Idaho’s Bob Long oldest to win Mongol Derby

TSLN.com - Full Article

August 14, 2019
Savanna Simmons

Bob Long had to pass a vet check at each horse station, including the very last, in which his horse’s heart rate had to be at or below 56 beats per minute within half an hour of his return in order to not receive a penalty. He received no vet penalties throughout the entire race.

While Robert Long celebrates a victory the 70-year-old has yet to realize the vast audience that closely tracked his progress in the United States. Long is the oldest man to win the Mongol Derby. The Wyomingite, who now resides in Idaho, finished the 1,000 km race, which is a nod to Genghis Khan’s horse messenger system, with the statement “My horse just won the Mongol Derby. It’s nothing, you just ride 650 miles on a death march. There’s nothing to it.”

The semi-feral Mongolian steppe horses are swapped out every 35 to 40 km and are vetted at each horse station. Long began a slow race, so much so that his partner Stephanie Nelson said they hadn’t really taken any photos of him (other than one of his involuntary dismount day one), so when he made his move and neared the front of the pack, the race organizers were scrambling for photos.

“They loved his demographic,” she said. “They thought he would ride two legs and fall off.”

The second-place rider South African Weisman Nel encountered a vet delay early in the race but managed to sneak up from behind to finish two hours after Long. Some of the 42 other riders are still making the trek to the finish line.

“Bob isn’t just the oldest, he has ridden better and stronger, camping out more than anyone else,” said Tom Morgan, founder of The Adventurists, the race organizers. “We opened up the course this year to make navigation a key skill again, and Bob absolutely nailed it. The man is tougher than a box of concrete...”

Read more here:
https://www.tsln.com/news/idahos-bob-long-oldest-to-win-mongol-derby/

70 Year Old Bob Wins 2019 Mongol Derby!

EverythingHorseUK.co.uk - Full Article

14/08/2019 ehuknews

In an extraordinary, seven-day demonstration of horsemanship, fortitude and navigational skill, the USA’s Robert (Bob) Long, 70, became the oldest winner of the 1,000km Mongol Derby, the world’s longest horse race.

Bob, who has a PhD in Public Health, in 2013 retired from Healthwise, a company he helped build up from the ground.

Commenting on his success Bob joked:

It’s nothing – you just ride 650 miles. There’s nothing to it,”

I’ve only stayed overnight at one horse station; I’ve been staying with local families. They’re spectacular.”

Asked how it felt to be the oldest winner of the Derby, he replied dismissively:

Age is just a number.”

In doing so he battled the weather gods, who threw everything they had at the brave crazy riders, from torrential rain to burning sun and then freezing temperatures, and harsh terrain. All on the back of semi-wild, tough-as-teak Mongolian horses, who like to start the day by bucking their riders off just to show who’s boss.

Cowboy Bob, who is from Cheyenne, Wyoming but now lives in Boise, Idaho, completed the 1,000km race by changing horses 28 times...

Read more here:
https://everythinghorseuk.co.uk/70-year-old-bob-wins-2019-mongol-derby/

Malaysia: Young riders eyeing top-10 finish in world meet

NST.com.my - Full Article

By Fadhli Ishak - August 14, 2019

THE national junior squad will be eying a top 10 finish when they take to the track for the FEI World Endurance Championships for Young Riders and Juniors in Italy next month.

Team manager Mohamad Din Mat said the squad - which is comprised of Muhammad Faris Haikal Hassan Sa'ari, Muhammad Aimin Azfar Nazulki, Nur Qasrina Amani Zakaria and Muhammad Yusuf Luqman Zakaria - will be placing their focus on the team event at San Rossore on September 17-18.

"We recently competed in a series of tournaments in Argentan and Jullianges in France to qualify, which we did, and also prepare for the world juniors," said Din.

"We had utilised new horses which we have leased from their owners in France and will be using the same horses in San Rossore.

"I believe our riders have adjusted well to their horses and have a good understanding with them now..."

Read more here:
https://www.nst.com.my/sports/others/2019/08/512661/young-riders-eyeing-top-10-finish-world-meet

Florida's Abbi Bell's marathon trek in Mongol Derby ends on Day 7

News4jax.com - Full Article

Middleburg resident covered more than 400 miles in endurance horse race

By Justin Barney - Sports Editor
Posted: 6:57 PM, August 13, 2019

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Abbi Bell had never done anything quite like the Mongol Derby, and made it more than halfway through the event billed as the world's longest and toughest horse race.

The Middleburg resident covered roughly 412 miles through the first seven days of the endurance horse race before retiring from the event Tuesday...

Read more here:
https://www.news4jax.com/sports/abbi-bells-marathon-trek-in-mongol-derby-ends-on-day-7

2019 Mongol Derby Day 7

RoisinScribbles Journal - Full Article

Published on 13th August 2019
Welcome to the update for Day 7!

The big surprise today, for me at least, was the sheer volume of riders getting off their horses and throwing in the metaphorical towel.

Alanna Watt and Holly Rivett join Molly Pearson, Ava Drake and Sam Franklin in the adventure class.

Anne Binnendijk, Abbi Bell, Patti Long and very surprisingly Ahmed Al-Ghurair retired. Harriet Bond, Erin Nagle, Rendel Rieckmann, Ella Mildon, Jacqueline Knopfel, Sally Conway and Naomi Crombeem accepted defeat and gave up on the adventure class. They join Pip Chisholm and Vasin Govender. Why did Ahmed suddenly bin and get in a car for Ulaanbaatar? Nobody seems to know.

Why at this late stage have so many riders stopped racing? I suppose it is easy, watching the race from afar, to feel like it is nearly finished. It is, for Robert. Lots of these riders are still at least two days away from the finish line, which after seven days of spending every daylight hour on a series of naughty little horses, has understandably lost a lot of its allure.

Sympathy to those who have Just Had Enough - sometimes accepting defeat is harder than carrying on. Well done for making a tough decision. Props to those who are hanging on in there, also - many riders who don't get an official finish for whatever reason reappear on the start line at a later date. It's hard leaving something so enormous unfinished.

What about the front of the race?

Today, like yesterday, belongs to Robert Long who continued to pull away in spite of the heat, the fierce competitors behind him and the distance he has ridden. How has he done it?...

Read more here:
https://roisinscribbles.journoportfolio.com/articles/2019-mongol-derby-race-update-day-7/

See all updates here:
http://www.endurance.net/international/Mongolia/2019MongolDerby/

2019 Mongol Derby: Bob V’s Statistics

TheAdventurists.com - Full Story

August 12, 2019
It’s day six of the mighty 2019 Derby and all eyes are glued to screens as 71 year old Bob Long (RL), currently in first place, continues to eat up the miles enroute to the finish line. He could even cross the line tomorrow night (August 13) after seven days of brilliant riding.

Every Derby is significant in its own right, but this year’s edition is especially captivating because at age 71, Bob could be the oldest competitor to actually finish the race let alone the oldest to win it all. This brings to mind a number of ponderings: What’s the average age of competitors in the Derby? Who was the oldest winner to date? The youngest? What age group is more likely on average to produce a winner or a finisher?...

Read more here:
https://www.theadventurists.com/adventures/mongol-derby/updates/#1

See all updates here:
http://www.endurance.net/international/Mongolia/2019MongolDerby/

2019 Mongol Derby Day 6

TheAdventurists.com - Full Article

August 12, 2019
Day 6:

Jump in, let’s go
Lay back, enjoy the show
Everybody gets high, everybody gets low
These are the days when anything goes

Every day is a winding road…

– Sheryl Crow


There’s only one thing certain about this race: no two Derby days are ever the same, but that just makes it more fascinating. When we closed up action on Day 5, we had the front runners gunning for HS20, a few of them camping out and expecting to rocket into the station, do a quick changeover and be well on to their way to HS21 before the rest of us had time to wipe our bleary eyes and brew a coffee. Two medical evacuations late yesterday threw a wrench into that plan, however, and HQ called a race hold for the morning of Day 6 until medical teams could get back in place. Most riders no doubt enjoyed the extra bit of R & R, especially since the weather once again did a complete 180 sometime in the night and began bucketing down...

Read more here:
https://www.theadventurists.com/adventures/mongol-derby/updates/#2

See all updates here:
http://www.endurance.net/international/Mongolia/2019MongolDerby/