Shirley Potter's Gobi Desert March Report 2009

Congratulations to Galway Triathlon Club member Shirley Potter who as a warm up to the Sligo and Galway triathlons took second place in the Gobi Desert Ultramarathon behind her friend and fellow Galwegian Diana Hogan Murphy! Here's Shirley's race report.

First and Second for Irish Women in the Gobi March, China

The Gobi March is part of the ‘4 Deserts’ marathon series run by Racing The Planet. This is a series of 250km 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. This meant that the scenery was spectacular and like nothing I’ve ever seen before.

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, and reached an altitude of 3,100 meters. Each day of the ultramarathon had a different course, with checkpoints approximately every 10 km. The first four days, approximately 42 km per day, were simply a prelude to the ‘long one’ on day 5 – 80 km across the desert in one stage. The last day consisted of a 10 km ‘fun run’. Temperatures reached 44 degrees Celsius at the hottest part of the day, just slightly hotter than what I had been training in here at home! The Gobi Desert has been described as one of the most hostile environments on the planet. The terrain was challenging to say the least, consisting of steep-sided canyons, vast riverbeds, mountains and sand dunes. The conditions underfoot were 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, mine came in at 9.7kg at weigh-in. Drastic measures were taken to lighten the load, even as bad as cutting the corners off freeze-dried food containers and breaking the handle off your toothbrush in order to save precious grams. The emphasis was on self sufficiency and the only assistance provided was water, tents to sleep in and emergency medical assistance. Pain killers were essential. I realised it was going to hurt whether I go fast, or kept going slow or even stopped, so I might as well just keep going. I tried to not focus on the pain and just appreciate the scenery and how privileged I was to be seeing it (cringe I know but it worked, at least for a while!).

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 us each night. The camaraderie out on the course was like nothing I’ve ever experienced. Overall 128 competitors started the race, hailing from 28 different countries. There were three Irish competitors, Diana Hogan Murphy from Athenry AC, Shane O’Rourke from Portumna and myself. Diana put in an outstanding performance, and came in first in the women’s race. Shane came fifth overall and first in his age group. 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!

Shirley Potter

Shirley at the Gobi Desert March