Three Galway athletes claimed victory at this year’s Gobi Desert ultra marathon. After struggling through soaring desert heat and against 128 competitors from around the world, Diana Hogan Murphy from Athenry took first place in the women’s race, Shirley Potter from Portumna was the second woman across the line, and Shane O’Rourke also from Portumna came fifth overall and first in his age group.
The Gobi March is part of the 4 Deserts marathon series run by Racing The Planet. The series consists 250km of self-sufficient endurance footraces across four global deserts. This year the Gobi March was located along the ancient Silk Road in an area called Kizilsu Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecture, in the Xinjiang Province of western China. It is a restricted area, meaning that Racing The Planet had to get special permits for competitors to enter.
The Gobi March has been named by TIME magazine as one of the Top 10 endurance competitions in the world and is now the largest international sporting event in western China. The course covered 250km in six stages, reaching an altitude of 3,100 meters. Each day of the ultra marathon had a different course, with check points approximately every 10 km. The first four days, approximately 42 km per day, were simply a prelude to the long one on day 5, which was 80 km across the desert, with the last day consisting a 10 km fun run. Temperatures reached 44 degrees Celsius at the hottest part of the day. Described as one of the most hostile environments on the planet, the terrain was challenging consisting of steep-sided canyons, vast riverbeds, mountains and sand dunes. The conditions underfoot were said to be uneven, consisting mostly of rock and gravel. This combined with heat, river water, sweat, and sand, provided the perfect recipe for blisters.
Participants were required to carry everything they would need for the race in a backpack including sleeping pads and blankets, food, water, medical kit, and any extra clothes they chose. The average backpack weighed about 9 kg, with drastic measures taken to lighten the load, down to cutting corners off freeze-dried food containers and breaking the handle off toothbrushs. The emphasis was on self sufficiency and the only assistance provided was water, tents to sleep in, and emergency medical assistance.
Each stage ended at a campsite, where each competitor was greeted by the pounding of a huge drum. The atmosphere in the camps was electric, with the locals putting on entertainment to welcome competitors each night. On completing the race Shirley Potter said, “The camaraderie out on the course was like nothing I’ve ever experienced, I finished second in the women’s race, a result that was totally unexpected, considering my aim was to finish and come out the other end in one piece. Needless to say we flew the Irish flag proudly at the awards ceremony. Would I do it again? absolutely.”
