questioned my sanity: a 44-year-old woman running 250K through the Kalahari Desert with a piece of rolled-up cardboard on her back somehow seemed a bit crazy at times, but I was obviously in excellent, like-minded company.

Only 24K to go! The run was relatively easy except for the trail sections, which had lots of small, sharp rocks that seemed to dig into my blisters, causing me to sound like a bit of a sailor at times. Right toward the very end, I took a minor wrong turn through some reeds and had to backtrack again, losing more time, but it was not serious and then the end was in sight. What a relief! What a great feeling of accomplishment!

Thad covered 252K in the Kalahari Desert. This was the first time I had ever attempted anything like this, but it won’t be the last. My total running time was 45:18:33. I was the fourth woman and 23rd runner overall.

Running an extreme marathon is a bit like natural childbirth: agonizing at times, but once it’s over and you’re holding the baby, it’s the best feeling in the world. The highlight of the experience for me was meeting the most incredible, humble, and wonderful people. The camaraderie was indescribable. When you’re with other people for seven days on foot in the desert under trying circumstances, you get to know a very special side of them. The crew from Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon was also exceptional, many of whom were volunteers; it was often anything but an easy job. Race director Nadia was dubbed “the mother of

Courtesy of Heather Howells

The author has a postrace visit with the kids at HOKISA.

KAEM” and had everyone’s well-being at heart. Simon, the third race director, who filmed the event, kept me laughing with his humor and witty banter. Estienne and I bonded at the end, and he requested my head lei of flowers that I had brought with me to wear at the finish. We were all weighed, and I had lost 6.6 pounds in the seven days—not necessarily a weight-loss program I would recommend to everyone.

After festivities and an awards ceremony, I headed off to Cape Town for a couple days to visit HOKISA, the orphanage for which I had been fund-raising. People at the orphanage had also been tracking my progress through the KAEM website, along with my friends, family, and coworkers. It was a fabulous feeling to arrive at HOKISA in the township of Masiphumelele and have the kids run up to me saying, “You ran for us. Show us your muscles.” They inspected my beautiful glass leopard finisher’s trophy, and we spent time together and took photos. I felt like a bear needing to retreat into a cave to process everything I had been through.

Now back home, my blisters have healed and I’m searching online to see which extreme event I can sign up for next…

I would like to extend my thanks to my family, friends, and coworkers who very generously donated toward my fund-raising effort. I managed to raise $11,743

for HOKISA: a huge thank you to everyone who supported me. Oe