Conquering the Atacama Crossing (Chile)

Our winners! 

47 Children from the Sunbeam Childern’s Village took part in the Read-a-thon - they read a total of 890 books!

Congratulations to  our winners and congratulations to all of the children - you are all winners for having taken part!

A big thank you from the Children of the Sunbeam Children’s Village to Gwenaelle A Daniellou for HKD1000  in support of Stéphane’s great Atacama Crossing!

Thank you to Josephine Bersee for her donation of HKD50 for the Children!

Thank you to Mathias Ricci who has donated HKD 600 to The Sunbeam Childrens Village!

Jocelyn & Stéphane finishing in style!

Video of Jocelyn being interviewed hasn’t been posted on the Official Atacama site yet…. we’ll have to keep watching for it!

Summary of the final :Stage 6 – 10.4km Competitors spent yesterday resting after a grueling 70-plus kilometer stage.  Birthdays were celebrated with special birthday cakes; an astronomer came out to give a two-hour talk about the stars and galaxies.  Competitors and volunteers alike enjoyed the rest time.  Today competitors set out for a 9.7 kilometer jaunt into San Pedro de Atacama, the location of the finish of the Atacama Crossing (Chile) 2008.  American Dean Karnazes had built up a more than 30 minute lead going into the final stage. Briton’s Mimi Anderson had a large lead in the women’s division, while Team Trifecta was guaranteed to win the team division being the only team remaining.  As expected,Chile’s Juan Encinta stole Stage 6 giving him two wins during the week.  Dean Karnazes was the overall winner of the Atacama Crossing 2008, although he won the fewest stages ever for a champion in a 4 Deserts event.  We can only wonder how Chile’s Juan Encina would have done if he had raced in the individual category….maybe we will find out in the Gobi March coming up in less than two months. 

Once more a thank you to Deacons  for their sponsorship support of Jocelyn and their gift prizes that prompted the Sunbeam Children’s Village Read-athon! 
… and to Maxim, Ealing  for Jocelyn’s 7 day food supply sponsorship.
There are no words to express what their sponsorship has meant to the children.

Meanwhile - the Children of Sunbeam (that didn’t leave for the Holiday) are still going strong with today being the last day and Stage 6... results and pictures as they come in!

The board as you can see as of 4 April: 28 children read a whopping 105 books!

Dont forget to see the rest of the Read-athon Stage 5 images in the Sunbeam Photo Gallery! 

18

Stephane LaPorte

Male

Fr/HK

06:12:13-

06:58:20-

06:40:52-

07:33:02-

14:00:09-

01:04:03-

42:28:39

45

Jocelyn E.C. Chow

Female

Hong Kong

08:38:46

09:40:21

09:36:38

11:09:39

17:50:05

01:44:49

58:40:18

 How amazing were they!!!

 Rob and Dean came in as a tie on the Stage 6 at 00:53:52!  Finishing with Dean  first and Rob James a very respectable #2

1

Dean N. Karnazes

Male

United States

04:28:00

05:45:46

05:01:20

06:26:45

09:14:01

00:53:52

31:49:44

2

Rob D. James

Male

UK/HK

04:30:16-

05:15:29-

05:35:52-

05:46:18-

10:24:19-

00:53:52-

32:26:06

3

Johan Petersen

Male

New Zealand

04:35:24

05:50:23

05:42:28

05:51:28

10:58:57

00:53:52

33:52:32

A huge thank you to Kish Gill for HKD 1,000: In honor of Stéphane’s amazing Atacama Crossing

No new results times or photographs have been posted other than this breaking news bulletin: 

2:45 pm, 5 April, San Pedro de Atacama: The final stage has concluded. Chilean Juan Encina won the 9.7-kilometer Stage Six. American Dean Kaznares wins the overall Atacama Crossing 2008 race. Awards will be given at the race banquet later tonight. 

9:13 am, 5 April, Town Square, San Pedro de Atacama: The competitors will set off in three starts today, and are expected to finish by 1 pm in the Town Square. American Dean Karnazes is expected to win the Atacama Crossing 2008, and Briton’s Mimi Anderson is expected to win the women’s division. Team Trifecta is the only team remaining in the team division. 

Pictures from April 3rd - Dean Kaznares - Mimi Anderson