The Atacama Crossing is a footrace covering 250km across the driest dessert on earth and at altitudes of over 4000m. Based in the small bohemian town of San Pedro de Atacama (2400m), surrounded by flamingo covered lakes, salt flats, slot canyons, ancient ruins and the famous (in astrophysics circles anyway) “Valle de la Luna” or Moon Valley which was used by NASA to test the luna rovers due to the terrain being the closest on earth to that of the moons surface. Harsh would be an understatement. Yet, at the same time, incredibly beautiful in its desolation.
I came with no race plan other than to start slow, finish and enjoy the experience of my first stage race.
Day 1 started with an undulating uphill sickener for all those as yet to acclimatise, followed by a dried up pebble canyon adorned with ancient hand paintings. The end of the first marathon length day had us climbing again to the edge of Rio Grande – a stunning spot just above a stream in which we bathed away the dust and sweat. That night at 4000m was cold and with the thin air sleep in our tent of 6 came at a premium. Day 2 started with a short run to the slot canyon which we descended into, then traversed and scrambled along the side wall until submitting to the freezing cold water and running down the middle for some distance. With numb legs I climbed up out of the water and began the ascent to the ancient city where, once up on the ridge I bounded down the steep side a giant sand dune into Valle de la Muerte (or Death Valley). Day 3 arrived and with 2 marathons under our belts we anxiously anticipated our first taste of the dreaded salt flats. Fortunately this initial experience was short and the damage to my trainers was not irreparable as I repeatedly cracked through the jagged salt crust into the soft wet sand below as deep as my thighs at times sapping my strength and causing me to rue my somewhat large frame. It was worth the effort to finish by a stunning salt lake inhabiting by pink flamingos with its perfectly still surface reflecting volcano’s in the distance. Day 4 was the longest and most painful marathon of my life, taking over 7 hrs most of which involved stumbling through more of the tortuous salt flat in the intense heat, compounded by running dry from water and being generally exhausted!
Incredibly, at this point I was in 4th place overall and I began to think I could get on the podium. In front of me were Rob (NZ), Jon (UK) and Ben (US) was in my sights. I decided to make my move on the long (80km) day and went out hard, pushing the pace from the front. Only Jon kept up but after the first checkpoint he pushed on and I was alone for most of the day. This 50 mile effort took in more of every geological aspect and more - desert, dunes, dry river bed valleys, windy passes and culminated in a night crossing of Valle de la Luna arriving in darkness at the final camp. Just as I was making the final effort to climb through the valley I caught Jon who was struggling badly. I asked if there was anything I could do but he told me to carry on and take the stage. This made me feel even stronger and I sped up to cross the finish line first in a little over 10hrs. I stayed up for a while to watch other racers finish and then got my head down for some well earned rest.
When I woke I learnt that I had overtaken Ben and clinched 3rd place with a total time of around 33hrs. I was ecstatic - aching, blistered and totally happy.
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