What was the race or running event?

Expedition Africa - Namibia - A 6 Day non-stop race through the Namib Desert that included sea kayaking, mountain biking, and of course some running/trekking all while navigating the course with just a map and compass and traveling with a 4 person team.

How did the day go in general?

Our team did a great job of managing ourselves, managing the environment, particularly the heat, and getting the most out of what we had. We ran into a variety of challenges, with ourselves, the course and equipment, but we were able to overcome them and make it to the finish in good spirits and happy with our effort.

What went well?

This was my first time racing anything close to this length, and my first time racing with any of the others on my team, but they are all much more experienced. We had a great time and worked really well together to get the most out of each other. Spending 5 days within 20 meters of each other, making decisions together, and getting sleep deprived can be a high stress environment, but for us it was a great bonding experience.

What did not go so well?

There were a variety of expected problems - sleep deprivation, hanger, heat, lack of water. But in the end we were able to manage and deal with all of them and keep racing.

How did you prepare for the event? Anything you would do differently in training?

I did quite a bit of running and biking with a pretty heavy pack on. This was a big help for those stages where we had to carry 5+L of water at the start, and I was able to help out my teammates and take some of their extra weight on a few occasions. I think I was well prepared, but now looking forward to getting back to running a little faster.

Any notable moments?

I wrote a longer race report here that can be linked if appropriate: https://www.rootstockracing.com/team-blog/expedition-africa-report-by-matt-cymanski

Some of the fun times were paddling through a seal colony, learning about all the different types of sand and which are most efficient to travel across, sleeping in the sand under the Milky Way, getting so much food at a gas station they just opened a tab, and a leopard encounter.