Mary Gadams will be the race director for the 20th Edition of the Gobi March in Mongolia. Mary founded RacingThePlanet in 2002. Prior to founding RacingThePlanet, Mary worked in investment banking and strategy, including as a global strategist in the Chairman's Office of the Samsung Group in Seoul, Korea, working on special projects including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, venture capital and global strategy. Prior to that time, she also spent eight years with a large investment bank in the United States.
Mary has lived in six countries and been involved in a significant number of sporting events. She was team captain of three Eco-Challenge teams, with a best finish of sixth in the ESPN X Games, and has completed dozens of marathons and ultramarathons, including the Boston Marathon (three times) and the Marathon des Sables multiple times with a personal best in the women's division of 26:30. Mary's ultramarathon experience spans the Western States Endurance Run (100 miles), the Himalayan 100 Mile Stage Race, the London to Brighton Race (55 miles), the Hong Kong Oxfam Trailwalker (100km), the Texas Trail Run (50 miles), the JFK 50-Miler, the Atacama Crossing and the Mongolia Sunrise to Sunset. She has also made it to the summits of Sgurr Alasdair in Scotland, Mt. Toubkal in Morocco, Mt. Kinabalu in Malaysia, Japan's Mt. Fuji (twice), Mt. Fansipan in Vietnam and Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
Mary earned an undergraduate degree in the US and a master's degree in the United Kingdom. She also studied Chinese in Shanghai, China, French in Villefranche-sur-Mer, France, Spanish in Seville, Spain, and Korean in Seoul, Korea.
Carlos GARCIA PRIETO
Course Director
Spain
Carlos Garcia will be the Course Director for the Gobi March 2026, our 20th Edition. Spaniard Carlos Garcia Prieto has worked as the Course Director at more than twenty RacingThePlanet / 4 Deserts ultramarathons and more than a dozen ultra-distance events in total. A qualified architect, Carlos established his own design company after graduating from the Higher Technical School of Architecture at University of Madrid in 1990 with a degree in architecture and has since gained more than 15 years' experience in designing commercial spaces and public architecture.
Carlos' skill and knowledge of course design is an obvious by-product of his experience as both a designer and competitor. He completed his first RacingThePlanet race in 2007 and soon after decided to tackle the 4 Deserts Ultramarathon Series. He is a 4 Deserts Club member, having successfully completed the Atacama Crossing (Chile) 2007, the Gobi March (China) 2007, the Sahara Race (Egypt) 2008 and The Last Desert (Antarctica) 2008. He has also completed the Marathon des Sables, Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, Grand Raid Reunion, RacingThePlanet: Vietnam 2008 and a number of other ultramarathons. A lover of the outdoors and pursuer of sporting challenges, multilingual Carlos has now worked as the Course Director for the Sahara Race (Egypt) in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2014, The Last Desert (Antarctica) 2012, the Antarctica Ultramarathon 2024, RacingThePlanet: Australia 2010, Jordan 2012, Iceland 2013, Ecuador 2015, Sri Lanka 2016, Gobi March (Mongolia) 2018, 2023, 2024 and 2025, Georgia 2021 and Lapland 2022. He has also set a number of 100-kilometer courses in the Sahara, Namib and Kalahari Deserts.
Carlos is an active member of the ultramarathon community. He regularly talks on ultrarunning and is a contributing editor for leading sports publications in Spain and Italy. What does this RacingThePlanet enthusiast say he loves most about the races? "In RacingThePlanet races you are never alone. You can run alone, but you will always find someone that will give you a hand." In addition to the Gobi March 2025, Carlos will be the race director for the new Antarctica Ultramarathon 2024.
Jo SCOTT
Volunteer Manager
United Kingdom
Dalaikhishig TSOGTSAIKHAN
Local Manager
Mongolia
Dalai Tsogtsaikhan of Mongolia will be the Local Manager for the Gobi March (Mongolia) 2026, having previously served as Local Manager at the Gobi March 2018, 2019, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Carly STEGGLES
Event Manager
United Kingdom, Resident in Australia
Carly began her career as an Insolvency Accounting at KPMG in London, however after a life changing 18-month overland journey emigrating from the UK to Sydney, she (thankfully!) realised that finance wasn’t her calling. Swapping balance sheets for burpees, Carly founded OzSquad and Buggy Bootcamp in 2012, building two thriving outdoor fitness communities that continue to bring together runners, new mums, weekend warriors, and exercise enthusiasts alike across Sydney’s Northern Beaches.
With over two decades of personal running experience, from fun runs and marathons to obstacle races and ultra-trail events, Carly has also coached countless other runners toward their personal goals, especially at the iconic Ultra Trail Australia festival in the Blue Mountains. While a knee injury has recently shifted her focus away from racing herself, she now stays closely connected to the running community through working at endurance events: she manages race logistics, checkpoints, and teams of volunteers, as well as getting out on course tail-walking, marshalling and bringing the race vibes when she can! Her early career in insolvency sharpened her skills in crisis management, logistics, and operations - strengths she now applies to the fast-paced world of endurance events.
In 2025, Carly supported the Atacama Crossing (Chile) as a volunteer, shortly followed by the Gobi March (Mongolia) 2025, where she worked as Operations Coordinator, relief Volunteer Manager, and Checkpoint Captain. Carly joins the Gobi March (Mongolia) 2026 as Event Manager and cannot wait to get back out to the Mongolian grasslands with her cowbells!
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