Sahara Race stage update site

Leaving tomorrow. Hard to believe it's finally here. Denver - Salt Lake City - Paris - Cairo ... total travel time of 20:05 --- considerably less than last year's marathon getting to Kashgar.

Here's a link to the Racing the Planet 4Deserts' Sahara Race Stage Updates page - http://www.4deserts.com/sahararace/rtpsrtp.php?SID=3&SBID=RC5

Here's the "Email a Competitor" link - http://www.4deserts.com/sahararace/rtpsrtp.php?SID=3&SBID=RC14. Please do send me an email!

Land of the Pyramids

Here's an interesting clip from the Travel Film Archives, a 1951 clip entitled "Land of the Pyramids". Apart from the pyramids themselves, I'm quite sure Cairo will look vastly different. Then again, last year in Kashgar, there were large sections of the city that apparently looked like it did back in the days when it was a major city along the Old Silk Route.

Gen. Powell in the other day's (10/19/2008) Meet the Press

Not that it'll make a difference in how we vote (especially since we already mailed in our votes), but Gen. Colin Powell's appearance at the 10/19/2008 Meet the Press (with Tom Brokaw) was pretty good.

Velcro'd Cascadias

Picked up my newly velcro'd Brooks Cascadias from the Shoe Repair guy - he did a fantastic job gluing velcro strips along the sides of the shoes. The Racing the Planet gaiters fit snuggly over the shoes, firmly latched on ... hard to imagine any sand making it into the shoes!

I now have everything I need for the Sahara Race. The only things left to do are pack my post-race clothes and gather up all the paperwork and documents. Two days to go!

Indian Summer along the Highline Canal

We've been blessed this weekend with gorgeous Indian Summer weather. The mid-morning stroll along the Highline Canal was absolutely fantastic ... the cottonwoods were resplendent in their fall outfits with a symphony of rustling leaves providing appropriate accompaniment.

Current forecasts call for unsettled weather in a couple of days, quite possibly bringing the season's first snowfall by Wednesday. Hopefully the weather doesn't affect my travel plans as I leave Wednesday for Cairo (by way of Salt Lake City and Paris.)

As I write this post, I have a slide show of pictures taken from today's walk playing in the background ... as is Schubert's Trout (courtesy of Danish internet radio) ... even as the late afternoon sun streams through the room's window. Moments like these, it's hard not to feel blessed!

Twas a good short visit by Aimee. Mother and daughter spent a lot of time together with no fighting and no biting!! It was the first time in a long time that the entire family was together - Cyn home for the weekend from Bentonville and Aimee from NY. It was also the first time that I can remember where our lunchtime (at Sonoda's) conversation focused on politics. As a family we're all on the same page. Aimee heads back to NY tomorrow.

Kevin's Cross Country Season in review

The clip is of Kevin's 2008 ThunderRidge HS Cross Country season in review.  All in all it was a very good season for MrK.  He ran a couple of races with the varsity squad, the rest with the JV squad.   

Coach Paisley was incredible ... he got kids and parents to run at least three times a week during the summer months - his "Trail Running Club", setting the kids up for a good season.  

Hopefully he'll keep running throughout the fall and winter months ... ahead of the track season in the spring.

Although MrK isn't too keen on Springsteen's Born to Run, the clip starts off with it and finishes off with Bruce Hornsby/Bela Fleck's The Valley Road.

Equipment Checklist and pack weight

4 days to departure date ... except for my trail shoes and my race cap/cape, everything has been weighed, accounted for, and ready for pack stuffing. The total pack weight comes to 24.6 lbs. I expect to have approximately 2.5 liters of water with me, adding another 5.5 lbs to the pack for a projected pack weight of 30.1 lbs at the start of the race. Needless to say, that's a lot of weight to be lugging around ... but it'll get lighter as I eat my way through my supplies.

Click on the pictures below for greater detail.

I took my Brooks Cascadias to a shoe repair place yesterday and am scheduled to pick them up on Monday. The cobbler said that the velcro strip could not be sewn into the rubber, so at best he'll try to glue the strip ... the wildcard being the velcro strip isn't rubber backed, so there's a chance that the strip won't stick that well to the shoes. He at first didn't know what to make of my request and even after showing him how the sand gaiters will be latched to the shoes via velcro, he remained perplexed until I told him I was going to be running a race in the Sahara desert. Needless to say, he thought I was nuts to be doing such a thing.

Cyn got me three white bandanas which will be fashioned into a cape that'll be velcro'd onto my RMRR cap. The cape will allow me to completely cover my face in the event of a sandstorm. Like my shirt, the bandanas are cotton ... the better to retain moisture. Hopefully I didn't miscalculate the benefits of cotton in the desert!!

I'll stuff the pack with the absolute minimum required gear - so as to be able to handcarry the pack during the trip ... and once in Cairo, I will repack for the race itself. With stops in Salt Lake City and Paris before arriving in Cairo, I don't want to leave to the mercy of airline baggage systems any of my race essentials.

Please Vote for Me

Please Vote for Me is an hour long documentary set in Wuhan, China. The blurb from the PBS site ---

An experiment in democracy is taking place in Wuhan, the most populous city in central China. For the first time ever, the students in grade three at Evergreen Primary School in Wuhan, China have been asked to elect a class monitor. Traditionally appointed by the teacher, the class monitor holds a powerful position, helping to control the students, keeping them on task and doling out punishment to those who disobey. The teacher has chosen three candidates: Luo Lei (a boy), the current class monitor; Cheng Cheng (a boy); and Xu Xiaofei (a girl). Each candidate is asked to choose two assistants to help with his or her campaign.

To prove their worthiness, the candidates must perform in three events. First is a talent show, where each candidate plays an instrument or sings a song. Second is a debate, in which the candidates bring up the shortcomings of their opponents as well as their own personal qualifications. And finally, each candidate must deliver a speech, an opportunity to appeal directly to classmates and ask for their votes.

At home, each of the children is coached by his or her parents and pushed to practice and memorize for each stage of the campaign. Although their parents are supportive, the candidates feel the pressure. Tears and the occasional angry outburst reveal the emotional impact. At school, the candidates talk to classmates one-on-one, making promises, planning tactics (including negative ones) and at times expressing doubts about their own candidacies.

For all three children, the campaign takes its toll, especially for the losing candidates and their assistants. Viewers are left to decide if the experiment in democracy has been “successful” and what it might mean for democracy education in China. PLEASE VOTE FOR ME challenges those committed to China’s democratization to consider the feasibility of, and processes involved in, its implementation.


The PBS YouTube site has a short preview of the documentary -




It was interesting to note that -

• concepts of democracy and the role of the individual in selecting one's "leader" was taught at a Chinese 3rd grade class. If these concepts and ideas continue to be taught in later grades, democracy will stand a much greater chance of taking root.
• the involvement of Chinese parents in their child's life seem, by Western standards, overwhelming ... but not any different from that I myself experienced growing up (albeit, being one of 8 kids, made the attention somewhat less than laser-focused.)
• the flag ceremony and singing of patriotic type songs undoubtably foster a strong sense of national pride amongst the Chinese. They might fight each other at a micro level but are one at the macro level.
• the standard of living (at least of those featured in the documentary) was high. The elementary school looked very modern, very well equipped, the kids all colorfully dressed in attires that would blend in in any American school.
• elections even at a very small scale can be dirty!
• the documentary wasn't banned or denounced by the Chinese government.

The documentary is available in the Netflix Instant Viewing feature. It's well worth spending the hour to catch it.

Premier Zhou's Chifa Burrito

Premier Zhou's Chifa Burritos - a possible future venture. The concept draws on the Chipolte concept of offering good portable food ... but with a Chinese twist.

Menu offerings could run the gamut of Chinese foods, all wrapped up in a nice tidy burrito.

The regular and special offerings can be incredibly diverese ... and can include all sorts of famous (and infamous) historical persons and events, e.g., the Henry Kissinger spicy beef and twice fried noodles burrito, the Gang of Four drunken chicken in a bed of shredded lettuce and spicy tofu burrito, etc.

Race pack

With only 11 days to go before leaving for Cairo, it's crunch time in re making sure everything that's needed is on hand. A few loose ends still need to be taken care of - disposable contact lenses, sewing a velcro strip across the sides of my trail shoes (Brooks Cascadia) for the sand gaiters to latch on, sewing the required 4Deserts patches and the American flag patches onto my "official" race shirt ... which happens to be an old 100% cotton button down office shirt.

Throughout late spring and summer I tried many different types of shirts, including REI's Sahara 

technical travel shirt. Unfortunately the pack straps left ugly piling marks all over the shirts. It then dawned on me that the old 100% cotton dress shirts were probably a much better idea ... and after trying one out found it to be the perfect desert shirt. It had all the necessary qualities - white, long sleeved, light, abrasion resistant, retained water (a real plus in dry desert heat!!) During a 3 week stretch, I wore the shirt - unwashed - run after run after run. Needless to say, the shirt looked incredibly filthy after ... but ... after one wash it was spotlessly white again and none the worse for wear.

I "accessorized" the shirt with iron patches but didn't do a very good job of ironing them on, so Aimee's picture was somewhat messed up (bummer!) On the right side I have the Qwest logo, the Rocky Mountain Road Runners logo, Premier Zhou's Chifa Burritos logo. On the left, Kevin, Cyn, and Aimee above the Ateneo logo (placed in the Grade School uniform location.)   The back of shirt, in the center beneath the collar I have the RMRR 50th Anniversary logo and a somewhat smudged running Sydney.  I thought about including patches of the Atacama Crossing and the Gobi March as well but given the smudgey results of the other patches, I gave up on the idea.  The shirt's pretty well marked up now anyway.

Although I'm not 100% certain that I'll actually take all this food with me during the race, I'll be taking the entire lot with me to Egypt. I have 13 double serve packages of Mountain House freeze dried food; 15 GUs, 7 packs of Sports Jelly Beans, 8oz beef jerky, 7 packs of Gatorade powder, 7 packs of salted roasted almonds. The entire lot weighs a tad over 14lbs - almost the entire pack weight of some of the competitors!

Sad to say but at both the Atacama Crossing and the Gobi March, I brought as much food and ate every bit of it ... and still lost 15lbs in the process. The hotter temperatures in the Sahara will more than likely curb my appetite ... and I'd really hate to be carrying a lot more than I need.

I will be using the same Osprey pack I used in the Gobi March. After all the runs and walks I've taken with it, it's as molded to my body as my body is molded to it!

I'll be taking the same REI subkilo sleeping bag ... rather than spend more $ for a much lighter one ... after all, it's been with me to Chile and China ... can't not take it with me to Egypt.

All told, my pack without water will weigh at least 24lbs - unless I cut back the amount of food I bring. With water the pack will weigh in at around 27-28lbs ... far too heavy to allow me to move along faster than last year. Oh well ...

I also have a replacement stuffed dobe which will ride the top of my pack. Maybe there'll be some lucky Eyptian kid who'll end up with it ... just like the Tajik kid did during the Gobi March (end of the second stage whilst we were in the Tajik villager's place.)

Sahara Race Press Release ...

Subject: Sahara Race (Egypt) 2008: Press Release
Date: Thu, 9 Oct 2008 07:09:19 -0400
From: RacingThePlanet

Competitors from thirty countries are expected for the Sahara Race (Egypt) 2008, the third leg of the 4 Deserts series; a record field from six continents will participate, with top endurance athletes coming from Africa, North America, Asia and Europe.

The third leg of the 4 Deserts, also known as the "Race of No Return," is scheduled to begin on Sunday, 26 October in the remote Sahara Desert in Egypt. The Sahara Race 2008 will feature 170 competitors from thirty countries, 32 of whom are female. This year's event will take place between Bahariya and Farafra Oases. These oases are famed for the mummies discovered and for the unique white chalk formations that dot the landscape.

This year's Sahara Race again features some of the best endurance athletes in the world, as well as many who simply want to finish and raise money for a great cause. The field includes recent Gobi March 2008 champion, Ryan N. Sandes of South Africa; best-selling author and "Ultramarathon Man," Dean N. Karnazes of the United States; Gobi March 2006 champion, Byeung Sik Ahn of Korea; ex-Gurkha Rob D. James of Hong Kong; and eight-time Badwater veteran, 73-year-old Jack E. Denness of the United Kingdom, who is also the oldest in the event. The youngest in the event is 21-year-old Jon C. Miller of Canada.

The six teams participating include: Team Egypt – the first-ever local team from Egypt; Team Stanton from the United Kingdom; Team SiPA/Teko Socks from Denmark; Team Memento Vivere, an all female team from Wisconsin in the United States; Team Pura Vida, a mixed team from the United Kingdom; and Team Polar Bears, also from the United Kingdom.

The Sahara Race is the hottest in the 4 Deserts series with temperatures frequently reaching more than 45 degrees Celsius or 135 degrees Fahrenheit. Competitors will be required to pass through up to 30 checkpoints over six stages carrying all their own food, clothing and equipment for the week. The terrain will incorporate sand dunes, plateaus and oases along the course. Competitors must complete up to 250 kilometers, with Stage 5 expected to be nearly 100 kilometers; this stage is known as the "Black Desert March."

Competitors in the Sahara Race will have access to a cybertent which will feature fifteen Intel-powered aidstation laptops. RacingThePlanet has utilized these laptops for the past year, testing and validating the devices for use in rural schools. The laptops have become a key resource for the event. Breaking news from the field will be sent utilizing these Intel-powered laptops and BGAN satellites. The Pepsi-Cola Company (Egypt) will be supplying more than 10,000 bottles (1.5 liter) of water for the Sahara Race. The Pepsi-Cola Company (Egypt) has been involved with the Sahara Race since 2006. RacingThePlanet, the organizer of the Sahara Race, has raised US$45,000 to support a first-ever Operation Smile medical mission in Cairo, Egypt.

Throughout the world, Operation Smile medical volunteers repair childhood facial deformities while building public and private partnerships that advocate sustainable healthcare systems for children and families. Through RacingThePlanet and 4 Deserts events, more than US$500,000 has been raised for Operation Smile. The Sahara Race will be covered by the international media, with television shows produced for the leading networks in Korea including KBS and TBC, and with footage supplied to TransWorld Sports (IMG) for broadcast in more than 80 countries.

Website coverage of the Sahara Race (Egypt) 2008 can be found at www.4deserts.com/sahararace featuring hundreds of pictures, breaking news texts, daily journals, video clips, field updates and full results.

About RacingThePlanet RacingThePlanet Events Limited organizes the world's most prestigious outdoor events of their kind. RacingThePlanet® is a unique category of rough country footraces that take place over seven days and some 250 kilometers in remote and culturally rich locations around the world. Competitors must carry all their own equipment and food, are only provided with water and a place in a tent each day but are supported by professional medical and operations teams.

RacingThePlanet is international; the events typically involve competitors from over 20 different countries who are able to mingle around the campfires and in their geographically mixed tents. Currently the events consist of the 4 Deserts, a series which encompasses the Gobi Desert in China, the Atacama Desert of Chile, the Sahara Desert in Egypt and Antarctica, and a fifth event which roves to a new location each year. RacingThePlanet also maintains an online store which carries only the best products for endurance events, travel and the outdoors. The store can be found at http://www.racingtheplanet.com/. RacingThePlanet is headquartered in Hong Kong with representative offices in Japan, Korea, Germany, Italy, Israel, South Africa, Chile, Spain, Italy, Denmark and Brazil.

-- RacingThePlanet, where athletic frontiers begin
info@racingtheplanet.com
http://www.racingtheplanet.com/
-- 4 Deserts, the race of no return
RacingThePlanet: Namibia 2009
http://www.4deserts.com/

Nixon's Trip to China - The National Security Archive

George Washington University's The National Security Archive site is chockful of incredibly fascinating declassified material.

The documents related to Nixon's trip to China are especially interesting, the main page of which can be found through this link - http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB106/press.htm

Numerous pdfs of scanned "Memorandum of Conversation" transcripts of meetings with Dr. Kissinger, Pres. Nixon, Prime Minister Zhou and others provide insight into high stakes diplomacy at the highest levels of government.

Gobi March 2007

Here's a collection of pictures from the Gobi March, June 17 -23, 2007 ... my second 4Deserts event.

The event was held in the Kashgar (Kashi) region of China. Kashgar is an old Silk Route city in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region westernmost China.

Carl Koecher and Ram Sethuram joined me in this 250K, 6-stage, 7-day self-supported adventure.

Aimee's Brahms Violin Concerto

Here's a clip of Aimee's rendition of Brahms' Violin Concerto with the CU-Boulder Orchestra in Macky Auditorium in Boulder, CO. The actual concerto runs approximately 44 minutes. (There a considerable amount of "dead space" following the concerto.)

Clip on Mom ... by Frank for Mom's 80th

Frank put together this "Mom's life in pictures" for her 80th birthday celebration back in June 2005.

Kilimanjaro song

The clip was taken back in Feb 2003, the morning after summiting Kilimanjaro ... shortly after giving the guides and porters tips and other goodies ... I distributed several dozen ballpoint pens - a surprisingly sought after commodity.

Structured Procastination

Interesting read on "structured procastination" as a way of dealing with procastination -
http://structuredprocrastination.com/

A related article from the 2008/09/30 WSJ entitled "How to Put Off Work -- Constructively" - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122271006404086393.html