RacingThePlanet


RacingThePlanet is an organizer of off-trail and rough-country endurance foot-races, including the 4 Deserts. The company also operates an outdoor products store and a dried foods company.
The 2011 Kimberley Ultramarathon was the subject of a parliamentary inquiry in Western Australia after a number of competitors suffered life-threatening burns when a bushfire overran a part of the route. 60 Minutes Australia documented the journey of one of the contestants burned by bushfire.
File:Petra end of 250km hiking race.JPG|thumb|right|300px|As they limp out of Petra's ancient narrow passage, two of the 131 proud runners/hikers from 38 countries are timed on completing their 2012 250km Wadi Rum to Petra race in Jordan. They had raced through canyons and over sand dunes, carrying their own food.

History

2002-2008

In 2002, RacingThePlanet is founded.
In 2003, the first race of the 4 Deserts Ultramarathon Series takes place in Dunhuang China: the Gobi March.
In 2004, the inaugural Atacama Crossing takes place in Chile.
In 2005, the inaugural Sahara Race takes place in Egypt.
In 2006, The Last Desert takes place. Kevin Lin from Taiwan and Lisanne Dorion from USA are named the first 4 Deserts Champions.
In 2007, RacingThePlanet became a case study for the Harvard Business School and is one of the few case studies to be repeated yearly.

2008-2009

In 2009 RacingThePlanet launched an online retail store specializing in selling the outdoor apparel, equipment and nutritional products required for endurance racing. By 2010 the store had grown to stock a much larger variety of products for all Outdoors pursuits. Later in the year, The Outdoor Store became the largest online outdoor gear store in Asia and had distribution hubs in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom allowing global distribution.
In 2008, Dean Karnazes from USA and Laura Corti from Italy are named the 4 Deserts Champions.
In 2008 & 2009, 4 Deserts Ultramarathon Series is ranked #2 on the TIME Magazine's list of the World's Top Endurance Events.

2010-2011

In 2010 a record nine competitors completed the 4 Deserts Grand Slam, including three women who are the first to have achieved the feat - Samantha Gash of Australia, Lucy Rivers-Bulkeley and Linda Quirk.
A Shanghai-based competitor died of heatstroke after competing in the 2010 Gobi March. His brother claimed Racing the Planet was "reckless" and ill-prepared.
2010 also saw the first 100 km race organised by the company - the which took place in the desert around Hotan in China's western Xinjiang Province.
In 2010 Ryan Sandes of South Africa was crowned 4 Deserts Champion having won all four of the races he competed in, and Marjiana Pellizer of Croatia was crowned women's champion.
On 2 September 2011, at the 100 km event in the Kimberly, Western Australia, Turia Pitt, 24, and Kate Sanderson, 35, were left with severe burn injuries when fire swept through a rocky gorge during the outback race. Two men - Michael Hull and Martin van der Merwe - suffered less serious burns. RacingThePlanet has not compensated the victims or contributed to their medical treatment, including to Ms Pitt whose expenses exceed $2 million. In November 2012, the Government of Western Australia made ex gratia payments of $450,000 to each of the women.
Originally launched in English, in 2011 the Outdoor Store expanded capability to include Traditional and Simplified Chinese, as well as French, Spanish and Italian.

2012-2015

In 2012, Vicente Juan Garcia from Spain and Anne-Marie Flammersfeld from Germany become the first two, in a calendar year, to win all 4 Deserts Ultramarthons and achieve the 4 Deserts Grand Slam.
In the same year, RacingThePlanet partnered with The Esquel Group to fund nine scholarships to send minority girls in the Gobi Desert to high school and university/technical schools.
In 2013, the film Desert Runners, shot at all 4 Deserts, and made its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in June 2013, and later on Netflix.
In 2014, "Chema" Martinez Fernandez & Isis Breiter, a double Olympian and a mother-of-three, respectively, are named 4 Deserts Champions 2014.
In 2015, The Sahara Race is temporarily relocated to Jordan from Egypt and at the first-ever female Afghan ultramarathon team to join the Gobi March.

2016-2020

In June 2016, the 50th 4 Deserts/Roving Race took place at the Gobi March. In addition, the Sahara Race is relocated to Namibia, where it currently remains and has been renamed to the Namib Race.
In June 2016, "Gobi the Dog" follows runners and is first adopted by Medlina Helil before becoming famous.
At the conclusion of 2016, Jax Mariash & Chen Yen-Po are named the 4 Deserts Champions & Cynthia Fish & Jax Mariash become the first females to complete the 4 Deserts Grand Slam Plus.
In 2018, the Gobi March is relocated to Mongolia where it currently remains. In addition, Isabelle Sauve & Wong Ho Chung are named the 4 Deserts Champions 2018 and Fung Kam Hung becomes the first amputee to join the 4 Deserts Club.
In 2020, the global pandemic postpones all races until 2021.

List of events

RacingThePlanet has organised 65 races at the beginning of 2020. The events are in three categories, with all sharing most characteristics which are that:
  • Races are held in remote but historically or culturally rich areas.
  • Races are mostly through wilderness areas, across varied terrain, mostly off-trail.
  • Competitors race self-supporting, carrying all their own food, fluids and equipment.
  • The number of competitors in each race is limited, to minimise environmental damage.
  • Competitors do not feel that they are part of a large group — they can enjoy solitude.
  • There are no race prizes, but those who successfully complete a race are presented with a medal at the finish line.
The current categories of races include:
  • 4 Deserts Ultramarathon Series
  • RacingThePlanet Ultramarathon
  • 100 km Races
Year4 Deserts
Ultramarathon
Series		RacingThePlanet
Ultramarathon		100 km Races
2003Gobi March
2004Atacama Crossing
2005Gobi March,
Sahara Race
2006Gobi March,
Sahara Race,
Atacama Crossing,
The Last Desert
2007Gobi March,
Sahara Race,
Atacama Crossing,
The Last Desert
2008Gobi March,
Sahara Race,
Atacama Crossing,
The Last Desert 		RacingThePlanet:
Vietnam
2009Gobi March,
Sahara Race,
Atacama Crossing 		RacingThePlanet:
Namibia
2010Gobi March,
Sahara Race,
Atacama Crossing,
The Last Desert 		RacingThePlanet:
Australia
RacingThePlanet100:
Taklamakan
Ultramarathon
2011Gobi March,
Sahara Race,
Atacama Crossing 		RacingThePlanet:
Nepal
RacingThePlanet100:
Kimberley
Ultramarathon
2012Gobi March,
Sahara Race,
Atacama Crossing,
The Last Desert 		RacingThePlanet:
Jordan
2013Gobi March,
Atacama Crossing 		RacingThePlanet:
Iceland
2014Gobi March,
Atacama Crossing,
Sahara Race,
The Last Desert
RacingThePlanet:
Madagascar
2015Gobi March,
Atacama Crossing 		RacingThePlanet:
Ecuador
2016Gobi March,
Sahara Race,
Atacama Crossing,
The Last Desert 		RacingThePlanet:
Sri Lanka
2017Gobi March,
Sahara Race,
Atacama Crossing
RacingThePlanet:
Patagonia,
Argentina
2018Gobi March,
Namib Race,
Atacama Crossing,
The Last Desert
2019Gobi March,
Namib Race,
Atacama Crossing 		RacingThePlanet:
New Zealand

Merchandise

Since 2004, RacingThePlanet has developed a number of their own products and merchandise for use in endurance racing. In 2009, it launched an online retail store, The Outdoor Store, which sells equipment, clothing, footwear and nutrition products for the sport.

Corporate information

The CEO is Mary K Gadams, who is also the company's founder. RacingThePlanet is headquartered in Hong Kong where they also have a showroom for The Outdoor Store. There is a second distribution centre and office in Yorkshire in the United Kingdom, which also has a showroom.
There are 16 country managers who represent the company in Belgium, Brazil, Chile, China, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, South Africa, Taiwan and Spain.

Charitable causes

About half of the competitors at RacingThePlanet events are supporting charitable causes through their participation. RacingThePlanet puts no limits on the type of causes that are supported.
Because of the remote locations of many of the races RacingThePlanet choose to support a specific charity at almost every event, that provides support to the local community in which the event takes place. The company has a long-running partnership with Operation Smile, and has raised over US$500,000 for the charity for projects in Vietnam, China and Egypt, often funding missions and surgeries in the local communities through which competitors race.
The company has donated books and sports equipments to schools in Xinjiang province where the Gobi March is held through the Esquel Y. L. Yang Education Fund who they have also supported for a number of years.
In 2008, the Gobi March took place just one month after the devastating earthquake in Sichuan Province on 12 May, so that year RacingThePlanet put together a special auction in which friends and families of competitors could bid to buy a hot shower for three competitors at the end of the 90 km Stage 5 of the event. The auction raised almost US$30,000 for the Red Cross disaster fund.
Again in 2010 another earthquake affected a country that plays host to a 4 Deserts race. The Chilean earthquake of 27 February occurred just one week before the start of the Atacama Crossing. RacingThePlanet and the community of competitors and friends raised US$15,000 for Habitat for Humanity in the weeks to follow.