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.
Sam has been to more than forty RacingThePlanet / 4 Deserts events, in a management capacity during her nearly 20 years with the company.
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.
Javier ULLÉ RIVALDERÍA
Course Director
Spain
The Namib Race 2026 is Javier Ulle's seventh time working on the course team with RacingThePlanet. He is a runner himself and has worked on the course team at RacingThePlanet: Georgia 2021 and 2022, the Namib Race (Namibia) 2021, and the Atacama Crossing 2022, 2023 and 2025.
Javier loves sport and nature, started running at 40 and has done a vast number of races himself, having successfully completed several marathons including Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Amsterdam, Da Nang (Vietnam) and Prague Marathon. He loves to combine his passion for natural environments with his sporting endeavours and has participated in many marathons and ultras on the trails such as Madrid Oxfam Trailwalker, Alpine Madrid Marathon, Bastions (Pyrenees), 2X2 (Romania). Javier enjoys traveling and to date has had the chance to visit over 50 different countries - "Discovering new cultures, landscapes, and absorbing new senses makes me extremely happy."
Tony BRAMMER
Volunteer Manager & CP Captain
United Kingdom
Tony is an invaluable member of the RacingThePlanet management team. However he says "I am living proof that if you hang around long enough, you will reach your level of incompetence".
He completed the 4 Deserts so long ago that the pictures are in black and white. Tony first volunteered at the Sahara Race 2008 and has been a constant fixture since then, having amassed 34 races.
He arrives back in Namibia from his home town of Manchester for the 7th time and will once again act as the volunteer manager and a checkpoint captain. He’s determined to keep coming back until he gets one right.
Nick ASKHAM
Operations Manager
United Kingdom
Nick has been a regular at RacingThePlanet since he first volunteered for the Sahara Race (Jordan) in 2014. He has visited all of the deserts in the 4 Deserts Ultramarathon Series (including Antarctica) and many of the RacingThePlanet Ultramarathons. His roles have involved working on the course, camp and management teams.
He is a competitor in his own right and has completed many marathons, ultramarathons, and Ironman competitions. Adventure and the outdoors are Nick's passion, and he loves nothing more than to travel, see new things, and meet new people. He also loves touring on his bicycle or motorbike out into the wilds and sleeping under the stars.
In between adventures, Nick works as a podiatrist for the Royal Air Force, rehabilitating injured service personnel.
He is very excited to experience his thirteenth RacingThePlanet / 4 Deserts Ultramarathon at the Namib Race 2026, and to meet old friends and make new ones.
Privacy policy and cookies:
By browsing this website you accept cookies used to improve and personalise our services and marketing, and for social activity. Read our Privacy Policy for more about what we do with your data, as well as your rights and choices – including how to manage cookies.
Signup For Newsletter
Form Submited Successfully
Thank you for registering for the RacingThePlanet newsletter.
Newsletter
Online Store
Login
