A Common Bond-Installment III from the Atacama Crossing

I just had breakfast with Ryan Sandes and his documentary filmmaker, Dean, here at the Kunza Hotel in San Pedro de Atacama. Seems a bit of a shame to have breakfast be your last 'real' meal for 6 days, but it is what it is, so I did some damage to a variety of unsuspecting yogurt, scrambled eggs, toast, muesli, orange juice, pineapple, watermelon, quinoa, and coffee. 'Check-in' day is always an energetic day because the race field finally begins to emerge from their hotel rooms, travel excursions, and planes, trains, and automobiles. Peering over my pile of food and fruit I smile to see competitors wearing flags from over 30 countries just in our breakfast room alone: Korea, Japan, Germany, Estonia, UK, USA, Ireland, Hong Kong, Chile, Spain, Italy, South Africa, etc....They come from small towns and big cities and somewhere in between. Some are single, some divorced, some married with more kinds than they know what to do with. Some are rich, others poor. From the grizzled veterans to the anxious rookies, they are all different but at the same time all the same. They've assembled here in San Pedro, Chile from all walks of life to tackle 250km of the Atacama Desert step by step, inch by inch, together and yet apart. The common bond delivered through competitive spirit. 

When I entered my first RacingthePlanet event in 2008, it seemed somewhat inconceivable that I would actually make it across 250km of the Sahara Desert's soft sand and blistering sun. I can't even imagine what my response would have been then if someone told me that only 15 months later that I'd be making a bid to be the third person to ever complete all 4 Deserts in one calendar year. I can probably safely assume that my response would have had something to do with a truck, a funny farm, a long walk, and a short pier. What would an undertaking like that even involve? What would the best runners do? What did the previous two do to make it through the hottest, windiest, driest, and coldest places on earth? 

The best runners spend hours searching for lightweight yet calorie dense foods. They spend weeks planning the travel logistics alone to get to places like Kashgar, China and Ushuaia, Argentina in the most effective and cost efficient way possible. They calculate and re-calculate their food's nutritional quality hoping to manage at least 2,000 calories per day comprising 60% carbs, 20% proteins, and 20% fats. They weigh and weigh and re-weigh their packs and reduce weight wherever possible. And, of course, they would spend months on end physically training their bodies to withstand the planet's harshest environments. From hypoxic chambers, to specially crafted heat suits, to hill sprints, to intervals, to spinning, to even running in dry saunas. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, they would save, save, save, and save more money to raise the required capital to cover hefty registration fees, gear, equipment, food, and travel costs. In Ranulph Fiennes' book 'Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know' he said that the hardest part about any expedition is the fundraising. 


Sitting in my hotel room writing this, I know that I've completed the Sahara Race and completed the 250km Namibian Desert Race. I also know that I've been destroyed and humbled by failing the 106km Sur les Traces des Ducs de Savoie, and a summit attempt of 23,000 foot Mount Aconcagua. I know what good looks like and likewise what very very bad looks like and everything in between. I think I know what it takes physically and mentally to get through all 4 Deserts in one year. What I could not do, however, without my sponsor is financially get myself to each of these events or cover the registration fees, gear, equipment, and food required. 


When I first emailed CEO, Tom Monahan, about CEB's appetite to sponsor my bid I half expected him to reply with something about that truck, a funny farm, a long walk, and a short pier. The other half expected him to reply with a link to monster.com and a pink slip. To his credit not only did he and CEB review my bid but they supported it. Although (stealing his joke here) I think he thought that they were sponsoring the 4 DESSERTS and were sending me down to Chile to tackle a giant flan or tarte tatin. 


Getting ready to set out on the first leg of perhaps the toughest endurance event in the world I am humbled to be here with the opportunity and humbled to wear The Corporate Executive Board logo. A huge and special thank you goes out to not only Tom, Steve Meyer, and Rich Lindahl but also (and sorry guys) to Kay Gunn and Cheryl McRae-Boone who really made this happen. 

Off I go for 6 days into the driest place on earth, The Atacama Desert. I leave everyone at home with a bit of Edgar A. Guest: 

Somebody said that it couldn't be done, 

But he with a chuckle replied

That "maybe it couldn't," but he would be one 

Who wouldn't say so till he'd tried. 

So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin 

On his face. If he worried he hid it. 

He started to sing as he tackled the thing 

That couldn't be done, and he did it. 

Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you'll never do that; 

At least no one ever has done it"; 

But he took off his coat and he took off his hat, 

And the first thing we knew he'd begun it. 

With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin, 

Without any doubting or quiddit, 

He started to sing as he tackled the thing

That couldn't be done, and he did it. 

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done, 

There are thousands to prophesy failure; 

There are thousands to point out to you, one by one, 

The dangers that wait to assail you. 

But just buckle in with a bit of a grin, 

Just take off your coat and go to it; 

Just start to sing as you tackle the thing 

That "cannot be done," and you'll do it.