Simon gears up for his third desert
Chief Inspector Operations Kowloon East Simon Southgate is busy making final preparations for his third desert race. This time he will be travelling to Chile, where he will run across the Atacama Desert.
The Atacama Desert is more than 15 million years old and known as the driest place on Earth (50 times more arid than Death Valley in California). In some places along the 250 kilometres (km) race-course, there has never been a single drop of rainfall recorded. The Atacama Desert has the most lunar-like landscape on Earth, and is frequently used by NASA to test its Mars rover vehicles. If taking on the extreme terrain and climate are not challenging enough, the entire race will be held at least 1.6 km above sea level where the air is thin, making any form of exercise very difficult.
In addition to the physical and mental challenges of desert races, Simon is trying to raise much needed money for Operation Breakthough and the Hong Kong Children's Cancer Foundation. So far he has raised over HK$ 80,000. This money has been used to enable Breakthrough kids to attend Outward Bound Courses, and fund important research to fight childhood cancers.
"Raising money and publicity for these valuable causes is strong motivation, and helps to keep you going when you are finding it tough to carry on," said Simon.
The Atacama Crossing will take place between the 6th - 12th March 2011. Force members wanting to follow Simon's progress during the race can visit the official website www.racingtheplanet.com. Anyone wishing to sponsor him may visit his website: www.sims4desertchallenge.webstarts.com
Simon
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of his physical stamina and perseverance
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