Monday August 17th, 2020
Gobi Desert, China
Distance: 400 k
Offical Race Web Site
Ultra Gobi is a 400km non-stop, self – navigation, self-supported race,held in southern Gobi Desert, on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau, in Western
China, Gansu Province. Ultra Gobi is a small, exclusive race,limited to 50 people. It is our aim to make this race into one of the world’s greatest running races and adventures. The support we offer to runners during the race is in unparalleled in ultra-running.Ultra Gobi is organized by Beijing Xingzhi Exploring company who organize sporting events andalso work in tourism development in China. The vision andthe goal of Xingzhi is to create one of the world’s premier ultra-races here in China.We warmly welcome foreign visitors to both Chinaand Gansu province. Few foreigners get a chance to come to this one regionof China and we would like to showcase it to the world.
With more than half of the places are reserved for Chinese runners,and so the foreign participants are extremely important to us, you are ourguests and friends first and foremost. Participants of the previous two editionsof Ultra Gobi can testy to that. Stage races are much easier than running non-stop. Psychologically and wellas physically. Knowing that a camp and your friends’company awaits you at the end of the day soon makes a stage racea routine. In Ultra Gobi there is no such comfort at the end of the day.
There are no days or nights. You just run. The desert seems infinite asyour fatigue and sleep deprivation accumulate.If you have done stage races and felt within your comfort zone,Ultra Gobi will raise the bar for you. Most stage races give you an adventureholiday, Ultra Gobi throws you into an adventure. Experience the freedom of free running over 400km.
We have set up an incredible support infrastructure for runners,which allows the participants to run without carrying a lot of weight,non-stop for the whole of 400km. This is truly unique. No other race offerssuch opportunity to run continuously for such a long distance.You have to carry the compulsory gear, but all your food and extra equipment canbe stored in 10 drop off bags at rest stations, which makes fora much lighter weight to carry.
Roughly every 10km, throughout the whole course, there is a water andtiming station.
| Division | Time | Name | Age | Home |
| Male | 70:22:00 | Lei Tang | ||
| Female | 96:17:00 | Elisabet Margeirsdottir |
| Division | Time | Name | Age | Home |
The race concept is based on the journey of a Buddhist monk, Xuanzang, who, fifteen centuries ago, travelled through the wilderness of the Gobi, in the modern day Gansu Province and Xinjiang Autonomous Regions of Western China, through Central Asia and then to India. The Chinese name of this race can be translated as “Xuanzang’s Route – Eight Hundred Li of Sand”.
Xuanzang’s memories of his seventeen-year journey are told in the classic of Chinese literature – Great Tang Records of the Western Regions, which became probably the world’s first travel bestseller. The purpose of his trip to India was to bring the original Buddhist sutras back to China, and translate them properly into Chinese, as the translations available in China at that time failed to meet Xuanzang’s expectations.
This is how Xuanzang describes the area where the race is now held: “For eight hundred li, there is nothing but barren sand and dry river beds; at night stars shine like fires lit by devils…there is not enough water to nourish even a single blade of grass, one looks for birds in the sky and beasts on land, but finds none”.
The journey took 17 years, and upon his return, Xuanzang rejected honour and fame and spent his time in seclusion, translating the Buddhist sutras that he had brought from his epic journey.
This region, arid and barren as it might seem, was in fact thriving during the Silk Road Era. This area was the edge of the Chinese world, part of the so called Gansu Corridor, a gap between the sands of the Gobi proper to the North and the mountains of Tibet to the South, through which all the caravans travelling along the Silk Road passed.
The Chinese established their hold on the area as early as during the Western Han Dynasty, more than 2000 years ago, and the region thrived until the Tang Dynasty, around 1500 years ago. Garrison towns were plentiful here, some very wealthy from the trade, and the soldiers stationed here guarded the Gansu Corridor, the vital gateway against the raids of nomads. In Chinese history this region abounds in myth and legend, as great battles were fought here against the Huns and then against the Tibetan Empire.
This region is famous for its ruins from those eras and the runners have a priviledge to run and camp in this otherwise closed, protected area, next to millennia old beacon towers and ruins of whole cities. These are some of the ruins along the Ultra Gobi course.
Ashoka Emperor Temple
This Buddhist temple was built around 1,400 years ago, during the Tang Dynasty, and then rebuilt and renovated many times since. The legend has it that Xuanzang spent over a month here making preparations for his epic voyage before he set off West, and so it made sense to make this temple the starting point of Ultra Trail Gobi Race.
Suoyang City Ruins
Eighteen centuries old, and a former seat of the local government during the Tang Dynasty, this was a very important center on the Great Silk Road, offering protection and provisions to the caravans crossing this wilderness. These ruins are one of best preserved examples of Han and Tang Dynasty architecture in this part of China – the remains of various types of fortifications and agricultural and irrigation infrastructure are clearly visible, a treasure trove for archaeologists and historians.
Double Entrance Tower of the Great Mausoleum
This ruin is practically unknown to non- Chinese, and very few outsiders understand its significance. This special type of gate tower, roughly translated as “double entrance tower” adorned only the most important locations during the Tang Dynasty – palaces, temples, tombs of the powerful – a symbol of power and authority.
A rest station next to the ruins of a two thousand year old beacon tower. Soldiers would light a fire at the top to alert the next tower of the approach of the enemy or to send signals.
Kunlun Fortress
You will have a chance to explore this amazing sight as it is situated next to a rest station. This was an important junction on the Silk Road, and it is roughly 2000 years old.
During this time the Chinese garrisons stationed here were both military and agricultural settlements – the soldiers had to cultivate the land to grow food as well as guard against the raids from the nomads. Kunlun is thus both a military strongpoint and a center of agricultural production – its Eastern perimeter wall bristles with dog- ear-like projections which boost the garrison’s ability to resist a raid, but there are also expensive remnants of irrigation canals outside the fortress walls.
Yulin Grottos
Yulin Grottos are dug into the banks of the Yulin River, and there are so many of them that this place is also known as “The Canyon of Ten Thousand Buddhas”. The grottos are also very ancient and span more than a thousand years of Chinese history. Importantly, one of them has a great wall painting of the venerable Master Xuanzang himself.
The Finisher Medal – Tiger Tally
The participants of the 2016 Ultra Gobi will receive an unusual gift before the race starts – one half of a small statuette of a tiger lying prone. The second half of the tiger is given to the runner after the successful completion of the 400 kilometers.
The tiger statuette is known as tiger tally. These were used in ancient China for the dual purpose of identification and representation of authority, usually given to high ranking military officers.
A commander in a frontier region, such as the Gobi, might leave half of his tiger tally behind in a fortress, and then, when sending the garrison at the fortress an order, he would also send the matching half of his tally to confirm that the orders are his.
The act of leaving half of your tally behind before setting on a journey stands for leaving a retainer, a pledge that you shall be back. When you are back from your quest, the two halves of your tally are matched, confirming your safe return.
During the Tang dynasty this practice was used in the Chinese garrisons scattered across the Gobi, and we decided, almost a millennium and a half later, to bring the tiger tally back, to honour the finishers of Ultra Gobi.
Tiger Tally – the finisher’s medal. One half of it. The runners get the second half if they complete the race.
Champion, runner-up and third place titles
The champion of Ultra Gobi is crownedGuanjun Marshalwhich literally means “Champion Marshal” and was a special title awarded to the great commander Marshal Huo Oubing (140 – 117 BC) for his courage and victories against the Huns in this very area.
The runner up of Ultra Gobi becomes aCheji Marshalèwhich literally means “Chariot and Cavalry Marshal “ and this was a rank given to the chief commander of chariots and cavalry troops.
The Race Course
The race course is not a struggle against sand dunes, like you might expect hearing the name “Gobi Desert”. The landscape in the Southern Gobi is very varied, and actually, there is not much sand. The main terrain is rocky desert, and some of these rocks are very abrasive and sharp, you will need well-padded shoes.
A large part of the course goes through very compacted sandy desert where you do not sink into the sand. Formations knows as yardangs or hoodoos abound.
Then there are dry river beds and also canyons, some canyons are quite deep and can be a challenge in the dark.
There are also a couple of river crossings, but nothing deep.
Most of the course does not follow any trails, you follow your GPS track, please learn how to use your GPS!
The course is EXTREMELY tough. The abrasive terrain is very tough on your feet. Such uneven surface is hard on your feet and tires you out quickly. In addition, there are short bushes in many places and runners have to weave in and out, which adds distance and contributes to fatigue.
You will cross highways several times. There are also short sections though local villages and along drivable dirt tracks.
The start of the course is next to the 2000 year – old ruins of Suoyang City, close to the town of Guazhou. The finish is in the town of Guazhou itself.
