Today the runners set out across the spectacular Borana Wildlife Conservancy. 

Borana is immense,  sprawling across 32000 acres of arid grassland dotted with large round hills. This is an ideal habitat for the black rhinos which were introduced to the area for the first time in 50 years back in 2013, some of which were spotted by a few very lucky runners up in the front of the pack!

The runners departed basecamp in three waves this morning, split up by yesterdays finishing order to ensure everyone finished in the light. 

The runners began the day with a steep climb up from the Ngarendare river up onto the observation point and checkpoint one, where a specatcular view of Mount Kenya awaited. The thin air had them gasping for breath and the steadily rising temperatujre proved troublesome for some. 

They continued on across the foothills, whcih as many found, are steep, technical and surprisingly taxing due to the lower oxygen content of the air here at 2000m above sea level. 

After this climb they wound their way across wise open plains teeming with Zebra, Warthog and Impala to checkpoint two and checkpoint three.

The sun-baked scrub lands we were expecting have been replaced by lush grassland due to unseasonable rain, creating a beautiful verdant lanscape. 

Tonight they’ll sleep at a camp situated on a huge open grass plain with great views of the stage’s hills. The rangers will be posted in the hills keeping watch and we’ll keep a fire burning throughout the night to warm the runners and to deter some of this areas larger inhabitants.