From Zero to Gobi: A Novice Canadian Runner’s Experience at the Gobi March

Until he signed up for the Gobi March seven months ago, Toronto’s Jamie Burke hadn’t done any running. “The day I signed up was the day I started running – zero experience,” the 24-year-old says. “I didn’t even own a pair of running shoes.”

But after extensive research and a whole lot of training, Burke became the youngest Canadian to complete the 10th anniversary edition of the 250K race across the extraordinary landscape on the highest plateaus of the Gobi Desert.

Eleven Canadians were among the 150 competitors from 29 countries competed in the seven-day stage race that ended on June 8, facing notoriously brutal conditions.

Burke describes one particularly nasty day that featured a 40K mountain climb with 3,000 metres of vertical ascent.

“It began raining at checkpoint two (20K in) and the weather and incline only got more intense,” Burke says. “By checkpoint three (30K) the wind was picking up and it must have been around 10C. The final 500m before reaching checkpoint four at the peak was just insane. It must have been a 45-degree angle.”

As the rain and hail pounded the runners head-on, Burke says he passed about 15 runners in the last

few kilometres before the mountain peak, but found himself in a dangerous situation.

“Because the wind was so powerful, the hail and rain was just slamming down on my face, hands

and legs,” he says. “I stopped for about a minute to try and warm my hands up … I looked down at my hands and they were white, which is a clear sign of the start of hypothermia. Something came over me – a rage and hunger to kick this mountain in the ass and move on to the next 35K of the day. I let out a huge roar as if I was preparing for battle – perhaps the battle against Mother Nature?”

The next checkpoint was 10K down the mountain and Burke realized he was not far off from hypothermia and potentially death if he chose to walk instead of run. “It was a pretty overwhel

ming situation to be in,” he recalls. But he made it down safely, eventually finishing in 34^th place overall.

Despite the gruelling experience of his first race, Burke plans to continue running. “I’ve fallen in love with the sport,” he says. Next year  he’ll compete in a similar race in Madagascar. Burke is raising money for Prostate Cancer research at www.EndProstateCancer.ca. Follow him on Twitter @race_to_raise or on Facebook HERE.