Bataan Memorial Death March - Run

So the real challenge in this event was keeping the feet healthy. Mine were fine for the first 3-4 miles, but deteriorated from there. I did some maintenance with duck tape at mile 6. This held them together up the hill. But by mile 16 there were enough blisters that I didn't dare take my boots, lest I have to cover the whole foot with duck tape.

The down hill section up to mile 20 did little to help the feet. But we stopped at every water station, set the packs down, and cooled our heals for a few minutes. So I was still able to maintain a fairly normal stride into the sand pit. The sand pit changed that, and by the end of it, I had settled into what was becoming a fairly standard Bataan shuffle.

Nutrition for the whole event was amazing. I really had no plan, and just took what it seemed I needed. This usually amounted to lots of Gatorade, oranges and bananas, supplemented by Ibuprofen and Thermosalts every hour or so.

Finish line weight of my pack was 50lbs. Dropped my rice and beans in the food bank box, and began the full scale gimping to cheeseburger and beer. With the endorphins gone, the feet really started screaming. Once the boots were finally pried off, my feet were every bit as gruesome as I thought they would be, with a couple blisters that in spots I hadn't felt as the inside of my feet had gone completely numb.

There is so much else to talk about, all adding up to make this event an awesome struggle. But in the end, it was the survivors of the actual Bataan Death March that saw us off in the morning that gave me the inspiration to continue on through the hardest spots.

Boots 1/2 size bigger.

Gimp to food and the car. Ride back to the cabin, picking up BBQ dinner on the way. Slept very poorly as my whole body was tender laying down.


Feet


Two comments: Water stations could have been better stocked with things such as flat coke, gels, chicken broth, chips, endurolytes. Instead, with one exception, aid stations had water, gatorade, bananas, and oranges, (There were several medical tents along the way, but I was afraid of going in and not coming back out.)

Second, no finishers medal. The Bataan Survivor seal is a very striking image and would have made an excellent medal.