Gobi March 08: The Long March is Over!

"The Long March" stage of this year's Gobi March staged desert race put on by Racing The Planet is over, and the results are in.

After a long, and grueling 79 km (49 mile) stage, the top of the leaderboard remains unchanged. South African Ryan Sandes retains first place, with Siu Keung Tsang of Hong Kong in second, and Chilean Juan Encina in third. Tomorrow's stage is just 12km (7.5 miles) in length, so barring any strange, unforeseen circumstances, this is how the podium will be filled. American Lia Farley is the top female racer, claiming 7th overall, and Dean Karnazies still holds on to fourth place and will finish the second stage of his Desert Grand Slam.

Todays stage was by far the longest of the event, and it wound through some rather remote areas. It is also reported that it was extremely hot for todays stage as well, which took it's toll on the field. More than 25 competitors were forced to withdraw after spending hours in the hot Gobi sun.

On a different note, if you'd like to see what one of these Racing The Planet races is like, tune in tomorrow to the Jeep World of Adventure Sports on NBC to catch a glimpse of the Racing The Planet: Vietnam race that was held a few months back. It was the first event from this organization that wasn't held in one of the 4 Deserts as they expand to other regions of the globe. The show airs at 3 PM EDT/2 CDT. Set your DVR's accordingly.