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mechanical prospector told me to hang on, he'd be finished in just a
minute! A picture caught my eye with the beautifully scripted words
'When life gets too hard to stand . . . kneel.' It resonated. It made me
think how many times on the road I haven't known if I can continue
but then have said a prayer and pushed on.
Time off at the cowboy store apart, today was typical of this
stage of the run. I started at 4.30 am and ran 35 kilometres. Then I
had a break in the van for 30 minutes to get out of the blazing sun
and try to reduce the heat in my body's core. I was burning up, my
face was beetroot-red and I had the shakes. At over 40 degrees and
in my state of fatigue, sweating is not enough to reduce core tem-
perature. If the body overheats, serious damage to the brain and
vital organs can result. I cooled down by sitting in the full blast of a
fan, poured cold water on my head and put my feet in a bucket of
ice. I had some tea and toast and honey. I ran for another 25 kilo-
metres, then broke for lunch. After I'd eaten I ran on until I finished
my 85 kilometres for the day. I'm finding the stretch between 60
and 70 kilometres particularly hard. It drags on and feels like
