Karnazes takes second place in fourth race in The North Face Desert Grand Slam
Dean Karnazes took second place at the Sahara Race, in his quest complete the world’s five major desert foot races in a single calendar year, while raising awareness of the world’s water shortage through Blue Planet (www.blueplanetrun.org) and the formal endurance race series ?4 Deserts,?
presented by RacingThePlanet®.
The Sahara Race course, which reached 115 degrees, led competitors across flat, rocky, sandy terrain in the White Desert for roughly 21.9 miles. The course continued for 26.1 miles, almost the length of a marathon, passing exquisite rock formations in difficult, sandy, rocky environment. The third section of the course, a 23.4-mile stretch named Hamada, or ?flat out,? was flat, sandy desert with abrasive, merciless winds. Through the Qarawin dunes, for 23.1 miles, the race continued along a small oasis, with ancient ruins, and even mummies, along the sandy terrain.The fifth segment of the race left the White Desert, and led into the Black Desert, boasting plateaus, flat, and stony terrain toward the small village of Bahariya, 186.4 miles from Cairo. The sixth and final stage of the course took racers to the Pyramids of Giza, in a short six-mile stretch.
“After spending five days crossing very remote stretches of the Sahara Desert without getting lost, it is ironic that on this final day of racing,while running through a bustling section of Cairo, we would make a wrong turn,” said Karnazes. “Put us in the desert searching for little flags and we’re fine, have us run down a paved road with street signs and we’re hopeless. I ran the final stage today with the 3rd and 4th place finishers, Paolo Barghini and Rob James. As we were chatting spiritedly about what a remarkable week it had been, we ran right past the finish shoot and just kept heading down the road. Classic.”
About The North Face®
The North Face, a division of VF Outdoor, Inc., was founded in 1968. Headquartered in San Leandro, California, the company offers the most technically advanced products in the market to accomplished climbers, mountaineers, snowsport athletes, endurance athletes, and explorers. The company’s products are sold in specialty mountaineering, backpacking, running, and snowsport retailers, premium-sporting goods retailers and major outdoor specialty retail chains.
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