So a lot of you have actually asked what
happens during the volunteering for RacingthePlanet/4Deserts races. Well it
will impossible to write down everything that goes on during the week of race,
but I’d like to give a brief ( OK, not so brief ) rundown and my reflections of
the Gobi March ( Mongolia ) 2018.
The volunteers met a day before the
competitors to undergo training such as safety, log book, competitor check ins
and timings management. No matter how many times you have volunteered, this
training is a MUST for every race. The next day, we get to meet the
competitors, check them in, read their stories, have lunch and depart to Camp
1. The race begins on a Sunday, and ends on the following Saturday followed by
an awards banquet in the night.
Being a volunteer isn’t easy, particularly
not for me, because I am not much of a morning person. Well sure I am, after
10:00am. You’d be expected to be up by 4am, get your bags and sleeping gears
packed, wash up, use the toilets and get your breakfast. You usually need to be
ready to go by 5:30 or 6am, depending on the course on that day. You then get
onto the vehicles and drive off to your designated checkpoint assigned to you
for the day.
It is pretty interesting on the course,
every day. Mainly it is because you don’t get the same scenery twice, and every
day is a different day. I love the days on course where I begin to watch people
more closely, both fellow volunteers and runners. You don’t have any mobile
connections, as Racing The Planet’s courses are so remote and wild, that you
are actually forced to disconnect from your devices and reconnect with your
inner self and the people around you. You are forced to use toilets in the
open, get used to not having a shower for a few days, eat freeze dried food and
sleep in tents. You get used to it at first, then you learn to love it, and
then you keep coming back.
Some people, like Philip Leung from Hong
Kong, have volunteered more than 5 times in places like Iceland and Madagascar.
Other people, like my roommate in Ulaan Baatar,
Jo from Singapore, had a first time experience. I asked a few first
timers about how they felt about the experience. Would they do it again? Yes,
in a heartbeat.
The medical team for all Racing The Planet
/4Deserts races are qualified wilderness medicine doctors from Stanford
University in the US. They take care of all the volunteers and runners,
providing emergency care, tending to the wounds and blisters, reminding
everyone to eat and drink, and providing moral support. They work hard, to ensure
the entire camp is kept clean and hygienic and safe from diseases.
I love the medical team and love to see
them at work. Two doctors stands out for me, Dr Avinash Patil and Dr Julie
Widdison. I met them both for Gobi March 2017 in Xinjiang, China and was
immediately drawn to their charms and charisma. Dr Avi, as everyone fondly
calls him, has been to many of these races ( pretty much all of it ). He has
many stories to tell, has great snacks and food that he shares with everyone
that everyone wants to be in the same checkpoint as him. He is funny, witty and
kind, and the story about his hair is a legend that is passed from one race to
another.
Dr Julie had the most beautiful and kind
face the first time I saw her in China in 2017. She just radiated light and
positive vibes. She had a very nice smile and big, kind eyes and was extremely
supportive and helpful to everyone. I was very happy to meet Dr Avi and Dr
Julie again this year and spending the week with them in the deep wilderness of
Mongolia.
Then there are the runners themselves. In
Gobi March Mongolia 2018, there was a family team who were running with their
autistic son, 3 women team from Afghanistan for their first ever ultra outside
of their country and a couple of runners dressed as ABBA. I learned to get to
know them, watch them push themselves, cheer for them at every checkpoint and
help them reach the finish line each day and give them moral support. It is an
amazing feeling to see them, all of them complete the stage of the day, exhausted
yet satisfied of having made it into camp safely. In a week spent together with
people from more than 30 countries, I realized how much I have learned about
running, people and most importantly, myself.
So what makes people pay good money to volunteer
and participate in one of the leading series of rough-country endurance footraces as
voted by TIME Magazine in 2009 and 2010? Even though volunteers must pay for
their own equipment, food and gear as well as their return flight tickets
to volunteer for these races, this post
is prestigious and attracts thousands of applicants every year. There are
extraordinary runners as well whom I have had the privilege to meet – Jacqui Bell
( Australia ) and Cynthia Fish ( Canada ). Jacqui has become the World's Youngest Female to complete the 4Deserts Race Series in a single year in 2018, and Cynthia, whom I first met in China in 2017, is the oldest woman to complete the 4Deserts Grand Slam.
It may look like all in a day’s work for an ultramarathon
race, but memories stays long after I left Mongolia. I am heart
warmed by the beautiful and kind gestures that I see runners, volunteers and the management team make for each other, and reinforced my beliefs on the spirit of camaraderie and sense of community
these races instill in each individual.
As I meet world renowned runners, sports and wilderness
medicine doctors, professionals around the world and the Racing The Planet’s
own management team of Mary, Zeana, Riitta and Samantha, I am humbled by the
experiences and the chance to get to know these people, in beautiful, remote
setting and how all these experiences has changed my life.
Now, as I prepare to run my very own first Racing The
Planet’s New Zealand 2019, I draw on the strength and inspirations I have
gathered for the past two years, and I hope that it will push me to the
finishing line in Queenstown. Follow me as I run at www.racingtheplanet.com/newzealand
Meanwhile, here are some pictures from pre, during and post race, taken in Ulaan Baatar up to Khuvsgul Lake in Northern Mongolia, and everywhere in between!
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| Arrived @ Chinggis Khaan International Airport, Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia |
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| My bed in Golden Gobi Guesthouse, the day before the offical check in at Khuvsgul Lake Hotel |
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| State Department Store, UB |
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| Rows of Mongolian / Russian and Chinese beer and alcohol |
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| Golden Gobi Guesthouse, UB |
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| Colourful rice. For some reason Mongolian rice are short and cute. |
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| Little babies boots' and other wares on sale at the Black Market |
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| Trying to work a Tibetan Singing Bowl |
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| A Malaysian woman who is part of Cancer Survivors Gobi Desert Expedition |
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| At the entrance of the Narantuul Market |
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| Some of the wares you can find in the market ( Yes, those are outdoor equipments *drools* ) |
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| Naraantul Market @ Black Market in UB |
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| Sukhbaatar Square, Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia |
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| At the start of the Gobi March ( Mongolia ) 2018 |
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| At one of the checkpoints on Day 1 |
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| Outdoor toilet |
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| The ABBA runners! |
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| Me, Donna, Dr Kieran and Dr Taylor after being invited for noodle soup and goat cheese at one of the gers. |
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| A Mongolian sunset |
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| On the Long March |
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| A Traditional Naadam Festival sport - Mongolian Wrestling |
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| At one of the monuments in Karakorum |
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| Cynthia Fish and I |
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| Dr Avinash, me and Dr Julie, at the finish line of Gobi March 2018 |
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| An ancient temple grounds in the North of Mongolia |
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| My pre birthday cake - in the city of Erdenet |
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| Reading with a view |
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| Reindeers! |
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| Magnificient Khuvsgul Lake, Northern Mongolia |
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| Traditional milk tea made with yak milk |
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| My travelingmates got together and got me a cake for my birthday |
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| Our guide, Anar and me with the host, milking a yak |
