Race Coverage

Race Coverage

RACE Coverage

Gobi March Home

Who is Participating at the Gobi March 2024

We are excited to hold the 18th edition of the Gobi March in the steppes of Mongolia, experiencing the true culture of this beautiful country that is commonly known as “the Land of the Genghis Khan” – and the 74th RacingThePlanet / 4 Deserts Ultramarathon.

There is an impressive and inspiring field of racers coming from all corners of the planet.

 

Let’s start with the stats:

> 120 competitors are expected on the start line.   

  • There are an incredible 36 countries represented:
    o    The most represented nation is Japan.
    o    Following Japan, is the United States, the United Kingdom and Taiwan.
    o    There are also nationals of Honduras, Namibia and Uzbekistan.

> 69% male / 31% female.

> Youngest: Michal Gawron Jr (Poland).
> Oldest: 71-year old Vickie McDonald (United States).

  • 4 Deserts Grand Slam Contender Ivan Schmidt from Denmark is also in his 70s!

> Forty-six percent (46%) of competitors are joining their first ever RacingThePlanet / 4 Deserts Ultramarathon. Fifty-four percent (54%) have completed at least one race previously.

> Fifteen competitors have participated in the Gobi March in Mongolia before – seven of these withdrew at previous editions. A further 11 people have raced the Gobi March when it was held in the Gobi Desert of China.

> There are twelve 4 Deserts Club Members who are racing:

  • Five have completed the 4 Deserts Grand Slam.
  • Four are planning to repeat the 4 Deserts Grand Slam again this year!
  • Carlos Garcia, the course director, is also a 4 Deserts Club member.


> One person will join the 4 Deserts Club after the race as the Gobi March is their final of the 4 Deserts Ultramarathon Series having completed the Atacama Crossing (Chile), the Namib Race (Namibia) and The Last Desert (Antarctica). This individual will also celebrate his 50th birthday at the start of the Gobi March.

> 15 people are taking on the 4 Deserts Grand Slam (completing all four or five races within 12 months). The Gobi March is the second race in this challenge – 4 are planning to tackle this for the second time!

  1. Tania Carmona Prieto (Mexico)
  2. Maigua Ojeda Perez (Spain)
  3. Lisa Fenton (UK)
  4. Saliann Powell (Australia)
  5. Inia Raumati* (New Zealand)
  6. Jeison Costa* (Brazil)
  7. Christian Colque* (Argentina)
  8. Vicente Garcia Beneito* (Spain)
  9. Simran Singh (India)
  10. Rafiq Karovaliya (US)
  11. Michal Gawron Jr (Poland)
  12. Yasmin Stroderegger (Austria)
  13. Ivan Schmidt (Denmark)
  14. Sandeep Singla (Netherlands)
  15. Manika Gamble (US)

*Already completed the 4 Deserts Grand Slam and attempting the challenge 2nd time.

There is also an exciting team category:

> Two Official Teams:

  • Stand With Hong Kong (TPH)
  • Team Taiwan +

Six Group Teams

  • Pollo Amarillo – Brazil, Argentina & Spain
  • Salu - Taiwan
  • You Won’t Even Feel It – Singapore & Hong Kong
  • Team AHO 1, 2 & 3 - Japan


Note that the team rules changed in 2024 so teams can now consist of two people or more. The new Group Team category is where teams of 2-5 can race individually and combine their average time for a place on the Group Team podium.

The Top Contenders
While it is possible to walk the entire course and complete the race, the people at the front are very fast and will complete a 40km / 25 mile Stage in under 4 hours – moving at a blistering pace of 10-12 km / 6-7.5 per hour, the fastest will likely complete the course in under 25 hours while the remaining competitors will take 70+ hours.

Below are our top picks for contenders for the podium and the Top 10. However, there is also plenty of other contenders that we don’t want to mention, or we don’t know about yet.

 

Inspiration

As well as the speedsters are there is plenty of inspiration among the competitors including:

  • Has trained through cancer and is now in remittance – Louisa Forrester.
  • Has Type 2 Diabetes – Bea Garcia. Bea has also completed the most races; the Gobi March is her tenth RacingThePlanet Ultramarathon.
  • Kilias Hung and Jagdeep Kairon, join their ninth race and five people are starting their eighth race.
  • Three past volunteers are racing for their first time: Ken Alderdice, Angela Alchin, and Ejay Wang.
  • Making it a family affair, Matthew Reynolds is racing with his father Andrew.
  • A special mention to three people who met when they completed the 4 Deserts Grand Slam in 2012 – and are now back to re-create the experience 10 years and 7 children between them later: Jeison Costa, Christian Colque and Vicente Garcia.

We are looking forward to meeting every competitor. You can see the full line up on the website
Gobi March Competitor List.

The race starts on 23 June 2024. You can follow the to see results, photos, videos, blog posts, breaking news and more:
Gobi March Live Page.