GOBI MARCH 2005 COMPETITORS COMPLETE 250 KILOMETER RACE TO FINISH LINE.

(May 09, 2005, Hong Kong) -- On Sunday April 30, nearly one hundred competitors from 21 different countries crossed the finish line on the edge of the Sand Dune National Park in Shan Shan County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, completing the 250-kilometer Gobi March 2005.

The overall winner was Evgeniy Gorkov of Russia, who completed the six stages in a total of 35:43:14. Lisanne Dorion of the United States took first place in the women's division, completing the race in a total of 42:00:55. The second place men's winner was Gary Johnson of the United Kingdom, followed by Alex Bellingham also of the United Kingdom. The second place women's winner was Nancy Fudacz-Burrows of the United States, followed by Jodi Bloomer of Canada, the youngest competitor in the event.

Trophies and awards were presented to the winners at the Awards Banquet held the following day. Awards for age group categories were presented to individuals in both the women's and men's division. Julia Leder of the United States received the award for the 20-29 age group, Lucy Bond of the United Kingdom for the 30-39 age group, and Nathalie Miles of the United States for the 40-49 age group. In the Men's Division, Matthew Chapman of Australia received the award for the 20-29 age group, Charles Walker of the United States for the 30-39 age group, Joseph Holland of the United States for the 40-49 age group, Gregory Baker of the United States for the 50-59 age group and Yoshiaki Ishihara of Japan for the 60-69 age group. In addition to the special awards and trophies, all finishers received a special Gobi March 2005 pewter medal.

The Cable-French Trophy, an annual award presented to an individual who has shown outstanding humanitarian courage throughout the race, was presented to Korean Yong Sul Lee and his friend Gyeong Su Kim. Yong Sul Lee is blind and applied enormous strength and courage to complete the Gobi March 2005.

A contingent of competitors from Hong Kong raised more than US$150,000 to fund an Operation Smile mission in Xi'an, China. This mission, held simultaneously with the Gobi March 2005, operated on 166 indigent children. Action Outreach, a UK- and Hong Kong-based charity organized this initiative. RacingThePlanet Limited also made a donation of books to East Lake School, a rural school close to the start line of the Gobi March 2005.

About RacingThePlanet®

RacingThePlanet® is an international outdoor lifestyle brand and world leader in organizing some of the world's most prestigious outdoor events including the 4 Deserts™, a series of 7-day footraces across the world's largest and most forbidding deserts. These events include the Gobi March™ in China, the Atacama Crossing™ in Chile, the Sahara Race™ in Egypt and The Last Desert™ in Antarctica. Headquartered in Hong Kong, RacingThePlanet® has representative offices in the United States, Korea, Japan, Sweden and Chile.

Media Contact:
Catherine Cole,
ccole@racingtheplanet.com