DON CHEUNG, JOCELYN CHOW, LOUISE WONG & STEPHANE LAPORTE conquered the legendary 7 day GOBI MARCH 28 May - 3 June 2006
in aid of the Sunbeam Children's Foundation. Click here to follow the journey on our BLOG
Thank you all for your donations and continuing donations and support! Scroll down to see the amazing finishing times of our wonderful Sunbeam Gobi Marchers, those numbers next to their photo's below are in hours!
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The Gobi March, or "Race of No Return"as it has been dubbed by the locals, is a self-supported footrace across 150 miles (250 kilometers) of the Gobi Desert in China. The race consists of six stages, lasting 7 days, and competitors are required to be fully self-supported throughout the event and must carry all their own food, gear and clothing which they will need to complete the 150 mile (250 kilometer) course. Only a tent and water will be provided to participants.
The event is known as one of the most testing feats in the planet, pushing the human body to extremes that question nature's limits.
DON CHEUNG, JOCELYN CHOW, LOUISE WONG & STEPHANE LAPORTE all dfinished inished the legendary 7 day GOBI MARCH 28 May - 3 June 2006
in aid of the Sunbeam Children's Foundation. To learn more about the race click here: Racing The Planet
The Sunbeam Children's Foundation works in Baiwan, Guangdong province and aims to provide assistance to children requiring temporary or long-term housing in order to attend an educational facility and to provide care for orphans and children of special need in China.
Sunbeam is a charitable organization incorporated in Hong Kong and all of the Sunbeam board of directors and executive committee are volunteers, so every dollar raised goes directly to The Sunbeam Children's Village. Click on the Sunbeam menu on the left side to learn more about Sunbeam... see what your donations can accomplish and have accomplished!
So who are these crazy participants and why are they doing this? Listed in alphabetical order by first name!
Don:
Finished an amazing overall # 63 Hours per section: 10:26:59 7:13:03 10:53:59 16:58:21 10:34:49 1:54:23
Total hours: 58:01:34
The first time I saw the Gobi race banner was in MTR station when I am waiting for the train. It became my dream soon. Months later, Lu asked me to join. "Money" was the main concern but Lu solved it. Thanks, Lu.
In Trailwalker 2005, we did well. 4 of us arrived at the same time. But I still don't understand why Lu could keep 50 meters far away from me in last section. I wish that will not happen again in Gobi race....
I think 175m with 200 lbs body weight joining in Half-Marathon isn't easy, right? But I did it in last 4 years. Not only running but also Dragon boat, basketball, trail race, desert race... Great!!
I told my friends about Gobi race and they said, "so ka li". Thank you for my friends' support.
Finished an amazing overall # 67 Hours per section: 10:28:22 7:13:20 10:56:42 16:58:21 12:18:50 6:50:00 Total hours:64:45:35
What does one do when they hit quarter life crisis? Something stupid? Yes, but with a reason; to raise money for a charity and I have chosen Sunbeam Children’s Foundation. I chose to encounter the Gobi March as I saw it was a test to push my limits even though my mum has touch down quite a few times and also to tell my grandchildren with pride.
When I was told about the Gobi March I felt a rush from my inner self who told me to do it and the Race dates slotted into my diary perfectly. After paying the deposit for the Race the whole idea felt surreal and I found out more and more about how tough the race was it freaked me but nevertheless, “On guard!!”.
I knew I had to start training and change my lifestyle and since then I’ve been training hard (hardcore), ditching all my friends and social events (loser), reading lots of related materials (geek) and not least the comment I got from my brother, “Dude you are so hardcore, you’ll never find a boyfriend!” and I replied, “So, people told me to learn how to cook and I stayed at home to learn how to cook and never found a man either because I was too busy staying at home!!”.
What the heck, I’m only a quarter way through my life still got 75 years to go, that’s if I live to 100!
Please donate, every dollar counts and its for a good cause!!
Finished an amazing overall # 50
Hours per section: 8:28:48 7:35:12 9:53:00 11:10:24 11:20:25 1:45:44
Total hours: 50:13:33 50
So I had moved back to Hong Kong in 2003. What was the first thing I did? Find a boyfriend. A triathlete, iron-man who bore a remarkable resemblance to Barney Rubble from the Flintstones (let's just call him "Barney"). And what did Barney persuade me to do? Sign up for a half-marathon. 22 km? No way! I had never run that far in my life. This was going to be rough. But I ran and ran and ran, and soon running was in my blood. The boyfriend soon fell by the wayside but the next year, I was back again for more. You always take something meaningful out of an experience! In the meantime, I had also started competing in adventure races - swimming, kayaking, trail running, abseiling. Life was looking great!
Two years down the line, my kind workplace offered me a place on the Oxfam Trailwalker team (was that really kind?). Great, 100 km! Been there, conquered that. What next? Well, the latest man was out of the picture so what does a girl do when she's feeling glum? Eat ice-cream and chocolate? Hell yeah! And sign up for an ultra-marathon across the desert. And there's no better place than the wilds of Xinjiang province, the heart of the motherland.
Like Jocelyn, social life has gone down the drain. All I do is train and talk kit. But I love it.
"All I do is talk train and talk kit. And now I talk websites and blogging. I love it!
Please give generously to Sunbeam - the children need and deserve your help."
Stephane:
Ran the enire 7 days and came in at an overall number 25! Hours each section: 6:37:31 5:32:12 6:58:40 9:11:08 7:29:54 1:21:37
Total hours: 37:11:02 25
I'm just a follower
I never wanted to join the Gobi March…
Jocelyn was the one who came up with that idea to me, and I thought, well, yeah, if we have 2 years ahead to prepare, and if I go through a major life crisis at that time, why not. Then again, I’m not sure where I’ll be in two years time. And why would I visit the Gobi desert in the worst conditions on purpose? And I’ve got no experience in long distance runs anyway. And I’m getting old. And I need to work. You know, the usual excuses. The next thing I know, Jocelyn calls me and tells me she’s applied!!!!!!
Being the male that I am, I felt under pressure and I just had to go for it. Hands shaking and blurred eyes, I filled up the application and that was it.
I don’t regret though. As the deadline approaches, I’ve become a gear expert (or freak) - will post pictures later, and I’ve met loads of interesting people with similar diseases (what makes us run?). I’m having lots of fun training, even though I think I’ve lost all social skills, having no more time to go out.
To sum it up, I whish to everyone to live the same experience: the pre-race phase. I don’t know how I’ll feel on the spot, but so far so good!
Don:
ocelyn:
