Are You Tough Enough to Race the World's Harshest Deserts? Samantha Fanshawe - 08/19/2020

Are You Tough Enough to Race the World’s Harshest Deserts?
Samantha Fanshawe

 


Imagine running 250km (about 155) miles in 6 stages across the
most inhospitable deserts in the world while carrying everything
you need for the entire race on your back.  Whether you
think that sounds incredible or miserable, you’ll probably agree
the idea is fascinating.


Samantha Fanshawe, president of the 4 Deserts Race Series at
RacingThePlanet, manages ultra stage races all over the world in
some of the harshest conditions from the Atacama Desert in Chile
to the Gobi Desert in Mongolia to the Namib Desert in Africa to
the coldest desert in the world, Antarctica.


Sam tells Coach Claire what it’s like to race these events, what
you need to do to train and prepare, and who should (and should
not) sign up for an event like this. It’s a fascinating dive into
the world of some of the toughest races on the planet, and you
can enjoy it from the comfort of home!  


Sam has always been a citizen of the planet. She is a Brit, born
in Peru and schooled in Pakistan for a few of her early years.
She graduated from the University of Leeds with a joint honors
degree in Maths and Biology, then went off to explore parts of
the world such as Sydney, Australia, before returning to the
United Kingdom to work in business development of corporate
clients in the recruitment industry. After a couple of years, her
company transferred her to Singapore, followed by stints in
Penang, Malaysia and Hong Kong. 


Sam has mastered the art of dragon boat racing, competing in the
Dragon Boat World Championships. She also plays squash, hikes,
rides horses, and mountain bikes. She fell in love with running
while living in Asia, starting with half marathons before running
the Singapore Marathon, sprint triathlons, adventure races, and
ultimately ultramarathons including the Hong Kong Oxfam
Trailwalker, the Gobi March, Vibram HK 100, and Mongolia Sunrise
to Sunset. 


In 2005, Sam volunteered at the hottest race on record, the Gobi
March, a seven-day, 250km footrace. She fell in love with the
spirit of RacingThePlanet and became a staff member, and has
since worked over 20 RacingThePlanet/4 Desert events.


 
Questions Samantha is asked:

        


5:18 You have a very interesting background, living all over the
world. How did you first get involved with RacingThePlanet?


 


6:23 Can you describe what these events are like? I’d love to
hear what they are and what kind of people sign up for them?


 


9:12 How many people actually really run every single day and how
many people do more of a walk/hiking?


 


9:46 The participants pretty much have to bring everything as far
as food. They don’t have to bring a tent I understand, but pretty
much everything else?


 


11:02 How has the pandemic affected RacingThePlanet?


 


12:47 Let’s talk about training for the race. Let’s fast forward
to 2021 when everything is perfectly healthy. How would you
recommend training for something like this? Is it similar to
marathon training?


 


14:05 Training for the race with a backpack is super important,
right?


 


15:01 I imagine you have a lot of repeat athletes who do this
over and over again, but I would love to hear about the first
timers. What challenges do the first-time racers tend to face?


 


16:44 What kind of food do people eat on something like this? I
imagine it would be different if you’re running or walking
because you can chew a lot better when you are walking, but what
kind of foods are most people bringing in their backpack every
day?


 


19:23 You’ve got all of your food for all six stages in your
backpack the whole time. Is that what you’re saying? No one takes
it for you to the next stage.


 


19:43 I imagine not everybody makes it to the finish line. What
are the reasons that you see that most people have to stop the
race?


 


21:52 What kind of people should NOT sign up for a race like
this?


 


23:03 I bet you have a whole collection of amazing stories from
races as epic as this. Can you share a few of the more memorable
stories of things that have happened in some of these races?


 


25:19 I noticed that registration for Antarctica is by invite
only.  Can you explain?


 


26:57 I imagine you’re not dealing with heat in Antarctica, but
there’s probably some other challenges like dealing with the cold
and maybe frostbite. What are the other challenges in Antarctica?


 


27:56 How many times have you gone to Antarctica now?


 


28:29 What is the future for RacingThePlanet? Is there anything
new in the works?






Questions I ask everyone:


 


30:09 If you could go back and talk to yourself when you first
started running, what advice would you give yourself?


 


31:11 What is the greatest gift that running has given you?


 


32:35 Where can listeners connect with you?




Quotes by Samantha:

 


“The whole ethos of the race was not only to take people to
amazing places and to achieve things that maybe they didn’t think
was possible like covering 250km on foot across a desert, but
also to make people realize that you can survive for seven days
in a desert without the internet, without your phone, without a
comfortable bed, without a shower, and just with everything you
can carry on your back.”


 


“Our goal is to encourage people to finish, but within the cutoff
times and safely and when they’re in the right position to do
so.”


 


“When you think you’re done, you think what you’re going through
is nothing compared to what some other people are going through,
not just in the race, but in life as well.”


Take a Listen on Your Next Run


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Mentioned in this podcast: 

RacingThePlanet


info@racingtheplanet.com


Runners Connect Winner's Circle Facebook Community


RunnersConnect Facebook page


claire@runnersconnect.net


 


Follow Samantha on:


 


Facebook - RacingThePlanet


Instagram - RacingThePlanet


LinkedIn - RacingThePlanet


Twitter - RacingThePlanet


YouTube - RacingThePlanet






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