Kiwi To Risk Life And Limb In Wild Horse Race

Media release – August 6, 2009

Kiwi To Risk Life And Limb In Wild Horse Race 

A man has lost 12kg, is wary of wolf attacks and is training hard in the final days of preparation to race 25 different semi wild horses across Mongolia in the world's longest and toughest charity horse race, over 1000km.

Dave Murray, formerly of Tekapo, New Zealand, will be one of 25 riders from nine countries to race across the Mongolian plains from August 22, each of them changing horses every 40km. Murray will be representing Western Australia in the inaugural Mongolian Derby.

   Murray will sleep each night in a tiny one man tent and lightweight sleeping bag, be it in the middle of the wild steppes or with nomadic Mongolian families.

 
   ``I will have enough supplies in my 10kg of restricted equipment to get me by for 15 days without having to rely of any other sources. However if the opportunity arises to catch some of the local wildlife I may be in for a treat! 

  ``Raising money for charity for the event has almost been a full time job and it has been difficult but extremely rewarding.  I had an amazing conversation with a Mongolian woman who had just recently moved to Australia. She called to wish me the best of luck and to thank me for trying to make a small difference in Mongolia.

   ``From what I have heard the Mongolians are some of the most hospitable people in the world and countries like this are hard to come by these days. It will certainly be good to give something back. The Mongol Derby is giving Mongolia a lot of media coverage and this will hopefully be beneficial for the tourism market.

   ``I hate to admit it but I was advised by some endurance riders to have my legs waxed. Let me tell you my respect for women has sky rocketed! It does appear to have helped with chaffing as this will be our worsted enemy during the event.

  `` I depart for Korea on August 13 and then arrive in Ulaanbaatar on August 16. We have a pre-race meeting on August 18 where we will have a chance to meet the other competitors. It’s then off to the start line for a day’s training on the horses before the starting pistol on August 22.’’

   Murray has been trying to complete 10km a day on a horse in training and then match it with a 10km run. His weight loss has been going well and has lost over 12kg to get under the 85kg weight restriction.
 
   His biggest concerns are wolf attacks which Mongolia is renowned for. So I will be certainly sleeping with one eye open! I may carry a flare or such to fend for myself if such an event arises.

   Murray, 29, is hoping to raise AU$100,000 to go to the Christina Nobles Children’s Foundation.

``I want to do this because I found out a number of children in Mongolia have to live under ground to survive the desperately cold winter months so the money will be going towards Cristina Nobles Children’s Foundation who do some remarkable work. They have an emergency fund established to provide homes to families who have become homeless. Many children live in underground sewers and huddle beside hot water pipes to stay warm in the bitter winter months, where the temperature plummets.’’

   The race has been framed around the communications system used by Genghis Khan, a kind of pony express using a relay system which was able to get a message from Mongolia to Eastern Europe in just 14 days. The modern-day riders will use 800 horses, each of them finding their own route across Mongolia.

   Murray made a plea for the support of the Anzacs to help reach his charity’s goal. To support his quest to help the children of Mongolia see: www.ridemongolia09.com

   Ends

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