Dr. Tan begins Gobi March

123 116 Tan Tah Ming 53 M Hospice Malaysia 10:20:24

Dr. Tan completed Day 1 of the Gobi March in 10hs20mins24secs. Looks like it was a tough day but he made it. What a inspiration. He did suggest that I might like to join him but having suffered the Marathon Des Sables and then tried to talk him and Ngae out of going I think he quickly realised that he was not going to get very far with me.

Here's some quick facts from the Gobi March website: -

- The Gobi March is part of the 4 Deserts, named by TIME magazine as one of the Top - 10 Endurance Competitions in the World.
The Gobi Desert is the great stony desert of North-Central Asian. It comprises more than 500,000 miles2 or 1,295,000 km2.
- The Gobi has cold winters and short, hot summers.
- Xinjiang Province, where the Gobi March takes place, contains the China's lowest depression, the hottest place in China and the most distant point from an ocean in the world.
- This year's Gobi March will be located around Kashgar in an area called Kizilsu Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecture.
- The Gobi March (China) 2009 will be the sixth event located along the ancient Silk Road - past locations included Dunhuang, Turpan, Hami, Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County, and Kizilsu Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecture.
- The majority of the area where the Gobi March will be held is closed to non-Chinese, requiring special permits.
- The Gobi desert is north of the Himalayas, which blocks most of the rain-carrying clouds from ever reaching the Gobi, thus it only barely averages 8 inches of rain per year.
- The course is expected to reach an altitude of about 3,000 meters / 9,800 feet.
- The Gobi March (China) 2009 will pass by Heaven's Gate / Shipton's Arch, said to be the largest natural arch in the world.
- Four individuals in the Gobi March (China) 2009 have summitted Mt. Everest, the world's tallest mountain.
- 101 individuals are first time 4 Deserts competitors.
- The youngest competitor is 19 years old (from the United States).
- Twenty percent are female with 80 percent male.
- The largest contingent of competitors is from the United Kingdom with 28 followed by the United States with 27.
- There is largest number of mainland China residents ever with 13.
- Thirty-seven competitors list Hong Kong as their primary residence.
- The average age of competitors is roughly 35 years of age, the youngest field ever in a 4 Deserts event.
- A donation of sports equipment and a computer by RacingThePlanet will be made to local schools around Kashgar.