THE LAST DESERT (ANTARCTICA)
ANTARCTICA'S ONLY MULTI-STAGE FOOTRACE

26 November 2024

426

DAYS TO GO

Race Coverage

RACE Coverage

The Last Desert Home

Mary GADAMS

Event Director

United States, Resident in Hong Kong

Samantha FANSHAWE

Event Director

United Kingdom

Hernan GARCIA

Course Director

United States

Sanae KONDO

Japan

Victor CHENG

Event Organizer

China

Kevin LIN

Business

Taiwan

Ji sung YOO

businessman

Korea (South)

Mary GADAMS

Event Director

United States, Resident in Hong Kong

Mary Gadams will be the race director for the 10th Edition of The Last Desert in Antarctica. 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 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.

Samantha FANSHAWE

Event Director

United Kingdom

Samantha Fanshawe will be the co-Race Director for the 10th Edition of The Last Desert in Antarctica. Sam 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 RacingThePlanet races and soon came on board as a staff member a few years later.

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

Hernan GARCIA

Course Director

United States

Originally from Argentina, Hernan Garcia works as an engineer in Tennessee in the United States. An experienced athlete in all things nautical, Hernan has sailed extensively around the world qualifying for the Olympics in Brasil. Hernan has more than twenty-five marathons under his belt and has completed the Sahara Race (Egypt) 2009, the Gobi March (China) 2011 and the Atacama Crossing (Chile) 2012. At RacingThePlanet: Madagascar 2014, Hernan joined as the Camp Manager. At the Atacama Crossing (Chile) 2014 and The Last Desert (Antarctica) 2022 , Hernan was the Course Director. Hernan joins us as Course Director for RacingThePlanet: The 20-Year Race and The Last Desert (Antarctica) 2024.

Sanae KONDO

Japan

Victor CHENG

Event Organizer

China

Kevin LIN

Business

Taiwan

Ji sung YOO

businessman

Korea (South)

THE LAST DESERT (ANTARCTICA)
ANTARCTICA'S ONLY MULTI-STAGE FOOTRACE

DAYS TO GO

Race Coverage

RACE Coverage

Mary GADAMS

Event Director

Samantha FANSHAWE

Event Director

Hernan GARCIA

Course Director

Sanae KONDO

Victor CHENG

Event Organizer

Kevin LIN

Business

Ji sung YOO

businessman

Mary GADAMS

Event Director

Samantha FANSHAWE

Event Director

Hernan GARCIA

Course Director

Sanae KONDO

Victor CHENG

Event Organizer

Kevin LIN

Business

Ji sung YOO

businessman

ABOUT US

RACES

MORE INFO

THE LAST DESERT (ANTARCTICA) ANTARCTICA'S ONLY MULTI-STAGE FOOTRACE

DAYS TO GO

Race Coverage

RACE Coverage

Mary GADAMS

Event Director

Samantha FANSHAWE

Event Director

Hernan GARCIA

Course Director

Sanae KONDO

Victor CHENG

Event Organizer

Kevin LIN

Business

Ji sung YOO

businessman

Mary GADAMS

Event Director

Samantha FANSHAWE

Event Director

Hernan GARCIA

Course Director

Sanae KONDO

Victor CHENG

Event Organizer

Kevin LIN

Business

Ji sung YOO

businessman

THE LAST DESERT (ANTARCTICA)
ANTARCTICA'S ONLY MULTI-STAGE FOOTRACE