Race Coverage

Race Coverage

RACE Coverage

The Last Desert Home

Post Race Reflections & Advice from The Last Desert

Rob James is from Wales and lives in Hong Kong. He started his RacingThePlanet journey at the Gobi March 2006 and most recently completed The Last Desert (Antarctica) 2024, 18 years after his first race and 14 years since the last time he completed a RacingThePlanet Ultramarathon. He is now a proud member of the 4 Deserts Club and was also crowned the 4 Deserts Champion in 2024.

Rob James at The Last Desert 2024

On his way back from the race he shared his thoughts and advice from the race:

  • The travel and journey to 'the end of the world' and Drake's Passage onwards to Antarctica is absolutely worth it and this is 'more than a race' - I recommend you do it.
  • 'Endurance', 'Shackelton' and 'Tom Crean - an Unsung Hero' are must reads BEFORE you go, as are a multitude of other Antarctic exploration titles.
  • The lectures and presentations on board by the Oceanwide Expeditions team were fascinating.
  • The kit list is long, but would be needed if the weather hits - we were blessed with very good conditions.
  • Having not spent time on a multi-stage 4 Deserts race for 14 years, I had missed the camaraderie and like-minded individuals who do these (and a multitude of other crazy ultramarathon) events.
  • Everyone has an interesting story - truly inspirational. It was also nice to meet family and friends of racers.
  • Garmin told me everyday of the race that I had been 'Over reaching'. It's now telling me my training status is 'Strained' and that my sleep score is 'Poor' - things can only get better!
  • Running on the snow in Antarctica was not easy on day one and took a while to adapt. The snow was deep in places, icy in others and not compact that often - infact it was uneven and unpredictable! Worked out some sort of shuffle on the inclines, used muscles I had never used before and the micro-spikes were important on 4 of the 5 days.
  • An 18-year gap between the first and last desert is probably a little excessive...currently the longest anyone has taken to join the 4 Deserts Club or become a 4 Deserts Champion?!
  • Achieved my goal of running on a 6th continent before my next birthday, as well as 5 x 50km days in the Year of the Dragon (2 in Wales, 1 in Hong Kong and 2 in Antarctica).
  • My physio fixed a torn calf six weeks before the Gobi in 2006 and then worked his magic the last month (a long taper!) to fix my calves again.
  • I had a great cabin mate - Paul Redbourn. We never met during his 14 years in Hong Kong or at any races, and within a few hours of meeting in Ushuaia discovered we had both gone to the same school and had the same teachers - albeit I was a good 11 years ahead, small world!

The Last Desert was a fantastic experience and the 10th Edition was a very special race.