Atacama Crossing (Chile) 2014

Chema Fernandez and Emily Woodland Win Stage 1

News Release / 06.10.2014

The Spanish double Olympian, Jose Manuel "Chema" Martinez Fernandez, has won the opening stage of the Atacama Crossing, finishing today’s opening 36.2-kilometer course at 11:18:47.

This is Chema’s third 4 Deserts race of the year as he takes on the 4 Deserts Grand Slam. “The first two hours I felt good, because I took it easy on the hills and rocks,” explained the Spaniard as he came over the line. “For the last hour I decided to go faster. My legs felt heavy in the final four kilometers.”

In second place was Herbert Lehner of Austria, a first time 4 Deserts racer who finished at 12:04:24. He was followed by British competitor Jonty Cowan in third position at 12:09:20. When asked how he was feeling, Cowan—who is racing in his first 4 Deserts race here in Chile—said he was: “Surprised! For the past few weeks, I would seal up a room, turn on fan heaters for an hour, then train on a turbo trainer.”  

British competitor Emily Woodland put in a tremendous performance in the women’s division, coming across the line at 12:22:58—in a remarkable fifth place overall. This is Woodland’s third 4 Deserts race. Second-placed woman was Ireland's Ruthann Sheahan who finished at 12:33:37, followed by London’s Catherine Simpson at 12:56:30.

The day awoke early after cool temperatures overnight. The evening wind had fortunately died down with temperatures falling to approximately 10 degrees Celsius and dipping down to 5 degrees Celsius just before dawn.

The atmosphere at camp this morning was relaxed and excited. Competitors were huddling around the campfire in the morning, sipping on coffee and eating all manner of warming meals.

Sweden's Edward Hult and Italian competitor Marco Giordano were found standing outside their sleeping bags and saying “I think these weren’t rated low enough.” To which, the avid outdoorsman Jonathan Mills replied, “No such thing as cold weather: only inappropriate clothing.”

By 8am, the 160 competitors were gathered at the start line amid the glowing red landscape of this otherworldly setting.

Today’s course was a 36.2-kilometer winding journey down through canyons and spectacular rock formations, with loose gravel and larger rocks serving as the running surface. Competitors were able to run beside petroglyphs dating back to the Incas—and many said they were amazed by this setting.

“I haven’t seen anything like this before,” said Danish competitor Johnny Nielsen. “It’s beautiful. I took 250 pictures today!”

It was a stunning day with clear skies and slight gusts of wind offsetting the bright sun to a comfortable 28 degrees Celsius in the shade.

However, the combination of altitude and hot air packed into the canyons made for a tough opening stage. The overall change of altitude during the day was 3,263-meters to 2,627-meters—and the last four kilometers featured a particularly difficult uphill section until past Checkpoint 3.

Poland's Andrzej Gondek—who is taking on the Grand Slam here in Chile—said he found the course challenging. “I thought the first day at only 36-kilometers would be easy, but I was wrong; the heat and terrain were very hard today.”

Competitors appeared over the finish line throughout the afternoon, with the final competitor Shigeru Tomiyama arriving at 18:50pm—at which point, every single person in the camp dropped everything they were doing and headed over to applaud his perseverance and running spirit. 

The general mood tonight at camp has been a mixture of cheerfulness and general bewilderment at just how hard this opening stage was, considering that it was the first day and a shorter distance—yet such are the effects of the high altitude in the Atacama Desert.

Tonight’s camp, titled Inca, is located above Salar de Atacama, with a spectacular view of the mountain range, Volcan Licancabur, glowing in the distance. People glance over the landscape as they type their blogs about the difficult yet rewarding day behind them.

Tomorrow’s second stage, The Slot Canyons, moves by the Rio Grande River and Dead Valley to “Laguna Cejar” in the Salar de Atacama—the largest salt flat in Chile. It is a 44.8-kilometer course opening with difficult sections and finishing with a moderate 20-kilometers through varied terrain. 

You can follow all the live race updates at www.4deserts.com/atacamacrossing

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