Jason  Bulley (D792-UK)

It’s about 10am on the second day of the long heat (82 km long). Competitors who’ve already arrived on the bivouac try to recover: sleep, foot, medical care.

Jason Bulley (792-UK) is alone in tent 96 and he clearly needs to talk:

“This was the toughest day. I’ve never felt so alone in my life, I’ve never experienced so much pain either.
Coming from the UK, it is impossible to train for the heat. For the distance, yes; but the heat… My whole body ached. Things got easier after sun set, even if I found it difficult to see the ground with my head torch. How not to look at the stars? I looked up twice and each time I fell over. I thought about my two daughters a lot that night.
When I think we do all we can to lighten our ruck-sacks and there’s me, carrying this!”

He shows me proudly a Union Jack beach bucket and shovel, with which he’ll be building a sand castle once he’s crossed the finish line.
“On the second day, at the top of the jebel, I sat down: I thought it was over for me. I even mentally drafted the apologies email I was going to send all the people who supported me. The question was:  is it better to walk back to CP 3 or to go forward and collapse at CP 4? The idea of retracing my steps was simply unbearable, so I completed the stage. To think of the mental journey between then and yesterday, coming in at 3am from the long stage… I would never have thought it were possible!

On the track, everybody is extremely supportive of each other, but the truth of this race is that it’s a journey you do on your own, overwhelmed by your own emotions. You leave people to run at your own pace, and you’re alone with yourself. Last night, I realized I was incredibly lucky: there are so many beautiful people in my life… Maybe I should tell them when I get back…”

And he swiftly brushes a tear away.

 “I run in support of breast cancer research and I’ve been thinking a lot of all my friends who had to fight it. Some won, others didn’t. What makes me angry is that even when things turn out for the best, from the second you get the news, your life turns upside down; no-one comes through totally unscathed.”

But the desert hasn’t got the better of Jason’s sense of humour:
“I think I’ll stay in my bath next time to raise money!”