Surviving The Toughest Race On Earth by Martin Dugard

SUMMARY: Interesting book. Slows a little in places though.

The author starts out covering the Raid Gauloises as a journalist. The Raid Gauloises is a race that combines multiple disciplines. For example, you might sky dive, then hike through a jungle, then kayak on the ocean, then mountain bike up a mountain, etc. Details of the race are kept from the racers until shortly before the race. They are held in remote places like Borneo, the Andes and Madagascar. Eventually the author goes from journalist, to competitor. He puts together a team, but the team doesn’t work well together, and then after an injury, he is forced to drop out. The next year, he comes back as an independent, not part of a team. But going along, ready to fill in if a team loses a member. He eventually joins a team. The team encounters many problems, and is forced to quit. The author manages to go on and complete the race.
The Raid Gauloises has inspired other races such as Mark Burnett’s Eco Challenge, and very loosely The Amazing Race.
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Posted by Rob in Reviews on October 10th, 2006 |