Race Coverage

Race Coverage

RACE Coverage

The Last Desert Home

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POST RACE DETAILS

And that’s a wrap.

The Last Desert (Antarctica) 2022 is officially complete. The expedition ship has docked in Ushuaia and racers will disembark for the final time after breakfast and start the journey  home.

The Awards Presentation took place yesterday evening in the calmer waters of the Beagle Channel with special awards being given to the Top 3 men and women, the new members of the 4 Deserts Club, the 4 Deserts Grand Slam, the 4 Deserts Grand Slam Plus racers and the 4 Deserts Champions of 2022.

 

2022 was the first time the following nationalities were reprsented in The Last Desert
Hungary - Szilvia and Nyikolaj
UAE – Ahmed
Serbia – Adriana

Shogo & Yves are the first people in their 70’s to complete The Last Desert
Shogo is the oldest person to ever complete a 4 Deserts Race
Doreen (62) and Kazuko (69) are the only women in their 60’s to complete The Last Desert


4 DESERTS CHAMPIONS 2022

MEN – Ben DAME from Germany
WOMEN – Anim SWART from USA

A Sportsmanship and Spirit and Award were also presented to two people who had shown extra spirit and sportsmanship during this race.  
SPORTSMANSHIP – Marie-Paule PIERSON
SPIRIT – Rena MUTAGUCHI

Below is a full breakdown of the Award Winners as well as many of the records broken in Antarctica this year

TOP 3 Men / Overall

1st - Matthew CAVANAUGH - 236.7 km
2nd - Mori Mori MORISHITA - 230km
3rd - Ben DAME - 218.7km

 

TOP 3 Women

1st - Szilvia LUBICS - 197.3km (6th overall)
2nd - Mayumi WATANABE - 190.5km (8th overall)
3rd - Lara REYNOLDS - 187.7km (10th overall)

 

NEW MEMBERS OF THE 4 DESERTS CLUB - 26 in total

Arthur AZEVEDO - Brazil

Sumanth CIDAMBI - India

Lisa COX - USA

Ben DAME - Germany

Rene DE KLEIN - The Netherlands

Yves GARRIGUE - France

Julia GUTTRIDGE - UK

Warren MULDOON - USA

Jihee NAM - Australia

Marie-Paule PIERSON - France

 Mark STILES - USA

Karin TEUBEN - The Netherlands

Alona ZURMUEHLEN - Germany

And all those who completed teh 4 Deserts Grand Slam and 4 Deserts Grand Slam Plus have also joined the 4 Deserts Club.

 

4 Desert Club Firsts:
Karin is first Dutch woman to join the 4 Deserts Club
Julita is the first Polish woman to join the 4 Deserts Club and first Polish woman to complete the 4 Deserts Grand Slam
Ahmed is the first person from to join the 4 Deserts Club and complete the 4 Deserts Grand Slam and Plus

 

4 DESERTS GRAND SLAM

Matthew Cavanaugh

Beth Whitman

Julita Ilczyszyn

Elise Zender

Michael Williams

John Bezou

Michal Gawron

NOTE - some of these will go on to join the 4 Deserts Grand Slam Plus in 2023 under a revised COVID critiera

 

4 DESERTS GRAND SLAM PLUS

Anim Swart - USA

Rena Mutaguchi - JAPAN

Terumichi Morishita - JAPAN

Ahmed Al Katheeri - UAE



Celebrations then continued among the racers to mark their huge achievement to run an ultramarathon on the final frontier of Antarctica.

See PHOTOS from the Awards Presentation.

 
 
 
 
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The race is over but the journey continues.

The expedition ship is now in the middle of the Drake Passage about halfway between Antarctica and Ushuaia the tip of South America with choppy seas.



Racers are having some downtime and the enormity of what they have achieved is sinking in. You can see PHOTOS on the ship on the website.

LISA COX: ‘It was a fight to the end. When things were tough, I just kept going. Antarctica was truly amazing, every person should visit at least once. It is truly beautiful. I made time to see the views.’

SIMON LACEY: ‘incredible race in a dramatic, awesome backdrop unlike anything on the planet. Awe inspiring and a privilege to take part in. Unexpectedly deep snow which made the stages really tough but at all times I felt really luckily to be in Antarctica . Unforgettable journey.’

SZILVIA LUBICS:
I expected a not so hard race. I did a 240 mile race a few weeks ago and thought The Last Desert would be easy and now I think this is the hardest race I have ever done. The deep snow and being wet and cold was so hard. The scenery is wonderful and I cannot believe I am here and that there are penguins everywhere and that everyone is so kind. I feel so much love and energy when I leave the start line. When I go home, I will remember only the wonderful memories.

The ship surprised racers with a cake saying “Congratulations to The Last Desert 2022 Finishers” which was cut by the two winners.


This VIDEO shows the final finish line of this epic race in ANTARCTICA.


The Awards Presentation will take place tomorrow evening (3 Dec) in the Beagle Channel before they arrive in Ushuaia where they will disembark the following morning.

All the updates:
https://www.racingtheplanet.com/thelastdesert/live