Atacama Extreme: Ray is Officially Underway!

I've been posting updates on the Atacama Extreme expedition, which features endurance athlete Ray Zahab running solo across the entire length of the Atacama Desert in Chile. Ray, who was originally was suppose to run with his usual adventure partner Kevin Vallely, set off on Sunday, after carefully selecting the perfect starting point along the Peruvian/Chilean border. On his first day out, Ray covered 78.5km (48.7 miles) through the driest desert on the planet. As if that wasn't a big enough challenge, he also had to stay on a road for the first few miles to avoid land mines and later he had to conquer a massive gorge that cut across his path.

Check out the video journal below for a first hand account from Ray himself, and go to the expedition's website for photos and more information on the first day of the run.




Day 1 Atacama Extreme from GOi2P on Vimeo.

Atacama Extreme: Ray Will Challenge The Desert Alone

As I mentioned earlier in the week, the Atacama Extreme expedition is scheduled to get underway tomorrow and was to have feature Ray Zahab and partner Kevin Vallely running the length of the Atacama Desert in Chile, north to south. But a last minute change in plans now has Ray taking on the desert solo.

According to this story from ExWeb, Kevin was forced to pull out of the run after his father became sick just days before the team was to set off for Chile. ExWeb quotes an e-mail from Ray that says “I will now be running alone! Unfortunately Kev's dad has taken ill, and as an awesome son would, Kev is staying with his Dad. The absolute right decision. Family comes first.”

This now puts more stress on Ray, at least on a psychological level. Without a doubt, he is up to running the desert from a physical stand point, as he is an amazing endurance athlete. But spending days on end by yourself, running an average of 70km (43 miles) per day, through the driest place on Earth, will take its toll on a guy.

All of this adds another dimension to what was already a very big challenge. Expect updates to begin as soon as tomorrow, as the run officially gets underway. It should be quite the adventure to follow.

Karnazes Goes For "Desert Grand Slam"

A few days ago I mentioned that Dean Karnazes had won the 2008 Atacama Crossing and that he intended to become the first man to complete all of the 4 Deserts Marathons in a single calendar year. Well, according to this story over at Trailspace.com , Dean has added yet one more desert to his list, as he attempts the "Desert Grand Slam".

In addition to the Atacama, which he has just finished, he'll head to China for the Gobi March in June, The Sahara in October, and wrap things up with The Last Desert Marathon in Antarctica in November. That will complete the "4 Deserts". But in July he'll turn his sights on The Badwater Ultra held annually in Death Valley.

Karnaze's corporate sponsor North Face has put together an official Desert Grand Slam website to provide more info, including a link to Dean's blog on the events.

The "Desert Grand Slam" seems a bit contrived to me, but then again, the 4 Deserts and The Badwater are five really tough races, and anyone who competes at a high level in any of those events is a talented runner, let alone all five of them in one year. With a win in the Atacama already under his belt, Dean is off to a good start. One thing that is clear though, he sure doesn't mind suffering a bit in the races he chooses.

Atacama Crossing Update

The 2008 Atacama Crossing got underway this past weekend, with 70+ competitors, from more than 20 countries, taking part in a stage race across Chile's Atacama Desert. Today marked the fourth day, and fourth stage of the event, with runners racing 26 miles through the arid region.

Heading into today's stage, American Dean Karnazes led the field, followed by Rob James, of the U.K., just six and a half minutes back. Johan Peterson of New Zealand was occupying third place and Mimi Peterson, also from the U.K. was the top female racer, clocking in at tenth in the overall standings. The "Breaking News" section on the website reports that James has finished for the day, but Karnazes is still out on the course.

The Atacama Crossing is part of the 4 Deserts Series of ultramarathons sponsored by RacingThePlanet.com Karnazes joins South African Paul H. Liebenberg and Dane Jimmi Olsen in attempting to become the first men to finish all four of the events in one year, with the other three taking place in The Sahara, Gobi, and Antarctica.

Tomorrow will be a rest day while competitors will prepare for a grueling 45 mile slog on Friday before finishing up with a reasonably short six mile finish on Saturday when the champion will be crowned.

Atacama Crossing 2008 Begins Sunday

The 2008 edition of the Atacama Crossing is set to get underway this Sunday in Chile. The six-stage ultramarathon will last seven days, and cover more than 250km. (155 miles)

This event is part of the 4 Deserts series of races put on annually by Racing The Planet. This year there will be more than 80 competitors, both male and female, from 21 countries around the World. The six stages vary in length greatly, with the longest stage clocking in at 73.6km (45 miles) and the shortest, which happens to be the final day, is just 10.4km (6 miles).

This year's event will also see three competitors who will attempt to finish all four "4 Deserts" events in a single calendar year. They are South African Paul H. Liebenberg, Dane Jimmi Olsen, and the Ultramarathon Man himself, American Dean N. Karnazes. If everything goes as planned, these three men will be running endurance events not only in the Atacama, but also the Gobi, Sahara, and finally Antarctica later this year.

The Atacama Desert is quite an interesting place in it's own right. Stretching 960km (600 miles) south from Peru, and running 160km (100 miles) east from the Pacific Ocean to the Andes Mountains, it covers a significant portion of Chile. The desert is essentially a rainless plateau, without a single drop of precipitation having ever been recorded there by man. The landscape is eerie and other worldly with lava flows, salt flats, sand, and dry river beds that haven't seen water in 120,000 years. The area is said to be 50 times dryer than Death Valley, if you can believe that.

Sounds like a great place to go for a run. Or six. Good luck to everyone involved. Should be another great event.

Atacama Crossing Begins Sunday

The latest race in the Racing The Planet Series of ultramarathons begins on Sunday. Dubbed the Atacama Crrossing for the desert that the event is held in, the race will be run in six stages over the coming week.

In all, there are 80 competitors in the race from 16 countries around the World. They'll be tested in a desert that is 50 times more arid than Death Valley. During the day, temperatures will hover around 100 degrees F, while at night they'll plummet below freezing, testing each athletes endurance even further.

The six stages will take place at at least one mile above sea level, and range in length from 10 miles on the final day to 50 miles on the fifth day, which has been branded the "March of Death". Most of the days will hover around the 25 mile mark. When complete, the competitors will essentially have run the horizontal length of Chile.

Besides the usual leaderboards and race reports, this year's version of the race will also include daily blogs and a live webcam from camp each day.

As of now, the competitors are all checked in, and have gone through their gear checks as well. They're in camp, and will be launching the race at 8 AM local time tomorrow morning. It should be another amazing race to follow, as these endurance athletes battle the distance in one of the harshest places on Earth.

Atacama Crossing 2006 Results

The 2006 Atacama Crossing is over, and it sounds like it was an incredibly tough, and challenging race. First place in the Men's Division went to Mark Tamminga of Canada, followed by Joe Holland of the United States, and Francesco Gallanzino of Italy. In the Women's Division, Lucy Marriott of the United Kingdom and Sissel Smaller of Norway finished tied for first, followed by Sandy McCallum of Canada and Julia Leder of the United States in second and third respectively. The Team title went to Team GB. You can read about all the winners and the final stage (including a wedding proposal!) here.

By the way, Joe Holland, the second place men's finisher, is a Backcountry Athlete over at The Backcountry Blog. Expect some more updates on the race, and possibly a first hand account, on that site soon.

Atacama Crossing: Stage 5

Today marks the fifth stage of the 2006 Atacama Crossing. This is a fifty mile long, overnight stage, with the runners starting in staggred bunches. At this point in the race, Canadian Mark Tamminga is still in the lead, but a number of competitors have dropped out over the past few days, in no small part due to the grueling stages of the race, but also due to high winds at the campsites. For more insights into the race, check out the daily coverage over at backcountryblog.com which is not only offering up great coverage of what's happening at the race, but have one of their own athletes taking part. And while you're there, be sure to read their gear reviews for all the stuff they recently tested on an expedition to Codillera Blanca range of Peru. Good stuff.

Atacama Crossing Update

The Atacama Crossing has been going on for several days now, and we're into stage 3 of the event. It sounds like it's been a great race so far, with physical, nto to mention navigational, challenges on every stage. The first two stages reportedly had a lot of water crossing, which anyone who is a trail runner or ultra-marathoner will tell you means bad things for your feet. Several competitors have dropped out of the race due to heat exhaustion as well. But today's stage is a "mere" 25 miles, with a 131 racers still going at. At the moment, Mark Taminga of Canada is in the lead, but with three more long stages to go, there is still plenty of racing to be done, and we all know that anything can happen in a race like this one.

Atacama Crossing 2006

The next leg of the Racing The Planet series of ultramarathons, the Atacama Crossing is set to begin in just two days time. This stage race ultramarathon will be run in the Atacma Desert, located in Chile. The desert is said to be 50 times more arid than Death Valley, which will surely test the mettle of the racers. I'll bring updates regularly throughout the week as the event unfolds. Looking over the competitor list, I don't see Terri Schneider's name. You may recall, Terri was the woman who wrote a very compelling blog while running the Gobi March a few months back, which was the most recent of the races in this series.