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Matthew Chapman and Oscar Fuchs Triumph in Namibia Ultra Marathon

Posted: 28.05.09

The Racing the Planet event has concluded in Lüdertiz, Namibia, on Saturday 23 May. Matthew Chapman and Oscar Fuchs of The Chapman Consulting Group triumphed to complete the race and finish in the top 20% of competitors. They are currently on their way back to Singapore. For first-hand details on the gruelling race, see Chapman's blog which was widely followed on the RacingThePlanet site here.

Over the course of the 7 days, Chapman and Fuchs were part of a field of 220 competitors from more than 38 countries who completed the 250km foot race from Fish River Canyon to Lüderitz in Namibia. The race lived up to the race organiser's expectations that it would be the toughest ever. Running an average of a marathon each day in up to 40 degrees Celsius heat, Chapman and Fuchs ran down canyons, across ankle-breaking rock fields, across scalding desert plains and over incredibly high sand dunes before finishing at the Skeleton Coast. Carrying packs of 8kg both carried all their supplies including food, medical equipment and clothing.

This was Chapman's fifth distance race, following the completion of four previous ultra-marathons between 2004 and 2006 in the driest, windiest, hottest and coldest deserts in the world - Atacama (Chile), Gobi (China), Sahara (Egypt) and Antarctica. For Fuchs, this was his first long-distance event and a formidable achievement for a newcomer.

This is an excerpt. For the full press release, please download the PDF version below.