Well I can honestly say I am glad its over!
After a sleepless night at Everest base camp listening to the avalanches all around and on the Khumbu ice fall/glacier I was up at 4:15am.
The night was so cold that bottles of water inside the tents froze - along with the occupants.
Unfortunately for me I still had bad case of diarrhea and two weeks of this had still left me fairly weak.
I managed a couple of cups of sweetened tea for breakfast at 5.00am while trying to thaw out.
Everest Base Camp, whilst a fairly inhospitable place is in an incredibly awe inspiring setting. I watched a group of porters making there way up the Khumbu Ice fall just minutes after an avalanche had torn thought the same spot and I have an entirely new appreciation for what they do - everything has to be carried by hand from toilet paper to stoves.
The race itself is in an amazing setting and it is hard not to stop and soak up the surroundings.
The first 10km was run through snow and ice in freezing temperatures and from there it is a large succession of climbs and ascents all seeming almost vertical and none easy.
Being so weak on the day I knew i wasn't going to break any records so I set out at what I thought an easy pace and managed to maintain it for the first 3 hours. After that I ran out of energy completely. I couldn't eat, found it hard to take on fluids and really started suffering.
The steepness of the ups and downs really take it out of you and by the 30km mark i had basically no fluids left in my system but continued to have issues and began vomiting on the trail side.
Approx 10 of the last 12km are uphill and in the state I was in it was absolute torture but I made it and many thanks must go to Bill from the USA who stuck with me from the 27km mark right to the finish. Bill is a veteran of over 100 marathons and 15 iron man races.
I managed to crawl over the finish line in 9hrs and 49 mins - the winning time was about 3hrs 40mins - a local of course. Just to prove us westerners can run the first two westerners home came in in about 6hrs 28mins and 6hrs 40mins with the second westerner home (Nathan from England) running his first ever Marathon - Nutter!!!)
All said and done am I glad I came - ABSOLUTELY! The rose tinted glasses are already on and as far as the overall experience goes this still has to be one of the most rewarding things I have done in my life. Just to know that i can run the highest and hardest marathon in the world in the physical condition I was in really makes me proud of the mental strength it took to carry on and finish what i set out to.
Am i considering coming back to see if i an better my time? NOPE - I think right now I am more interested in tasting a good steak, beds with sheets and western styled sit down toilets!
Will publish further details and photos when I get home in about a week.
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