Gobi Race: 4th Stage, 39 km +650 m.
This stage was supposed to be long and difficult… and it was. And it was also very scenic, technical and fun.
All started after a cold night but I guess it could have been worse. Getting up in the dark and cold, still a bit tired from the day before, is a challenge. We started off by a 4 km running up-hill to the entrance of canyon going to the Shipton’s Arch. We left the pack there to do a back and forth to see the arch. We ran up passing 12 ladders to reach the arch. I stopped for a while to take some photos because it was fantastic. Then we started a descend to check point 1 before going for a long roller-coaster crossing endless ridges. This section was very scenic, technical and very fun.
Gobi March: Shipton’s Arch (© P. Gatta)
We rapidly made a group of four with Anne-Marie, John and Jochen. We helped each others to keep a good pace and we passed the finish line together in 3rd position in 5h29. The last section was a bit hectic again as we ran in the middle of road constructions and Racing The Planet decided to stop the race 3 km before the camp because of a river was too dangerous to cross.
We joined the camp with a bus and we rush now to eat, rest, send emails because tomorrow is the long stage; 75.4 km…