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79-773: The Gobi March, the series' inaugural race, was held in the Gobi Desert of western China in 2003. Over the following three years, an additional race was introduced in a new location each year. In 2004, the Atacama Crossing was held in the Atacama Desert of Chile. This was followed by the Sahara Race in the Sahara Desert of Egypt ( Eastern Desert ) in 2005. In 2006 a fourth race, called The Last Desert, took place in Antarctica and

158-456: A Russian Orthodox church, Trinity Church , was opened on the island near Russia's Bellingshausen Station . The church, one of the southernmost in the world and one of the few permanent structures in Antarctica, is permanently staffed by a priest. The first attempted murder in Antarctica occurred on the island in 2018 at Bellingshausen Station. Point Thomas lighthouse at Arctowski Station

237-482: 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. 4 Deserts Champions are crowned in the male and female categories at the end of every edition of The Last Desert (Antarctica). Since 2010, champions have been recognized in an official Awards Ceremony at

316-428: A few birds, e.g. the sandgrouse, lark, stonechat, sparrow, crane, Mongolian ground jay ( Podoces hendersoni ), horned lark ( Eremophila alpestris ), and crested lark ( Galerida cristata ). The structure here is that of the mighty T'ien Shan , or Heavenly Mountains, running from west to east. It divides the northern one-third of Sinkiang from the southern two-thirds. On the northern side, rivers formed from

395-528: A high proportion of woody, fragrant plants. Gobi mutton is the most aromatic in the world. The Yulduz valley or valley of the Haidag-gol ( 43°N 83°E  /  43°N 83°E  / 43; 83 – 43°N 86°E  /  43°N 86°E  / 43; 86 ) is a mini desert enclosed by two prominent members of the Shanashen Trahen Osh mountain range, namely the chucis and

474-457: A source of cashmere wool . Large copper deposits are being mined by Rio Tinto Group . The mine was and remains controversial. There was significant opposition in Mongolia's parliament to the terms under which the mine will proceed, and some are calling for the terms to be renegotiated. Specifically, the contention revolves primarily around the question of whether negotiations were fair (Rio Tinto

553-609: A warm 27 °C (81 °F). Most of the precipitation falls during the summer. Although the southeast monsoons reach the southeast parts of the Gobi, the area throughout this region is generally characterized by extreme dryness, especially during the winter, when the Siberian anticyclone is at its strongest. The southern and central parts of the Gobi Desert have variable plant growth due to this monsoon activity. The more northern areas of

632-556: A whole was known only very imperfectly to outsiders, as information was confined to observations by individual travelers engaging in their respective itineraries across the desert. Among the European and American explorers who contributed to the understanding of the Gobi, the most important were the following: King George Island (South Shetland Islands) King George Island ( Argentinian Spanish : Isla 25 de Mayo , Chilean Spanish : Isla Rey Jorge , Russian : Ватерло́о Vaterloo )

711-437: Is a Chinese government tree-planting project begun in 1978 and set to continue through 2050. The goal of the program is to reverse desertification by planting aspen and other fast-growing trees on some 36.5 million hectares across some 551 counties in 12 provinces of northern China. The Gobi, broadly defined, can be divided into five distinct dry ecoregions , based on variations in climate and topography: The surface

790-697: Is a large, cold desert and grassland region located in northern China and southern Mongolia . It is the sixth largest desert in the world . The name of the desert comes from the Mongolian word gobi , used to refer to all of the waterless regions in the Mongolian Plateau ; in Chinese, gobi is used to refer to rocky, semi-deserts such as the Gobi itself rather than sandy deserts. The Gobi measures 1,600 km (1,000 mi) from southwest to northeast and 800 km (500 mi) from north to south. The desert

869-607: Is absolutely sterile, and its northern foot rests upon a narrow belt of barren sand, which leads down to the depressions mentioned above. The Kuruk-tagh is the greatly disintegrated, denuded and wasted relic of a mountain range which used to be of incomparably greater magnitude. In the west, between Lake Bosten and the Tarim , it consists of two, possibly of three, principal ranges, which, although broken in continuity, run generally parallel to one another, and embrace between them numerous minor chains of heights. These minor ranges, together with

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948-516: Is also located on a plateau roughly 910–1,520 m (2,990–4,990 ft) above sea level, which contributes to its low temperatures. An average of about 194 mm (7.6 in) of rain falls annually in the Gobi. Additional moisture reaches parts of the Gobi in winter as snow is blown by the wind from the Siberian Steppes. These winds may cause the Gobi to reach −40 °C (−40 °F) in winter to 45 °C (113 °F) in summer. However,

1027-408: Is confined to these same areas, is of the scantiest and is mainly confined to bushes of saxaul (Haloxylon) , anabasis , reeds (kamish), tamarisks , poplars , and Ephedra . There is little information about early habitation of the Gobi desert. Lisa Janz has proposed a system of nomenclature for early Gobi desert habitation. They are Oasis I, Oasis II, Oasis III. Oasis I is equivalent to

1106-577: Is crisscrossed by several trade routes, some of which have been in use for thousands of years. Among the most important are those from Kalgan (at the Great Wall) to Ulaanbaatar (960 km (597 mi)); from Jiuquan (in Gansu ) to Hami 670 km (416 mi); from Hami to Beijing (2,000 km (1,243 mi)); from Hohhot to Hami and Barkul; and from Lanzhou (in Gansu) to Hami. The southwestern portion of

1185-627: Is extremely diversified, although there are no great differences in vertical elevation. Between Ulaanbaatar ( 48°00′N 107°00′E  /  48.000°N 107.000°E  / 48.000; 107.000 ) and the small lake of Iren-dubasu-nor ( 43°45′N 111°50′E  /  43.750°N 111.833°E  / 43.750; 111.833 ), the surface is greatly eroded. Broad flat depressions and basins are separated by groups of flat-topped mountains of relatively low elevation 150 to 180 m (490 to 590 ft), through which archaic rocks crop out as crags and isolated rugged masses. The floors of

1264-670: Is far better resourced) and whether Rio Tinto will pay adequate taxes on the revenues it derives from the mine (an agreement was reached whereby the operation will be exempt from windfall tax ). The Gobi Desert is expanding through desertification , most rapidly on the southern edge into China, which is seeing 3,600 km (1,390 sq mi) of grassland overtaken every year. Dust storms increased in frequency between 1996 and 2016, causing further damage to China's agriculture economy. However, in some areas desertification has been slowed or reversed. The northern and eastern boundaries between desert and grassland are constantly changing. This

1343-666: Is fringed by a string of deep depressions, ranging from Lukchun (130 m (427 ft) below sea level) to Hami (850 m (2,789 ft) above sea-level). To the south of the Kuruk-tagh lie the desert of Lop Nur , the Kum-tagh desert, and the valley of the Bulunzir-gol . To this great swelling, which arches up between the two border-ranges of the Chol-tagh and Kuruk-tagh, the Mongols give

1422-501: Is mostly due to the climate conditions before the growing season, which influence the rate of evapotranspiration and subsequent plant growth. The expansion of the Gobi is attributed mostly to human activities, locally driven by deforestation , overgrazing , and depletion of water resources, as well as to climate change . China has tried various plans to slow the expansion of the desert, which have met with some success. The Three-North Shelter Forest Program (or "Green Great Wall")

1501-592: Is the largest of the South Shetland Islands , lying 120 km (75 miles) off the coast of Antarctica in the Southern Ocean . The island was named after King George III . King George island has three major bays, Maxwell Bay , Admiralty Bay , and King George Bay . Admiralty Bay contains three fjords, and is protected as an Antarctic Specially Managed Area under the Protocol on Environmental Protection to

1580-653: Is the most southerly lighthouse of the world. NOAA runs Lenie Base , a seasonal research station for penguin studies on Admiralty Bay. This small station, dubbed Copacabana, operates in the Antarctic summer only, but is used as a survival hut in the winter. In October 2013, American heavy metal band Metallica announced that it would perform a concert sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company at Carlini Station heliport. The concert took place on 8 December 2013. A small amount of specialised tourist activity also takes place during summer, including an annual marathon , known as

1659-702: Is widest in the west, along the line joining the Lake Bosten and the Lop Nor (87°–89° east). Its area is approximately 1,295,000 square kilometres (500,000 sq mi). Gobi includes the long stretch of desert extending from the foot of the Pamirs (77° east) to the Greater Khingan Mountains, 116–118° east, on the border of Manchuria ; and from the foothills of the Altay, Sayan , and Yablonoi mountain ranges on

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1738-591: The Antarctic marathon . The Antarctic Peninsula and its nearby islands are considered to have the mildest living conditions in Antarctica. The island's climate is strongly influenced by the surrounding ocean. Under the Köppen system , it is one of the few locations in Antarctica classified as a tundra climate rather than an ice cap climate. Variation in temperatures are small, with the coldest month, July, averaging −6.5 °C (20.3 °F) and 1.5 °C (34.7 °F) in

1817-586: The Mesolithic from 13500 cal BP to 8000 cal BP. During this time people began using oases . It is characterized by: Oasis II is equivalent to the Neolithic from 8000 cal BP to 5000 cal BP. People used the oases extensively. It was characterized by: Starting around 8000 cal BP there was a warm wet phase in the Gobi desert. By 7500 cal BP lake levels in the Western Gobi reached their peak. Around this time there

1896-691: The Nemegt Basin in the northwestern part of the Gobi Desert (in Mongolia), which is noted for its fossil treasures, including early mammals , dinosaur eggs , and prehistoric stone implements , some 100,000 years old. Despite the harsh conditions, these deserts and the surrounding regions sustain many animal species. Some are even unique, including black-tailed gazelles , marbled polecats , wild Bactrian camels , Mongolian wild ass and sandplovers . They are occasionally visited by snow leopards , Gobi bears , and wolves . Lizards are especially well-adapted to

1975-523: The climate of the Gobi is one of great extremes, with rapid changes of temperature of as much as 35 °C (63 °F) in 24-hour spans. In southern Mongolia, the temperature has been recorded as low as −32.8 °C (−27.0 °F). In contrast, in Alxa , Inner Mongolia, it rises as high as 37 °C (99 °F) in July. Average winter minimums are a frigid −21 °C (−6 °F), while summertime maximums are

2054-438: The 4 Deserts Ultramarathon Series are: The Atacama Crossing crosses Chile's Atacama Desert , the driest place on Earth. The Atacama Desert has a unique landscape of salt lakes, volcanoes, lava flows and sand dunes. Moreover, owing to its otherworldly appearance, the landscape has been compared to that of Mars and has been used as a location for filming Mars scenes, most notably in the television series Space Odyssey: Voyage to

2133-479: The 4 Deserts saw a desire for multi-day, multi-stage races in new countries. The concept was to supplement with 4 Deserts Race Series with one-off races in new locations each year. These locations did not have to be deserts, but it was preferred that they would retain some of the most desirable elements of the races in the original series including locations that were off the beaten track and where beautiful, cultural and physically challenging courses could be set. So far,

2212-654: The Antarctic Treaty . The Fildes Peninsula, 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) long, forms the SW extremity of the island. It was named from association with nearby Fildes Strait by the UK-APC in 1960. Chilean scientists have claimed that Amerinds visited the area, citing stone artifacts recovered from bottom-sampling operations in Admiralty Bay ; however, the artefacts—two arrowheads—were later found to have been planted. The island

2291-542: The Chilean Station on the Fildes Peninsula, is operated as a permanent village with an airstrip (with large hangar and control tower along with other buildings), cafeterias for personnel of its several agencies there, a bank, a post office and comfortable ranch-style family homes with children. The Chinese Great Wall base features an indoor multipurpose room which serves as a full-size basketball court. In 2004,

2370-529: The Ghashiun-Gobi and the Kuruk-tagh is determined by the aforementioned arrangements of the latitudinal valleys. Most of the principal streams, instead of flowing straight down these valleys, cross them diagonally and only turn west after they have cut their way through one or more of the transverse barrier ranges. To the highest range on the great swelling Grigory Grum-Grshimailo gives the name of Tuge-tau , its altitude being 2,700 m (8,858 ft) above

2449-679: The Gobi (known also as the Xitao or the "Little Gobi") encompasses the distance between the great northern loop of the Yellow River to the east, the Ejin River to the west, and the Qilian Mountains and narrow rocky chain of Longshou, 3,200 to 3,500 m (10,500 to 11,500 ft) in altitude, to the southwest. The Ordos Desert , which covers the northeastern portion of the Ordos Plateau (also near

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2528-514: The Gobi are very cold and dry, making it unable to support much plant growth; this cold and dry weather is attributed to Siberian-Mongolian high pressure cells. Hence, the icy dust and snowstorms of spring and early summer plus early January (winter). The Gobi Desert is the source of many important fossil finds, including the first dinosaur eggs , twenty-six of which, averaging 23 centimetres (9 in) in length, were uncovered in 1923. Archeologists and paleontologists have done excavations in

2607-408: The Gobi, including Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park , Great Gobi A and Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area . The area is vulnerable to trampling by livestock and off-road vehicles (effects from human intervention are greater in the eastern Gobi Desert, where rainfall is heavier and may sustain livestock). In Mongolia, grasslands have been degraded by goats, which are raised by nomadic herders as

2686-521: The Han-gai ( Obruchev 's Gobi formation) which are characteristic of the southern parts of eastern Mongolia, are absent here or occur only in one locality, near the Shara-muren river. They are greatly intersected by gullies or dry watercourses. Water is scarce, with no streams, no lakes, no wells, and precipitation falls seldom. The prevailing winds blow from the west and northwest, and the pall of dust overhangs

2765-516: The Lake Bosten, though parted from it by the drift-sand desert of Ak-bel-kum (White Pass Sands), has at first a west-northwest to east-southeast strike, but it gradually curves round like a scimitar towards the east-northeast and at the same time gradually decreases in elevation. At 91° east, where the principal range of the Kuruk-tagh system wheels to the east-northeast, four of its subsidiary ranges terminate, or rather die away somewhat suddenly, on

2844-433: The Mongolian area of the Gobi Desert, and is usually held in late August. The Gobi March's challenges include the changes in temperature from the hot highlands to the oppressive cold in sand dunes, the open sun, potential sandstorms and variety of terrain – soft sand-dunes, rocky tracks, steep hills, ridges and riverbeds. A Shanghai-based competitor died of heatstroke after competing in the 2010 Gobi March. His brother (who

2923-544: The Planets . The Atacama Crossing is gruelling because of its terrain, harsh climate and altitude that averages 2,500 meters (8,000 feet) during the race. The race typically begins at its highest point of more than 3,000 meters in the Arcoiris Valley. San Pedro de Atacama is the host town of the Atacama Crossing. Originally located in the Gobi Desert of China, since 2018 the race now takes place in various locations around

3002-604: The RacingThePlanet Ultramarathon has been held in Vietnam (2008), Namibia (2009), Australia (2010), Nepal (2011), Jordan (2012), Iceland (2013), Madagascar (2014), Ecuador (2015), Sri Lanka (2016), Patagonia (2017), Zealand (2019), Georgia (2021) and Lapland (2022). In 2023, RacingThePlanet will celebrate 20 years with a special race in Jordan called "RacingThePlanet: The 20-Year Race. This special race will finish in front of

3081-634: The Treasury Building in Petra. The 250-kilometer (155-mile) races take place over seven days and six stages. A campsite is raised each night for competitors where they are provided with a place in a tent to sleep, access to hot water, a campfire, medical assistance and the CyberTent where they can view and send messages to family and friends and update their race blog. Competitors race from campsite to campsite each day following marker flags that have been planted

3160-423: The appointed time and on certain stages cut-off times are set which racers must meet in order to remain active in the event. The results of the race are based on the cumulative time taken for the competitor to complete all the stages, and a competitor must successfully pass through every checkpoint in order to collect a finisher's medal. Should a competitor withdraw from a particular stage, they may not continue in

3239-549: The brink of a long narrow depression (in which Sven Hedin sees a northeast bay of the former great Central Asian lake of Lop-nor), having over against them the écheloned terminals of similar subordinate ranges of the Pe-shan (Boy-san) system (see below). The Kuruk-tagh is throughout a relatively low, but almost completely barren range, being entirely destitute of animal life, save for hares, antelopes and wild camels, which frequent its few small, widely scattered oases. The vegetation, which

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3318-428: The central parts, until the bordering mountains are reached, trees and shrubs are utterly absent. Clay and sand are the predominant formations; the watercourses, especially in the north, being frequently excavated 2 to 3 m (6 ft 7 in to 9 ft 10 in) deep. In many places in the flat, dry valleys or depressions farther south, beds of loess , 5 to 6 m (16 to 20 ft) thick, are exposed. West of

3397-569: 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 equipment 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

3476-468: The climate of the Gobi Desert, with approximately 30 species distributed across its southern Mongolian border. The most common vegetation in the Gobi desert is shrubs adapted to drought. These shrubs included gray sparrow's saltwort ( Salsola passerina ), gray sagebrush , and low grasses such as needle grass and bridlegrass . Due to livestock grazing, the amount of shrubs in the desert has decreased. Several large nature reserves have been established in

3555-466: The conclusion of the Antarctic race; champions from previous years have been crowned retrospectively. 4 Deserts Champions are determined by adding the finishing rankings of every The Last Desert competitor over each of the four races in the series. For this reason, only 4 Deserts Club members are eligible for the award. The lowest aggregate score in the male and female categories is named a 4 Deserts Champion. In 2010, Ryan Sandes of South Africa recorded

3634-535: The country as in the Taklamakan and the desert of Lop . Characteristic of the flora are wild garlic, Kalidium gracile , wormwood , saxaul , Nitraria schoberi , Caragana , Ephedra , saltwort and the grass Lasiagrostis splendens . The taana wild onion Allium polyrrhizum is the main browse eaten by many herd animals, and Mongolians claim that this is essential in producing the proper, hazelnut-like notes of camel airag (fermented milk). The vast desert

3713-437: The depressions lie mostly between 900 and 1,000 m (3,000 and 3,300 ft) above sea-level. Further south, between Iren-dutiasu-nor and the Yellow River , comes a region of broad tablelands alternating with flat plains, the latter ranging at altitudes of 1000–1100 m and the former at 1,070 to 1,200 m (3,510 to 3,940 ft). The slopes of the plateaus are more or less steep and are sometimes penetrated by "bays" of

3792-535: The devastating earthquake in Sichuan Province on 12 May, so that year RacingThePlanet put together a special auction whereby 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. An unheard of and never-to-be-repeated luxury. The auction raised almost US$ 30,000 for the Red Cross disaster fund. Again in 2010 another earthquake affected

3871-450: The end of November. The unique challenges of The Last Desert (Antarctica) include having to cope with the severity of the weather conditions that can include gale force blizzards and temperatures down to −20 °C (-4 °F). Competitors also have to deal with the unpredictability of daily stage lengths and start-times, as the prevailing environmental conditions dictate where and when stages might begin. Fifteen individuals from around

3950-829: The foot of the mountains, with barren shingle. Although on the whole a level country with a general altitude of 1,000 to 1,500 m (3,300 to 4,900 ft), this section, like most other parts of the Gobi, is crowned by a network of hills and broken ranges of at least 300 m in elevation. The vegetation is confined to a few varieties of bushes and a dozen kinds of grasses and herbs, the most conspicuous being saxaul ( Haloxylon ammondendron ) and Agriophyllum gobicum . The others include prickly convolvulus , field wormwood ( Artemisia campestris ), acacia , Inula ammophila , Sophora flavescens , Convolvulus ammanii , Peganum and Astragalus species, but all dwarfed, deformed and starved. The fauna consists of little but antelope, wolf, fox, hare, hedgehog, marten, numerous lizards and

4029-464: The great northern loop of the Yellow River) is part of this ecoregion within the middle basin of three great depressions into which Potanin divides the Gobi. "Topographically," says Nikolai Przhevalsky , "it is a perfectly level plain, which in all probability once formed the bed of a huge lake or inland sea." He concludes this based on the level area of the region as a whole, the hard saline clay and

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4108-468: The increasing aridity between 3500 cal BP and 3000 cal BP there was a decline in human habitation in the Gobi desert. Prehistoric petroglyphs have been found in Southern Mongolia in 1997. The Gobi had a long history of human habitation, mostly by nomadic peoples. The name of Gobi means desert in Mongolian. The region was inhabited mostly by Mongols , Uyghurs , and Kazakhs . The Gobi Desert as

4187-816: The island, the first men to do so in Antarctica . Chile (like Argentina and Great Britain) regards all of the Antarctic Peninsula and South Shetland Islands as part of that country's territory; however, the terms of the Antarctic Treaty allow Chile to colonize the Fildes Peninsula without overtly pursuing its territorial claims. The coastal areas of the island are home to a comparatively diverse selection of animal life, including elephant , Weddell , and leopard seals, and Adelie , chinstrap and gentoo penguins. Several other seabirds, including skuas and southern giant petrel , nest on this island during

4266-607: The island, which is considered rich for the latitude. This makes King George Island "one of the most muscologically diverse areas in the Antarctic". Human habitation of King George Island is limited to research stations belonging to Argentina , Brazil , Chile , China , South Korea , Peru , Poland , Russia , Uruguay , and the United States . Most of these stations are permanently staffed, carrying out research in areas as diverse as biology , ecology , geology , and palaeontology . Base Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva ,

4345-426: The kracenard pine rallies, running perpendicular and far from one another. As they proceed south, they transcend and transpose, sweeping back on east and west respectively, with Lake Bosten in between. These two ranges mark the northern and the southern edges respectively of a great swelling, which extends eastward for nearly twenty degrees of longitude. On its northern side, the Chol-tagh descends steeply, and its foot

4424-509: The level of the sea and some 1,200 m (3,937 ft) above the crown of the swelling itself. This range he considers to belong to the Choltagh system, whereas Sven Hedin would assign it to the Kuruk-tagh. This last, which is pretty certainly identical with the range of Kharateken-ula (also known as the Kyzyl-sanghir , Sinir , and Singher Mountains ), that overlooks the southern shore of

4503-940: The lowest and unbeatable aggregate score of 4 points as he had won each of the 4 Deserts races he had entered. In 2012, Spanish racer Vicente Juan Garcia Beneito and German competitor Anne-Marie Flammersfeld repeated this feat by winning all four races in the same calendar year and qualifying for the 4 Deserts Grand Slam. 4 Deserts Champions: 2018 Male : Wong Ho-chung (Hong Kong) 2014 Male: José Manuel Martínez Fernandez (Spain) Female: Isis Breiter (Mexico) 2012 Male: Vicente Juan Garcia Beneito (Spain) Female: Anne-Marie Flammersfeld (Germany) 2010 Male: Ryan Sandes (South Africa) Female: Mirjana Pellizzer (Croatia) 2008 Male: Dean Karnazes (United States) Female: Laura Corti (Italy) 2007 Male: Francesco Galanzino (Italy) Gobi Desert The Gobi Desert ( Mongolian : Говь , ᠭᠣᠪᠢ , / ˈ ɡ oʊ b i / ; Chinese : 戈壁 ; pinyin : gēbì )

4582-467: The lowlands. As the border-range of the Hyangan is approached, the country steadily rises up to 1,370 m (4,490 ft) and then to 1,630 m (5,350 ft). Here small lakes frequently fill the depressions, though the water in them is generally salty or brackish. Both here and for 320 km (199 mi) south of Ulaanbaatar, streams are frequent and grass grows more or less abundantly. Through all

4661-439: The name of Ghashuun-Gobi or "Salt Desert". It is some 130 to 160 km (81 to 99 mi) across from north to south, and is traversed by a number of minor parallel ranges, ridges and chains of hills. Down its middle runs a broad stony valley, 40 to 80 km (25 to 50 mi) wide, at an elevation of 900 to 1,370 m (2,950 to 4,490 ft). The Chol-tagh, which reaches an average altitude of 1,800 m (5,900 ft),

4740-675: The north to the Kunlun , Altyn-Tagh , and Qilian mountain ranges, which form the northern edges of the Tibetan Plateau , on the south. A relatively large area on the east side of the Greater Khingan range, between the upper waters of the Songhua (Sungari) and the upper waters of the Liao-ho, is reckoned to belong to the Gobi by conventional usage. Some geographers and ecologists prefer to regard

4819-445: The preceding day. They must pass through a series of checkpoints where they collect drinking water and can seek medical treatment. Other than the access to the services described competitors must race completely self-supported, carrying all their food, supplies and equipment for the week. Each competitor must carry a selection of mandatory items at all times to help ensure their safety out on course. Competitors must start each stage at

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4898-410: The principal ranges, divide the region into a series of long; narrow valleys, mostly parallel to one another and to the enclosing mountain chains, which descend like terraced steps, on the one side towards the depression of Lukchun and on the other towards the desert of Lop. In many cases these latitudinal valleys are barred transversely by ridges or spurs, generally elevations en masse of the bottom of

4977-524: The race took place for the third time in the Western Desert around the region around Al Fayuum, Wadi El-Rayan Protected Area and The Valley of the Whales or Wadi Al-Hitan , a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Due to political unrest the 2014 edition of the race was moved to Jordan where it crossed four deserts; Wadi Rum, Kharaza, Humaima and Wadi Araba before finishing in the ancient city of Petra . The 2016 event

5056-399: The race. About 50% of competitors choose to support causes when racing at the 4 Deserts. 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

5135-438: The races. Many participants return to compete in additional events, and there is a growing list of members in the 4 Deserts Club and 4 Deserts Grand Slam Club. In 2013, a documentary film about 4 Deserts was released. Desert Runners , directed by Jennifer Steinman, follows four participants as they attempt to complete the series in 2010. The Desert Runners documentary received many film awards. The events that combine to make

5214-399: The ranges from 200 to 500 m (660 to 1,640 ft) higher, though in a few cases they reach altitudes of 2,400 m (7,900 ft). The elevations do not form continuous chains, but make up a congeries of short ridges and groups rising from a common base and intersected by a labyrinth of ravines, gullies, glens, and basins. But the tablelands , built up of the horizontal red deposits of

5293-432: The route from Ulaanbaatar to Kalgan , the country presents approximately the same general features, except that the mountains are not so irregularly scattered in groups but have more strongly defined strikes, mostly east to west, west-north-west to east-south-east, and west-south-west to east-north-east. The altitudes are higher, those of the lowlands ranging from 1,000 to 1,700 m (3,300 to 5,600 ft), and those of

5372-474: The sand-strewn surface and, lastly, the salt lakes which occupy its lowest parts. For hundreds of kilometers, nothing can be seen but bare sands; in some places, they continue so far without a break that the Mongols call them Tengger (i.e. sky). These vast expanses are absolutely waterless, nor do any oases relieve the unbroken stretches of yellow sand, which alternate with equally vast areas of saline clay or, nearer

5451-588: The snow and glaciers of the high mountains break through barren foothill ranges and flow out into an immense, hollow plain. Here the rivers begin to straggle and fan out, and form great marshes with dense reed-beds. Westerners call this terrain the Dzungarian desert. The Chinese also call it a desert, but the Mongols call it a 'gobi'—that is, a land of thin herbage, more suitable for camels than for cows, but capable also, if herds are kept small and moved frequently, of sustaining horses, sheep, and goats. The herbage comprises

5530-535: The summer months. In 1971, Denis C. Lindsay published Vegetation of the South Shetland Islands , and in doing so was the first professional botanist to outline the flora of King George Island. Only two vascular plants are known to grow on the island - Antarctic hair grass and Antarctic pearlwort . The flora is otherwise dominated by lichens and mosses . Ryszard Ochyra reports in his 1998 publication that there are 61 distinct species of moss found on

5609-457: The valley. Where such elevations exist, there is generally found, on the east side of the transverse ridge, a cauldron-shaped depression, which some time or other has been the bottom of a former lake, but is now nearly a dry salt-basin. The surface configuration is in fact markedly similar to that which occurs in the inter-mount latitudinal valleys of the Kunlun Mountains . The hydrography of

5688-583: The western area of the Gobi region (as defined above): the basin of the Tarim in Xinjiang and the desert basin of Lop Nor and Hami ( Kumul ), as forming a separate and independent desert, called the Taklamakan Desert . Much of the Gobi is not sandy, instead resembling exposed bare rock. The Gobi is overall a cold desert, with frost and occasionally snow occurring on its dunes . Besides being quite far north, it

5767-512: The world completed the inaugural event in 2006 becoming the first in the world to complete a 250 km footrace on the Antarctic continent. The Last Desert 2010 took place in November of that year in King George Island , Deception Island , and Dorian Bay . The Last Desert 2010 was featured 3 times on IMG 's Transworld Sport . The RacingThePlanet Ultramarathon was introduced in 2008 as

5846-461: Was discovered and named by the British explorer William Smith in 1819, who named it after the then King , George III. It is approximately 95 km (59 mi) long and 25 km (16 mi) wide with a land area of 1,150 square kilometres (444 sq mi). Over 90% of the island's surface is permanently glaciated . In 1821, 11 men of the sealing vessel Lord Melville survived the winter on

5925-826: Was first claimed for Britain on 16 October 1819, formally annexed by Britain as part of the Falkland Islands Dependencies in 1908, and now as part of the separate British Antarctic Territory . The Island was claimed by Chile in 1940, as part of the Chilean Antarctic Territory . It was also claimed by Argentina in 1943, now as part of Argentine Antarctica , called by the Argentines Isla Veinticinco de Mayo (25 May) in honour of their National Day. The US and Russia do not recognize any Antarctic claim, and have formally reserved their right to claim Antarctic territories. The island

6004-491: Was meadow steppe vegetation around lakes. In Ulaan Nuur there may have been shrubby riparian woodlands. Oasis III is equivalent to the Bronze Age from 5000 cal BP to 3000 cal BP. It is characterized by: Bronze Age herder burials have been found in the Gobi desert, as well as Karasuk bronze knives, and Mongolian deer stones . Between 5000 cal BP and 4500 cal BP there was a period of desertification . Due to

6083-714: Was not at the race) claimed Racing the Planet was "reckless" to set such a course for non-professional athletes, and ill-prepared. Originally hosted in the Sahara Desert of Egypt, the race is now located along the Skeleton Coast of Namibia. The Namib segment takes place, usually in late April, in the oldest desert in the world. Competitors have to contend with a variety of terrains, both rock and sand, but will face endless miles of sand dunes up to 122 metres (400 feet) high. Daytime temperatures reach 50 °C (122 °F). In 2012

6162-519: Was relocated to the Namib Desert where it is expected to remain for some time. The race uses a polar expedition ship as its base, traveling to the different course locations on the Antarctic Peninsula and offshore islands based on the prevailing sea and weather conditions, with competitors transferred from ship to shore by zodiacs. Since 2010, this segment has been held biannually in order to minimise its environmental impact, and usually takes place around

6241-495: Was the first year in which all 4 Deserts races were held in the same calendar year. Competitors can enter any of the individual multiday races within the 4 Deserts Race Series, but if they wish to take part in The Last Desert (Antarctica) they must successfully finish at least two of the other races in the series. To date, more than seventy races have been staged with more than 10,000 individuals representing 100+ countries in

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