Race Coverage

Race Coverage

RACE Coverage

Atacama Crossing Home

Select Stage

Breaking news are short updates posted during each stage when the race is live. You can also sign up to receive the updates to your email when they are posted.

Stage 2: Stage 2 is Done

Mon, 26 Sep 2022 at 10 39 pm
The last racer, Minji Bak of Korea, crossed the finish line of Stage 2 to cheers from fellow competitors after about 12 hours in the dry and hot Atacama Desert. Rob Baggins (Bilbo), a geologist from the United Kingdom but currently living in Argentina, set another blistering pace today, finishing in 3:57:50 followed by Terumichi Morishita of Japan in 4:08:37 and Matt Cavanaugh in 4:10:20. In the women's division, Diana Melo Reyes, a musician from Bogota, Colombia, finished in 5:24:45 followed by Anim Swart of Canada / South Africa in a time of 5:39:22 and Tricia Hepworth of Canada in 5:58:35.
 
Racers found the slot canyons magical but freezing, with many spending some time at CP2 to warm up their feet. The slot canyons were followed by an ascent to an old mining tunnel and then a spectacular section along a plateau before descending a steep but gorgeous dune into Valle de la Muerte. As Rob Ripley said: "Today's Stage 2 brought it all: cold, hot, wet, dry, hills, flats, pain, joy, beauty and self-discovery." Rob is a past champion of the Namib Race. 
 
Tomorrow's Stage 3, which many consider the most difficult Stage of the race, features 38.9km (24.3 miles) with crusty, ploughed mud, loose rocks on sand, and rolling runes across a river oasis. 
 
 
 
 

Stage 2: Top 80 have completed Stage 2

Mon, 26 Sep 2022 at 03 00 pm
80 people have reached Camp to complete Stage 2 after seven hours. 
 
 

Top 10 Men

  1. Bilbo Baggins (Rob)
  2. Mori Mori Morishita
  3. Matthew Cavanaugh
  4. Reinhold Hugo
  5. Malcolm Brown
  6. Rob Ripley
  7. Michele Ufer
  8. John Howard
  9. Yago Paramo
  10. Mark Cross

 

Top 6 Women

  1. Diana Melo
  2. Anim Swart
  3. Tricia Hepworth
  4. Naomi Haag
  5. Chizuru Inoe
  6. Selina Jervis

 The results including Stage 1 and Stage 2 so far will be posted soon

https://www.racingtheplanet.com/atacamacrossing/results

Stage 2: Leaders have reached CP 3 & CP1 has closed

Mon, 26 Sep 2022 at 12 00 pm

In less than 3 hours the first 6 have completed the first 26km of the race completing the slot canyons and run down the massive dune in Checkpoint 3. The first five people through CP3 were:

  1. Bilbo Baggins (Rob Forbes)
  2. Matthew Cavanaugh
  3. Turmichi Morishita (Mori Mori)
  4. Reinhold Hugo
  5. Malcolm Brown

Meanwhile further back, Checkpoint 1 (6km / 4 miles) closed after just one hour and 16 minutes (14 minutes ahead of cut off). The last people to reach Checkpoint 1 were Robert Huffman (the oldest racer at 69), Richard Behringer, Minji Bak and mother-daughter duo Isabelle & Leonie Buschulte.

The leaders are expected at the finish line soon.

 

See all the photos, videos, stage updates, blogs and results from Stage 1 at https://www.racingtheplanet.com/atacamacrossing/live

 

Stage 2: Stage 2 Started at 8am.

Mon, 26 Sep 2022 at 09 12 am

Stage 2 started at 8am.

All 117 racers who started the race yesterday started Stage 2! The leader bibs were presented to Bilbo Baggins (Rob Forbes) from the United Kingdom and Diana Melo from Colombia for the women to big cheers. 

Racers had a better night sleep as it was a little bit warmer (and perhaps they were a bit tired from the first day). They were eager to get to the start line and took off fast. Nyikolaj Roskovics was the last to start just in front of the sweepers but soon overtook the walkers before the crowd was out of sight. 

Stage 2 is 37.5km / 23.4 miles and racers have ten and half hours to complete it.

  • The Stage starts downhill on a dust road to CP1.
  • After CP1 they then turn into the slot canyons where they will be in and out of water for more than 5km / 3 miles and reach CP2
  • From CP2 to CP3 they go up an old mining road, through a tunnel and along a (uphill) plateau with incredible views before reaching THE dune which will take them into the Valley of Death and to CP3.

They then continue through a canyon and through the Valley of Death including some small dunes to Camp 3 in desert farmlands.

See the video of the startline: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZELtarwQBA

All videos are on our YouTube Channel (www.youtube.com/racingtheplanettv

 

Stage 2: Breaking News

Thu, 26 Aug 2021 at 10 19 am
Breaking News for Stage 2 of the Atacama Crossing 2022 will be added Monday, 26 September.