PRE RACE DETAILS

Dear Competitors,

Welcome to the Gobi March / UltraLite (Mongolia) 2026! We hope you have arrived safely and that you are enjoying the bustling city of Ulaanbaatar. This letter provides you with some pre-race information and reminders including the schedule for Saturday, 20 June before we head deep into the countryside of Mongolia. Please read it carefully.

Competitor Briefing - The first official meeting is the Competitor Briefing that all competitors must attend. It takes place on Saturday, 20 June at 7am on the first floor (the lobby) of the Novotel Ulaanbaatar in the Biere House.

Competitor Check-In – This is where all your mandatory paperwork and equipment is checked. It will begin immediately after the Competitor Briefing. Remember to bring all your equipment, clothing, food and electrolytes to Competitor Check-In. You may also bring any gifts for the children along the course, eg, colouring books, pens, pencils, stickers, etc. We will have boxes at Competitor Check-In for these items. These items will be distributed to children living in gers along the course.

Competitor check-In times are scheduled by tent number - see below and attached for additional information:

Time

07:00 Competitor Briefing (all competitors)

07:30 4 Deserts Club members and future members & VIPs

07:45 Tents 1 to 5

08:30 Tents 6 to 10, Single Tents

09:30 Tents 11 to 15

10:30 Tents 16 - 21

11:30 Tents 22 – 25 (UltraLite)

12:00 Grab lunch

13:00 Buses depart for Camp 1 (meet at 12:30pm, ready to leave promptly)

Note: Lunch is not provided, but you have plenty of time to enjoy your last meal in Ulaanbaatar before you depart at 1pm.

Saturday Breakfast - Breakfast is provided for you at the hotel on Saturday morning from 6am. 

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Hotel Check Out and Room Charges - You must be checked out of your room by 12pm (noon). Your hotel room is paid for on the night of Friday, 19 June, and again after the race on Saturday, 27 June. Note that RacingThePlanet does not cover any extra charges, such as room service, minibar, laundry, etc. These charges must be paid by you when you check out of the hotel (on both dates). Failure to do so will result in a delay in departure to Camp 1. 

Luggage – You can leave one piece of luggage at the Novotel Ulaanbaatar while you are at the Gobi March / UltraLite (Mongolia) 2026. We recommend that you lock the bag as a precaution. This piece of luggage should be left right next to the Competitor Check-In room with a RacingThePlanet luggage tag securely attached to it. You will be given the luggage tag after the briefing. This bag will be stored in the hotel in a room with security cameras. You can pick it up from the hotel lobby when you return after the race. Please keep the luggage that you leave in one bag only. Note: You will get your souvenir jacket at Competitor Check-In so plan to leave this in your luggage at the hotel.

Departure for Camp 1 – We will depart for Camp 1 on Saturday, 20 June at 1pm. The buses will leave from the car park just to the right when you exit the front doors of Novotel Ulaanbaatar. You will be driven about 5-6 hours to Camp 1. We will provide water on each bus but please have your water bottles already full with water. Do not forget that you need to bring a meal for Camp 1 on Saturday evening (this is in addition to the 14,000 calories). The Gobi March 2026 and UltraLite (Mongolia) 2026 will start at 8:00am on Sunday, 21 June!!!

If you have any questions, please see any of the RacingThePlanet Team for assistance. We look forward to meeting you. Good luck!

Mary Gadams
Event Director