Is it time to panic yet??

Today, the race organisers popped a little gift into our inboxes: the Race Course and Climate Update!

Basically, it details the sort of conditions we can expect on course for this year’s
race. I poured over every line like a child over a much-awaited Christmas present.

Initially, I had no problems with the figures provided. In fact, I was quite relieved. Sure, this year’s course is likely to have lot more soft sand than previous years due to the unique setting this time round. But the longest stage on any given day (barring the infamous long stage) is 41.4km. First thought: yay! That means we don’t even have to do a marathon a day! Hurrah!!

Second thought: wait a minute… did I really just think that?!

I must be going insane.

But said Christmas present from race organisers also posed a few problems. For starters, temperatures could potentially hit 50 degrees. I have no concept of what that even feels like. But hey, if I had wanted to go on vacation, I would’ve gone to the Maldives.

Then there’re the elevation figures: “the altitude on the course is negligible. You will go as low as -31 metres and …… are not planned to go above 250 metres.” I didn’t think too much of the highest elevation noted… until I googled this: 250 Metres Building to be Tallest in India and this:

One Chase Manhattan Plaza, New York: 248 metres

Ah.

To put it into even better perspective for the friends in Singapore, Capital Tower down by Raffles Place is 254 metres. Now picture it as sand all the way to the top.

I’m suddenly very taken by the notion of a scientifically improbable hurricane to come and blow over the race course just beforehand to help flatten all the dunes.

Dear race organisers, please tell me we’re going to hit 250 metres on a gradual incline over a few days. Because if we’re instead going up the mother of all sand dunes, we shall soon discover our collective ability to curse like a sailor.

And it will not be pretty.