ATACAMA CROSSING (CHILE)
250km / 155 mile, 6-Stage Ultramarathon

30 March - 5 April 2025

485

DAYS TO GO

Race Coverage

RACE Coverage

Atacama Crossing Home

Samantha FANSHAWE

Event Director

United Kingdom

Samantha FANSHAWE

Event Director

United Kingdom

Samantha Fanshawe has something of a natural flair for being a citizen of the planet. She was born to British parents in Peru, and went to school in Pakistan for a few years before the age of 11.

After graduating from the University of Leeds with a joint honors degree in Maths and Biology she took some time out to see the word, including working in Sydney, Australia, before returning to the United Kingdom for two years in business development of corporate clients in the recruitment industry. She was then transferred to Singapore with the same company for a regional management role before moving to Penang in Malaysia and then Hong Kong.

Along the way she mastered the art of dragon boat racing, competing in Dragon Boat World Championships. Sam is an all-around sportswoman, being a runner herself and also enjoys hiking, horse riding and mountain biking. It was while in Asia that she took up running a bit more seriously, starting with more than a dozen half-marathons, and then completing the Singapore Marathon, sprint triathlons, adventure races and ultramarathons such as the Hong Kong Oxfam Trailwalker, Hong Kong 100, the Gobi March and Mongolia Sunrise to Sunset.

Sam's involvement with RacingThePlanet started when she volunteered at the Gobi March 2005 in the Turpan Basin of Xinjiang Autonomous Region of far western China. Despite it being the hottest event on record, she fell in love with the spirit of the 4 Deserts races and soon came on board as a staff member a few years later.

Sam has been to more than forty RacingThePlanet / 4 Deserts events, in a management capacity during her nearly 15 years with the company.