03.03.08 - Message from Joe to his family.

Could you pass this on to the email list etc. It explains what happened etc.

I've had to quit the race. On the first evening of the race, after only 4 hours of racing I twisted my knee when my left foot punched through the snow surface and I landed awkwardly on a tree branch buried in the deep snow. There was a bit of a pop and my knee twisted as I fell.

I bivied out that night and rested for 8 hours, took lots of ibroprofen and iced it. The next day I decided to crack on to make ground up. There was some swelling (not too much) and quite a bit of pain. This affected my speed and also made me rest a lot at the checkpoints, hoping that it would heal and I could continue.

After 145 miles walking with the injury it got a lot worse. I was on Rainy Pass (a mountain pass) alone in -48c wind-chill when my knee popped again. In the rush to get up, assess the damage and try to continue I lost one mitt. I was without this mitt for 15 mins (it was blow about 150 yards and snagged on something) in this time, I used a chemical hand warmer to hold onto and had a thin glove on. In these 15 minutes, because of the way I was holding the hand warmer, I managed to sustain some frostbite damage to the tip of my thumb. It is blistered, but only on the tip. I has been seen by a doctor and it will be sensitive for a long time, but will not fall off.

But at this stage I knew I was in trouble with my knee. I continued onwards for 2 hours covering only 1 or 2 miles in that time. I was 6 miles away from the last check point and shelter etc. With a speed of 1mph and extreme knee pain resulting in me being unable to walk I turned around and prepared to make my way back to the checkpoint to rest and decide whether to continue. The return journey of 6 miles took well over 4 hours. I arrived in reasonable spirits and thought I would rest before deciding quit the race, as it is all to easy to quit when your cold and in pain only to regret it later when your warm and the pain is not too bad anymore. I rested from midday on the 29th Feb until the morning of the 1st March. For the whole of this time I iced my knee and warmed my thumb. My knee is totally buggered, it had healed little over the four days after the first twist. Covering 40 miles a day does not allow adequate healing time and rest. The second, similar, twist and the limping back to the check point really did the damage though. I now can only just weight bear on my leg and I could not continue.

I was flown out to Anchorage on a mail plane that was making a delivery to the hunting lodge that was the checkpoint. I have now seen a doctor about my thumb and knee. My thumb is fine. With only superficial frostbite blistering that will clear up in days. The sensitivity will last weeks, perhaps months, but will recover ok. My knee shows signs of Anterior Cruciate Ligament damage or Meniscus damage, or a combination of both. It would be great if it wasn't the Anterior Cruciate Ligament because more often than not this requires reconstructive surgery to repair. For the time being I am resting, bearing no weight on the injured leg, icing and taking ibuprofen. I will seek more medical advice when I get back to the UK. The doctor hear said that was fine as long I rest, ice etc and get it seen to asap when I'm back.

I'm obviously disappointed that I had to quit, and very disappointed that I may have a big injury (but hopefully not!) but I am glad that I had a few days of racing and had a good introduction to winter ultra racing. I enjoyed the majority of the aspects of racing and will certainly return to this race again. The Race to Nome (over 1000miles) is a very unique and difficult challenge that I know will not be achieved easily. I will learn from this experience and return fitter, better prepared and more motivated. I do believe that with a little more luck than this time I will be able to finish this race and compete well in it, with a predicted finishing time of 25 days very possible for me.

Thank you all that have offered support and kind words through the justgiving website, donations and email. I am sorry that I could not fulfil my part of the deal and finish the race, but I have now added it to my list of 'must do' things.

Thanks all,

Joe

28.02.08 - Joes checked out at 04.45am heading for Finger Lake.

I had a long wait for news on progress , but Joe was spotted by a plane close to Finger Lake check point.

After a 15 hour hike he arrived at the 130 MILE mark 19.40 that night.

He is travelling with a chap called Jose , they have been together almost from the start . So from now on

I think we could call it the JOE & JOSE show. They are getting mentioned on the race reports now .

 7 walkers have dropped out . One was the clear leader who had problems at the 165 mile and is now heading home.This now leaves only five foot racers attempting the full 1100 miles.

More news tomorrow morning.

Brian.

FUNDRAISING SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITY A REQUEST TO LOCAL BUSINESSES . . .

Joseph Johnstone attempts the 1100 mile Iditarod race, to raise funds for our branch. On 24 February 2008 Joe Johnstone is attempting the most ambitious adventure of his life with all the proceeds from his incredible journey being donated to our branch!

Joe is running 1100 miles across Alaska in the Iditarod Trail Invitational Race. There are only 50 ultra-endurance athletes invited to participate in the race worldwide and Joe is one of them! He is, in fact the youngest entrant and also the only British person ever to attempt the 1100 mile full distance race.

Competitors compete solo and cross mountain ranges and frozen sea ice during the course of the race. All in sub zero temperatures, high winds and blizzards. Nearly all supplies are carried for the duration of the race and competitors are entirely self sufficient. Joe is hoping to finish in around 25

days, covering 50 miles per day.

Our branch is completely self funded receiving no government money whatsoever. MS affects 85,000 people in the UK with 10 new people diagnosed every week. We provide vital therapies, emotional and practical support, advice and grants for local people affected by MS all through our

own fundraising efforts. This fantastic opportunity will help secure our services and hopefully also provide us with the resources to set up a much needed counselling service.

Donations can be made on: www.justgiving.com/joejohnstone - It is simple, fast and totally secure to donate through the just giving site and the most efficient way to sponsor Joe. The MS Society will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you. If you would prefer to donate in another way you can contact, Mary Morgan at: chair@mjmorgan.plus.com

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