Mary K. Gadams
CEO and Founder
United States, Resident in Hong Kong

Mary founded RacingThePlanet in 1996 and the 4 Deserts in 2002. She has lived in six countries including the United States, Spain, China, France, the United Kingdom and Korea. Mary's work experience is in investment banking and strategy. Prior work experience includes work as a global strategist in the chairman's office and restructuring office of the Samsung Group in Seoul, Korea where she worked on special projects including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, venture capital and global strategy. She also spent seven years in investment banking at Wachovia Securities in the United States.

Mary has been involved in sports most of her life. She has been team captain of three Eco-Challenge teams with a best finish of sixth (in the ESPN X Games). She has also completed dozens of marathons including the Boston Marathon three times and has a 3:18 personal record in the marathon. She has completed the Marathon des Sables multiple times with a personal best in the women's division of 26:30. In addition, Mary has completed numerous ultramarathons several of which include the Western States Endurance Run (100 miles), the Himalayan 100 Mile Stage Race (India), the London to Brighton Race (55 miles), the Hong Kong Oxfam Trailwalker (100kms), the Texas Trail Run (50 miles), the JFK 50-Miler, the Mongolia Sunrise to Sunset and most recently Mary completed the Atacama Crossing 2009.

In the past few years Mary has made it to the summit of Mt. Toubkal in Morocco (the highest peak in North Africa), Mt. Kinabalu in Malaysia (the highest peak in southeast Asia), Mt. Fuji, twice (the highest peak in Japan), Mt. Fansipan in Vietnam (the highest mountain in IndoChina) and Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania (the highest peak in Africa).

Mary has a master's degree from the London Business School, and is on the Committee for the Hike for Hospice in Hong Kong and a member of the board of the Action Outreach Foundation.

Samantha Fanshawe
Operations Manager
United Kingdom, Resident in Hong Kong

Peru born Sam is well used to the challenges of management, both conventional and desert based. After graduating in the United Kingdom with a joint honours degree in Maths and Biology from Leeds Unitversity, she pursued a career in recruitment that ultimately took her to Asia and a top management role in Penang.

It was in Asia that Sam took up running seriously, completing the Singapore Marathon in 2005 and more than a dozen half marathons around the region. She has also competed in many adventure races in Hong Kong including the Hong Kong Oxfam Trailwalker (2007) in less than 24 hours.

Sam started as a volunteer at the Gobi March 2005, in the Turpan Basin - the hottest event on record. RacingThePlanet: Australia will be her time at a RacingThePlanet event.

Carlos Garcia Prieto
Course Director
Spain, Resident in Italy

Carlos is the course director for RacingThePlanet: Australia 2010.

Originally from Spain, Carlos currently works in Italy as an architect when he isn't running or organising races. Carlos has completed Marathon des Sables, UTMB, Grand Raid Reunion, RacingThePlanet: Vietnam 2008 and completed the 4 Deserts with The Last Desert 2008. He was on the course team for the Atacama Crossing 2009 and is the course director for the Sahara Race 2009.

Anthony Hughes
Logistics Coordinator
England, Resident in Hong Kong

As someone who once rode an auto rickshaw through Northern India and Nepal for charity, Anthony Hughes knows how to keep things running smoothly. That’s why he’s charged with the crucial role of managing the camps at RacingThePlanet events.

Growing up on his family farm in Essex, England, Anthony developed a great love of nature and a passion for the outdoors. After leaving school he travelled independently through Australasia and Asia for a year, returning to the UK to study for a degree in landscape management at the University of Reading. He managed to continue travelling extensively while a student, visiting North Africa, Eastern Europe and Mexico.

Following his graduation he headed back to Asia to seek out new adventures – one of which was that charity rickshaw road trip. He also toured Kashmir and Tibet by motorbike. Anthony worked in the finance industry in Hong Kong before joining RacingThePlanet, an organization he says offered him the chance to undertake “life affirming adventures in some of the world’s most amazing places”. We’re not going to argue with that.

Jay Clifford
Local Organizer
Australia

Great relationships are central to everything we do at RacingThePlanet. There’s simply no way we could stage our events without the cooperation of people living in the regions we visit. Those who help us out on the ground become our friends and, in some cases, they’re like family. We rely on them hugely and they enrich our lives.

This local knowledge becomes even more critical when we are planning a roving event in an area we have never visited before. When exploring locations for RacingThePlanet: Australia 2010, it became apparent that Kununurra had a wealth of cool people we could call upon to ensure a safe and memorable race. And of them, Jay Clifford was an easy choice for the job of local organizer. The 34-year-old has worked in travel and tourism for over 15 years and currently runs her own business in Kununurra “an amazing part of the world”. We think so too and look forward to working with Jay and the local team in Australia.