Running with the Camels

While driving hours through the desert I wondered what these HUGE marks were, up close they are camel tracks. Not a place wasn't touched.

What an adventure of a weekend this past weekend was! Justin and I had been planning to run in the Gobi Marathon (half & 10k races) for several months now and last weekend was the much anticipated date. It wasn't just play though-- we worked our way down there and rewarded ourselves with the Gobi run (rewarded?).

It all started early Thursday morning. We made our last meal in the ger, packed all of our things and were out the door by 12:30pm on our way to the gas station. Why are we going to the gas station? Well, there isn't direct transportation to Dalanzagad (Southern Gobi Province Capital) so we basically had to hitch-hike a ride. We knew that the bus coming from UB to Dalanzagad was due at that gas station at around 2pm (but you're never sure of a time in Mongolia, so it's best to give  a few hours of leeway). So we sat and waited. And waited. And 4:30 comes around and no bus. Several other buses and cars had passed by, but none were going to Dalanzagad. We finally asked someone when the UB bus was coming and they told us it wasn't going to come. We were pretty upset we were sitting in 40 degree weather for hours. We were also a little nervous because we HAD to get down to Dalazagad. We were teaching at a Teacher's Seminar and needed a day of preparation. We called our teachers and other friends to ask them how we could get to Dalanzagad since the UB bus never came. No one knew. There isn't a lot of transportation between provinces here in Mongolia. Finally, someone let us know that another bus from UB should be arriving in Mandalgovi to get gas at around 10pm.

At 10pm we went back to the gas station and waited. And waited. This time the temperature is below freezing.

And the bus came! It came around 11:30pm. We ran up to the bus driver and asked if we could hitch a ride. He said, 'no'.

There is no way we were about to take a 'no'. He said he didn't have any seats available. We told him we needed to get to Dalazagad and that we'd sit in the aisle. He looked at us crazy, but said it was alright. So Justin asked how much it was and they guy said we didn't have to pay-- we're that crazy. So we got in and sat on our bags in the aisle of a bus for 6 hours. It was a really bumpy ride. That driver seemed to be hitting the hardest bumps and dips on purpose causing people to fly in the air (but I know that's just how the path is). We finally got to Dalazagad at 6am on Friday morning.

We arrived at a friend's apartment and slept for a few hours before getting to work on the seminar that we'd be presenting the next morning. Dalanzagad is notorious for power outages. They are unpredictable and only give the residents a few hours of electricity everyday. So we worked during the day and ate dinner by candlelight.

The seminar was a hit! I am so amazed at how well it went. There were about 20 participants who came from the Dalanzagad and other small villages (soums) around the province. We did work hard for it and I felt so satisfied. We did good work, the teachers learned a lot and wanted more. I'm in the processes of getting pictures of the seminar. I'll post those pictures soon.

Now, we worked hard for this-- but the time had finally come. The next day (Sunday) was the big race. We drove about 3 hours northeast of DZ and saw some spectacular views. The Gobi Marathon was taking place at the Flaming Cliffs. It was beautiful to drive! It was absolutely tough to run though. Think: SAND and hills.

There are more pictures to come. This was definitely a weekend I'll always remember. We hung out with our friends (Clifton, Joe, Rob & Ben), we prepared and presented an awesome seminar, we ran a race in the GOBI! and we traveled far too long. We work hard and play hard here in Mongolia.