and participate in this race. Thank you to GNC, Colombia Sportswear and Enerlogy for supporting my participation in the race. And finally, thank you to Greenpeace Africa for giving me the opportunity to support your great work through my participation in this race. I hope to continue supporting the work of Greenpeace Africa with my future desert running adventures.

Having done the Sahara Race, Gobi March and Antarctica races, I now only need to complete the Atacama Crossing in Chile to join the 4 Deserts Club – see you in October 2015 (just don’t tell my wife or boss!).

Running in Antarctica has been an amazing experience, and I look forward to sharing my stories with friends and colleagues in the next few weeks.

Please continue supporting my fundraising campaign for a Greenpeace Africa solar street lighting project in Diepsloot – http://www.greenpeace.org/africa – and encourage others to do the same.

Signing off from Antarctica. See you back in sunny South Africa.

Best wishes

David

PS. Dalene, Armand and Anroux – miss you lots, see you soon!!!