Day Seven – The Pyramid Sprint

Day Seven – the Pyramid Sprint (the 5.2km)
Stage 6 on 1 November - 5.2 km


We arrived in Cairo at 11am and re-donned our packs (much lighter now) for the last leg of the desert race. The final sprint up to the finish line was so quickly over it seemed incongruous to the effort of the previous five days and a bit anti-climactic with everyone’s thoughts on the shower at the hotel.


The bulk of the leaders, minus the phenomenal Ryan Sands went off course and ran an extra couple of kilometers. That fiasco aside, the course up to the pyramids was filled with trash and bad smells. (For one of the biggest tourist destinations on the planet, I was shocked that the government did nothing to clean it up.)



The medals were presented as we crossed the finish line, but it was the beer and pizza awaiting us that got us up that last embankment.







Here are my final stats:

Place Name Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 7 Overall
56/157 Liptak Peter N. 05:13:24 05:35:47 06:19:00 06:09:20 20:12:05 00:32:50 44:02:26


And those of my Korean compatriots:




Back at the Movenpick, there was more trouble. The hotel decided to sell our rooms (which had been reserved and paid for a year in advance) to members of a Saudi Prince’s party. So they summarily put us three to a room and the staff of Racing the Planet, were nowhere to be found, leaving us to fend for ourselves. Most competitors acquiesced and quickly found roommates. After finding the room, we realized that there was only one bed, to which they would add a cot. Not feeling particularly amenable with the situation, I waited with others for a free room and let the other two get settled. A few drinks and a few hours later, I continued to get the run around and finally dove in the pool. In the end, I had a room with one of the volunteers.

Man, what a difference a shower and a shave make! Do I clean up well, or what?



In the aftermath, we began the revelry, which was to last well into the night. The final surprise came only moments before goodbyes, something ended and something had begun. Nothing ventured, nothing won!