Indonesian Digital News Archive

Last Friday the 2012 edition of the Mongol Derby got underway on the wide open expanse of the steppes of Mongolia. Billed as the "World's Longest Horse Race," the Derby pits 34 riders from 14 countries against one another on a 1000km (621 mile) ride through one of the most remote places on the planet.

I wrote about this amazing event back in June, remarking at the time about my uneasy relationship with the equine species. Seems I'm not that only one as two of the riders were eliminated in the first day of the race when they were thrown from their steeds. Brit Paul de Rivaz broke a collerbone when his horse stumbled on a marmot hole, while Norwegian rider Linda Sandvik was tossed off her mount, puncturing a lung and breaking her pelvis in the process. These incidents only underscore the dangers of this type of event, which is organized by the crack team from The Adventurists, which means that medical support and plenty of assistance was on hand to help the injured.

The rest of the riders are faring much better on their adventures, which allows them to navigate as they see fit across the Mongolian plains. The riders do need to locate a series of horse stations along the way, where they are required to change horses, but how they locate those various checkpoints is completely up to them. At the moment, the six leading riders are through station 14 having covered nearly 560km (348 miles) in four days. Amongst those leaders are professional riders Richard Killoran and Dony Fahy as well as returning racers Barry Armitage and Joe Dawson.

While the Mongol Derby is indeed a horse race, organizers of the event have taken great care to ensure that the animals are well cared for. A staff of veterinarians, both local and international, are on hand to thoroughly check the animals before, during and after the race. The riders are required to not only change horses regularly but also take good care of their mounts at all times. Delivering them back to a station in anything but good health results in severe penalties for the person responsible for the horse.

Obviously the race is going at a quick pace with the front runners more than half-way home in just a few days time. You can follow the event live on the official website, where you'll find rider updates, race reports, video, photos and more.

What an amazing adventure. Good luck to the all the riders. Enjoy the Derby to the fullest.

I have an uneasy relationship with horses. I think they're beautiful, intelligent and powerful animals, but somehow whenever I end up riding one, I get stuck with the biggest, orneriest, most ill-tempered creature possible. So that said, the following adventure opportunity probably isn't for me. But I'm sure there will be plenty of others that will see this as a fantastic experience.

The Adventurists, who are well known for putting on crazy motorized adventures in extreme places, are prepping for a decidedly different kind of adventure. In August of this year, they'll send a group of riders across the Mongolian Steppe on horseback, covering more than 1000km (621 miles) in what they call the "the longest, toughest horse race in the world."

Dubbed the Mongol Derby, the event features no set route. The adventurous men and women who join the Derby will instead be on their own navigating to the 25 different Horse Stations that are located across the vast and open wilderness. If the riders so choose, it'll be just them, their ponies, and the Mongolian Steppe to explore.

The safety and care of the horses is of the utmost concern for the organizers of the event, which is why the riders are tasked with getting their horses to the stations in a healthy state. They are also required to switch horses at each station as well, and a high trained and experienced team of vets will be on hand to ensure the animals are well treated and an medical issues are taken care of.

The 2012 edition of the Derby is already sold out, but its never too late to start planning for next year. You'll be able to follow progress in this year's race on the Mongol Derby website and for glimpse of what the event is all about, be sure to check out the video below.

I've written about the Walking Home From Mongolia expedition on more than one occasion. For those who don't remember, it was the epic journey undertaken by Rob Lilwall and Leon McCarron during which they traveled on foot from the capital of Mongolia – Ulaan Baator – back to Hong Kong, during the dead of winter no less. The journey covered 5000km (3100 miles) and took 195 days to complete, ending exactly one week ago today.

Our friends over at CheapTents.com were able to get in touch with Leon, who is already back home in the UK, and pick his brain about the expedition. As you can imagine, he had a lot of interesting things to say. You can read the full interview here, in which he talks about his favorite parts of the walk, how he and Rob stayed motivated for weeks on end, which gear items performed well and what the two men might plan to do next. As usual with CheapTents, the interview is insightful, interesting and fun, and anyone thinking of doing a similarly long journey can probably pick up more than a few nuggets of good information.

Rob and Leon actually filmed their adventure and it is now being edited for airing on National Geographic. You can catch a glimpse of what they have in store for us in the clip below and keep your eyes peeled for the final film down the line.

Congrats to Rob and Leon on an amazing adventure and thanks to CheapTents for another good interview!