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Xinjiang’s Gobi March, part of a series of four desert races, has been named by Time Magazine as one of the Top 10 Endurance Competitions in the world. The following is a photo essay of the June 2010 race including quotes from those who both participated and volunteered.

The Gobi March was the hardest thing I have ever done, it was much tougher than I’d expected…We climbed serious hills, went through rocky canyons, up narrow gulleys, over sandy dunes, [and] across river currents.     – Catherine Thomé, race participant

I’ll always remember the sight on the first day after passing dead cows in the gully and reaching the top of the very first ridge. Tian Shan and Bogda mountain ranges, snow capped, left and right and the valley stretching out in front of me for mile after mile, rolling like a stormy green sea. Deep troughs running across the valley floor every 2 or 3 miles and curling plateaus between. Seldom can I honestly say a sight has taken my breath away, but this did.   – John Warren, race participant

We went up flaming mountain where  the monkey god put out the fire with his [fan], or [something] along those lines.. The rest was traversing across hills and negotiating ravines within the hills.. The heat is taking its toll. A competitor just came in and puked about 7 times.    – Patrick Wei, race participant

The sensation every time I chomped into the half watermelon I had in my hands… I had just finished a 250km race and this watermelon was rocking my world! Chomp…chomp…just letting it just drip everywhere, I couldn’t get any dirtier than I was… dripping all over my hands, sipping and slurping the juice, the texture of the melon almost cleaning my teeth, this amazing porous, fresh, crunchy, drippy, half moon shaped yummmmm…wow.    – Luisa Jean Cooper, race participant

[T]he Japanese and South Korean competitors have, as a whole, the best attitudes to the race, always smiling and really happy to enjoy the experience of being there. In the Gobi, the oldest competitor was a woman named Kumi Murakami whose advice to the youngest competitors was: “Stop doing these races if you don’t enjoy them”.   – Melanie Ho, race media member

Whoever signs up for a race like the Gobi should be fully aware that this is a tough endurance ultra race. It’s a 7-day, self-supported race in the desert. A desert is an unforgiving place with ridiculously extreme temperatures, and the only way to survive this is to make sure you have a strong body and strong mind.    – Denvy Lo, Gobi March 2010 Women’s Winner

We finished the race with a 5km sprint. It was somewhat odd bearing in mind the distances we’d already covered but there were not too many complaining. Crossing the line was a wonderful sensation, knowing that I had done enough to win. However, for many of the competitors just getting to the finish [was] the primary objective.    – Dan Parr, Gobi March 2010 Winner

I can’t really believe it’s over, I feel like we are going to go out again tomorrow. Then again, it also feels like we have been out here for more than seven days.    – Travis Watt, race participant

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*Special thanks to Catherine Thomé who graciously offered photos 1,2 & 4 to FarWestChina.

**Thanks again to Melanie Ho for the rest of these pictures and her stories about the race that you can read on her Gobi March Coverage.