I liked the meal - but the alcohol I had at the same time did cause me to re-see the meal about 3km later 
Personal choiceā¦, sorry to sound vagueā¦
Last year was my first time at the DM.
I was in a group, most hadnāt booked the meal - I hadā¦ but, speaking to lots of people who were experienced participants who generally said the same thingā¦ āitās not worth the hassleāā¦
Depending on your walking style and how you plan to tackle the DM, you may like the idea of planning for a longer stop at half way, having a proper break and sorting yourself outā¦ as in - take an hour to stop, eat, rest, change your socks etcā¦
But, having a long stop also means that your muscles will cool down a lot, cramp MAY set in, given how many people are trying to get their food and find somewhere to eat together, if youāre walking with friendsā¦ all takes timeā¦
The food on offer is soup, pasta with a tomato sauce, meatballs, yoghurt, salad, fruit, bread (full list usually available on the DM website)
Meanwhile at each of the check points, there are large tents with Pepsi, biscuits, cakes, biscuits, yogurt, tomato soup, fruitā¦
In other words, thereās plenty of food along the wayā¦
Youāre not going to go hungryā¦ the one thing worth considering, is to pack some protein bars in your walking bag, as protein will smooth the sugar / carb spike / crash curveā¦
We applied the same tactics that we used at The Pathfinder - blast through alternate check points and leave āstoppingā for a long break until as late as possible, to clear as much distance as possibleā¦
As it was, we had a member on our team that needed more breaks to sort out their feet, which meant that time saved early on, was available later onā¦
Yeah, when I did DM, the āfoodā stop was my first stop, then it was about 55kms in. Took around 30-45mins. Changed socks, zipped off my trouser bottoms, replened by isotonic drink etc. I elected to have my bag at the half way point, so it worked out nicely.
Oddly, we were told that the āhalf way bag dropā wasnāt available last yearā¦ but we walked straight past it, all sign writtenā¦
Will have to wait and see if it will be available this year.
I took fresh boxers, socks and basic toiletries to have a freshen up - but a fresh t-shirt and shorts would have been niceā¦
What is this mythical training you speak ofā¦?
2 Likes
Going for a long walk with friends and stopping at a suitable venue that sells cold drinks and hot food and has toilets on site and stopping at other venues and only partaking of the cold drinks and making use of their comfort facilities 
This can be an organised event or off the cuff.
1 Like
No, not really - having taken it myself previously.
It took too long by the time I arrived to be served the food. This meant my muscles started to stiffen up and it took time away from my finishing time. The food is alright, but I found it more beneficial to rely on nuts, yoghurts and the snacks at the checkpoints - alongside a good helping of electrolytes (obligatory āitās got what plants craveā).
But different people are different. If you know that a hot meal is going to bring you morale, and youāll probably need that morale to get through to the end of the event, then take the hot meal.
2 Likes
Got a small team of 4 of us planning to register for Dodentocht and already booked in for RAFWARMA.
Certainly sounds tempting. Assume there wonāt be many civvies at RAFWARMA so youāll find me in a blue waterproof with glasses.
1 Like
To be fair i probably would. I love bimbles
And european beer (but not you Stella, you can get in the bin)
1 Like
We could probably trick you into it if we said thereād be a bass drum and a pacestick
2 Likes
There sometimes is a pace stick, carried by Michael T
Not since he got commissioned.
Ahh, did wonder why the last time I saw him he was without it.
Is that it sold out?
Iām not sureā¦ Most recent post on Facebook suggests theyāre ācleaning upā the registrations to remove duplicates etc and then re-release over the next week.
Maybe Iām wrong but tickets seemed to have gone really fast! I swear it took a couple days in previous years.
Of my group, all but one got a ticket. He got in the queue 1.5 hours after it opened. Rest of us were there from 07:30.
Who else has a confirmed ticket?
1 Like
Hi guys
So, last year there were definitely tickets available on the second day of being releasedā¦ until late morningā¦,
As for this year, there have been a few comments saying that there will be additional tickets released at intervals, without stating what sort of intervals - other than simply saying ācheck back regularlyā¦ā
Currently on the websiteā¦
āIn the course of the coming week, the registration list will be cleaned up. If you still want a ticket check the website regularly. Tickets will be released at random.Not able to buy a ticket now? Our DotoSwap will start on 15 July. This is the only official way to acquire a ticket from someone. We will communicate the procedure of the DotoSwap later.ā
After weād seen the āsold outā banner appear on the FB group page late morning yesterday, there was a steady trickle of people adding comments yesterday afternoon and evening, saying that theyād just been on and got a ticketā¦
So, it might be worth to keep lookingā¦
As for the DotoSwap - last year, three friends got tickets via the transfer process - and there were tickets still being offered for transfer on the day itself!
Thereās about 13/14 of us from ādaaan south!ā That are coming overā¦
Last year according to the stats, there were 69 Brits - our little contingent was 21 of them! Hoping to make our corner of āLittle Englandā at the campsite that bit bigger this year!
Maybe Iām just too high maintenance but I imagine my group will book into a hotel in Temse or Brussels.
Shall keep an eye out for the British contingent 
I did 10k steps today, would that hack it