Race complete!!

Job done!

Superb day today and hardest day of the race for me. We all slept in a 'work in progress' lodge at Trout Rock which was great and certainly better than a tent on the ice (don't get me wrong, the tents were amazing as you'll see in the photos to follow). Breakfast was in the main lodge and was plentiful, lots of toast, jam, cheese, coffee and porridge.

Start as always at 9am with just myself and Andy in the foot race wearing snow shoes. Bright clear day, -20C at the start with a 20mph wind. Made a good start chasing the leading girls and overtaking for a while as I had better traction with the snow shoes. Jen and Denice soon overtook me. My knees began to complain 10k in to this 39km (24mile) final leg. From this point in I slowed but was still able to run.

The final 10km involved crossing a couple of smaller lakes then crossing a hilly few km before the final 4km back on the Great Slave Lake up to Matrix Village. (the lake is the worlds 9th largest).

The final stretch on the lake was tough going as the knee became worse but helped by a tail wind and knowing that the end was in sight. As loose snow blew in small drifts across the lake it felt like a moonscape. The only person I saw on this stretch was Josh Capple who blasted in on a snowmobile to take some pictures then quickly disappeared.

Amazing feeling crossing the line to applause from a small group of well wishes, a handful of photographers and a representative from BHP Billington, the main sponsor. Scott and his team were on hand as always and presented me with the finishers crystal.

I finished in 6hr17min, after 38hr18min of racing I'm really pleased to finish in 3rd place.

A superb and unique race with support and guidance from the organising and safety teams which is second to none. Real contrasting trails and terrain from still and serene portages and trails through the snow clad trees to windswept desert like open lakes with hard packed snow underfoot. The feel of the 6 day race changes each day from the first where there are three races going on at the same time through to day 4 onwards where only the six day racers remain.

A fantastic experience and an amazing adventure. More to follow with photos over the coming days.

Huge thanks to Scott and the team.