Austinite heads to Mongolia to compete in world’s longest horse race

MyStatesman.com - Full Article

By Nancy Flores - American-Statesman Staff
Aug. 3, 2016

Austinite Courtney Kizer will race in the Mongol Derby, one of world’s toughest horse races, starting Aug. 4.

For Austin native Courtney Kizer, there’s nothing better than getting out into the middle of nowhere, whether that’s backcountry skiing in Colorado or driving across the nation. It’s what nourishes her spirit and feeds her adventurous soul.

“It’s such a state of calm once you’re away from all of the things that we build our lives around these days,” says Kizer, who runs her own architecture firm.

But starting Aug. 4, she’ll embark on an adventure like no other. Kizer, 29, heads to Mongolia to compete in what the “Guinness Book of World Records” named the longest horse race in the world.

For more than 600 miles, Mongol Derby competitors ride semi-wild horses through the unfamiliar Mongolian wilderness. According to the Adventurists, the U.K.-based company that organizes the race, the “exact course changes each year and is kept secret until shortly before the launch...”

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