I again did not sleep well and I can barely eat or drink. My body seems to be confused. Just the thought of power bars or water makes me choke. I almost threw up brushing my teeth. I forced 2 cups of tea and some scrambled eggs into my body and called it a breakfast. I feel like sh*t! Big time.

Today is only 15km but again with an extreme incline. We are finishing at the Tiger’s Nest, probably the most famous monastery in Bhutan. I’m not going to miss this.

My plan is to run my own race, pace well and buy junk food wherever available. I’m seeing iced tea, potato chips and again spaghetti Bolognese in front of me. (Heidi, get your recipe ready!)

My plan works well. It catch up with Simon and leave him behind and also with Frank and Louise, who both were started 30min early.

Frank has just finished a break and is about to leave when I arrive and he can see my urge for energy. This guy, a fellow from Houston, has the biggest heart ever! He pulls his bag open and hands me an ice cold can of Lipton ice tea! Ice cold! You know how good that tastes after 11km through rough terrain. Frank, I will love you forever, man.

Another four absolutely brutal kilometers are ahead of me before I can call this race finished. The sun does a good job again, my body is thirsty but not for water. There is a slight sour taste at the back of my throat and that helps tremendously. I will make sure that taste stays.

Finally, 300 more meters. I can see it but no! I need to get down, deep down before I can get up again. No! I can’t do this anymore. I have tears in my eyes. Here I’m, crying again.

I can see Charlotte only 30 meters in front of me and she too is crying. Well, if it helps. I catch up with her and we keep pushing one another meter by meter until … we reach the finish!

We come in hand in hand. The feeling is hard to describe, overwhelming. I manage to not cry, although it probably would have felt good.

16,4km in 4:04h.

This is the end and it is a beginning.

More to come …