Our group of 8 meets up at the Dulles airport in Washington DC. Twelve hours later we are half a world away in Kuwait City – but still not near our final destination. 

The Warriors Tour Team of Eight:

Rob Powers, race announcer extraordinaire and founder of the Warrior Tours. 

Frank Shorter ,the man who invented the running boom, the marathoner who made running marathons cool.

Sandy Magnus, a REAL astronaut. She spent 4 months at the international space station.

Nicole Cloutier, public relations with NASA.

Anne Bonney, a Senior Manager of Sports Marketing at Under Armour, one of our sponsors

Rick Stern and his son Josh, our race timers,

and me, Bart Yasso.

 

 

We arrived in Kuwait city at 5 pm. It’s 118 degrees. First stop: The one-stop Visa shop to purchase your Visa for $20.00 US or 3 Kuwait currency – 3 Dinar (KWD). The shop is located next to a Mc Donald’s, and it’s like an old-fashioned bakery. You have to get a number then wait to be called up to the window. It’s a very crazy chaotic scene to get $20.00.

 

 

Each security checkpoint is very different. Some are very strict, passport, Visa and what are you doing here questions; other checkpoints they just waved us thru.

 

It was a 45-minute caravan to the Arifjan base. Arifjan is used to bring newbies in before they are sent to Iraq or the last stop before people head stateside. Our housing was in three-story cinder block building .The base lobby had a tv on showing cnn international coverage of the Michael Jackson Memorial service. Some people watched it intently. Others could care less.  he first 2 people who meet Sandy both said the same thing, wow a REAL astronaut. I wonder what’s a fake astronaut? 

 

Got to bed at 11:30 pm and up at 3:30 am. I can’t sleep much because my room is next to the latrine. I hear the doors open and close all night long. We need to be in the lobby at 5:30 am for transport to an unknown location. I like the idea of having no idea where we’re going. You feel very safe. The one thing we know were in good hands.