Jo4hospice's Weblog

Press Release from Racing the Planet

jo4hospice — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 17:52:18 +0000

As promised, here are the details as released by the Gobi March organisers:

RacingThePlanet community mourn death of competitor

Nicholas A. Kruse

(8 July 2010, Hong Kong.)

RacingThePlanet is deeply saddened by the passing of competitor Nicholas A. Kruse, who died on 3 July 2010, in Urumqi Xinjiang Autonomous Region Hospital in China from complications due to the heatstroke he suffered on Stage 4 of the Gobi March three days earlier.

Many competitors have reached out to tell us about the conversations they had with Nicholas, an American who had lived for a number of years in Shanghai, at the Gobi March, and that it was his dream to visit the Gobi Desert. He seemed to be having the time of his life and struck everyone as an energetic and dynamic young man.

At 4:40pm on 30 June 2010, an ambulance was called by RacingThePlanet to evacuate Nicholas who had been found collapsed on the course some 1.5km from the end of the 36km long Stage 4.

Nicholas was found by a fellow competitor collapsed on the course about 1.5km from the finish line of the 36km long Stage 4.

A short time before he was discovered he had been seen walking by a race medical doctor, in good spirits in no apparent difficulty, and had declined an offer of additional water.

A very short time after he was discovered, two more competitors arrived at Nicholas’ location and one of them ran for camp to alert officials, arriving around 4:00pm.

An Emergency Room physician was immediately dispatched to assist Nicholas. Intravenous Fluids (IV) were administered to Nicholas in the field and other measures were taken to stabilize him so that he could be evacuated from the course. Camels were dispatched to aid evacuation as this part of the course was not accessible by vehicle.

When Nicholas had been stabilized he was brought to a waiting ambulance at approximately 5:30pm and taken to the nearby Turpan Hospital. Two RacingThePlanet event doctors accompanied him, one a Mandarin speaker.

After Nicholas was stabilized and his condition fully assessed he was transferred that evening to Urumqi Xinjiang Autonomous Region Hospital, the hospital with the best Intensive Care Unit in the city. An event medical doctor, who is an Emergency Room practitioner and Mandarin speaker, remained with Nicholas while at the hospital. She reported that he was receiving excellent care, but remained in a stable but critical condition.

It was two days later on Saturday, 3 July, whilst preparations were being made in discussion with his family to transfer Nicholas to Hong Kong that his condition worsened. He passed away at 5:30pm with his girlfriend and brother by his side.

Our thoughts and prayers remain with Nicholas Kruse’s family and friends.

http://www.4deserts.com/pressrelease.php?id=64

I have highlighted the statement which is where Mark was involved. He was with this race doctor and they were in the canyon, rescuing and treating competitors who needed assistance. By all accounts, they were the last contact with Nick before he collapsed.

Mark and Jo should be in Auckland by now (6.00 a.m. Friday) and back in Whakatane by 9.30 a.m.

Welcome Home to my two darling boys …

Ann

Three more sleeps to go …

jo4hospice — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 05:22:42 +0000

Jo and Mark are resting up in Beijing and looking forward to heading home on Thursday, arriving in Whakatane on Friday morning.

The Gobi March organisers have issued a statement saying that they will be publishing a timeline and statement of facts relating to the death of the competitor. This should give us a clearer idea of what happened to him.

I will post the timeline on this blog to share it with interested readers.

Till then,

Ann

Addendum …

jo4hospice — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 22:42:44 +0000

Hello,

I didn’t feel that I should mention this on the blog until I found references in the public domain. However this morning I found that two bloggers on the official Gobi March website have told the story, so I can explain why I feel that Mark and Jo faced more emotional challenges than they would ever have expected:

I quote from a blog:

“Deep sadness that a fellow competitor died on Saturday. He collapsed during the last stage of day 4, in the slot canyons, and was found without a pulse. The docs tried everything they could and he was taken to hospital in Urumqi, but unfortunately he paid the ultimate sacrifice. We all enter these events knowing that there is an element of danger but never expect it to end like this. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.”

You can see that Mark’s involvement in the rescues and treatment of collapsed competitors was a huge thing … and the fact that this young man died, is testament to how brutal the conditions were for those who were out in the hottest part of the day.

We too express our heartfelt sympathy to his family and friends. It is an unthinkable end to what was surely to be the experience of a lifetime for him. Jo was very emotional when telling me the story … it was almost too much for them to bear.

Ann

Good News from Beijing

jo4hospice — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 18:28:29 +0000

I spoke to Mark and Jo for a long time last night. They have certainly both gone through the experience of a lifetime. Mark has possibly got more stories to tell than Jo has : his view behind the scenes is extremely interesting.

May I say here how proud I am of him. He (Mark) was involved in several rescues out in the canyon … for which job he volunteered on the day. He had to cover very challenging terrain to reach collapsed competitors, endure the brutal heat and then deal with extremely stressful situations. The responsibility of it all weighed heavy.

Mark was at the final checkpoint on the 99km stage and he did his duty there for nearly 36 hours … with no sleep to speak of. As we know from Jo’s story, by the time competitors reached that checkpoint, they were not in a good condition. (Jo tells me that his “story” is only one of at least 140 similar tales of woe)

Mark found it terribly difficult to let his Dad leave the checkpoint for the final leg, knowing exactly how poor Jo’s condition was.

However, they are both in very good spirits now.

Mark is recovering from a dreadful bug that laid him low on the Saturday, but by last night he was enjoying a big lunch of … Maccas, what else?! Plans for dinner? Pizza Hut!

Jo tells me that he is 98% recovered, 24 hours after finishing the event. So good training helps with a good recovery. His problems on Stage 5 were caused by sheer heat exhaustion, probably because he set off too fast for those temperatures. And once his internal thermostat was out of kilter, that was that. He lost 6 kilograms in the week : and if anyone has looked at the website photos, there are a couple that show this quite clearly. In one photo, his back is to us and he just looks so skinny.

But as always, he has a load of stories to tell and they are all so interesting, ranging from heartwrending to heartwarming.

Both he and Mark found that human nature is at its most revealing under these conditions, and it brings out the best in many.

As happened last year in Namibia with Craig, Jo has been given any number of compliments about Mark’s role as a volunteer. And at the prizegiving, the volunteers were given a standing ovation because of the conditions that they had had to endure, while supporting competitors going through their own personal hell.

The boys are off to explore the Great Wall today, and I will be ringing again tonight to catch up on more Gobi March tales.

Ann

The end of the race

jo4hospice — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 19:14:39 +0000

Well, I haven’t heard directly from Jo, but according to the website, he is confirmed in 9th place in 31hrs 55min. He has won his age group and he finished in the top ten, so despite his dreadful long day, he has achieved two of his three goals. I hope he will be happy with that.

I should hear from him later today when he and Mark settle into their hotel in Beijing. I will update the blog with any emails that arrive.

Till then …

Ann

Email from Jo about the Long Day …

jo4hospice — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 17:40:07 +0000

Well, let’s start at the beginning.

We got off to a fast start at 08H00 yesterday – stage 1 was through a river bed (so, very wet shoes) and then through a local village. This was fast and furious as we ran along a tar-sealed road. At Checkpoint 1 I think I was lying about 3rd; at Checkpoint 2, I was still flying long (still 3rd or 4th).

But slowlly the wheels started falling off, and by Checkpoint 3 I was well behind the leaders and not feeling the greatest. It was slightly overcast but still hot – I felt like I was boiling and had to use a lot of my drinking water to pour over my head and legs. Soon after after Checkpoint 3 I found I could no longer run and from that stage on the battle started …

I just had to keep moving – walking as fast as I could (and I am not a fast walker at all). I started falling back in the field and by Checkpoint 5 some of the fast walkers were catching me. At Checkpoint 5 there was a water pipe the local farmer was using (possibly for his animals – a bit of a puzzle as we were surrounded by a moonscape environment). This was gushing out cold clear water and I spent a good 15 minutes under the pipe. This revived me temporarily and I was able to jog for about 30minutes, but then I was again reduced to a slow walk.

This was to be the last time I would be able to run. Just some 2km short of Checkpoint 6, I was in a bad way. I felt weak, and worst of all, incredibly nauseous. I was unable to eat anything and my various electrolyte replacements made me dry retch. I staggered into Checkpoint 6 feeling awful. The volunteer there, an ex-South African, was incredibly good to me : kind, caring and concerned. She insisted, wisely, that I lie down for 30minutes.

While I was supine, I felt only marginally better. The nausea would not go away though.

For the first time in my so-called sporting career, I was staring defeat in the face. I was so depressed at the idea that I had been beaten by the race and I was wondering how I was going to tell my family/friends/supporters that I had fallen at the last hurdle.

Fortunately my guardian angel had not quite given up on me. My saviour came in the form of a Lebanese competitor, Alain (or Ali). While I was trying to regain my strength, Ali lay down next to me in the tent. He, too, had gone out fast and furious and had “fallen over” at Checkpoint 4.

Ali, realising the predicament I was in, suggested that the two of us walk slowly to the next Checkpoint – a mere 12km away but, for us, an almost impossible task.

We shuffled out of Checkpoint 6 and some 2 hours later we were at Checkpoint 7. Ali is your typical Mediterranean personality : interesting and entertaining. We slowly reeled in the kilometres, passing through fascinating villages, farms and vineyards. There is a most impressive irrigation system here – the water comes from the surrounding snow-covered mountains (via a system of tunnels constructed hundreds of yearss ago). The streets have open canals running down both sides – wonderful cold clear water. I kept jumping in and out of the larger canals so I was able to keep reasonably cool.

We reached the final Checkpoint – Mark’ s one - just as the sun was setting. It was so nice to see him and he was so supportive of me. A great son, indeed.

We then faced the last 4 or so kilometres in the dark – the dreaded dune section. At this stage Ali and I had been joined by Taavi, an Estonian competitor. The three of us stumbled through the dunes for the next few hours.

This was really ”dig deep” stuff – we were absolutely exhausted and had to stop every 20 minutes to regain what was left of our reserves.

We entered camp, hand in hand , just after 01h00 – the Journey finally completed!

I went straight to my tent and fell fast asleep–shoes, gaiters and my running gear still on.

Today is recovery day–so lots of lying around.

Until Urumqi–farewell.

From Ann :

When I saw Jo’s time on this stage, I knew that he’d had a terrible day, and as you can see, it was the toughest in his running experience.

If you haven’t yet donated to Hospice, perhaps this effort of Jo’s has earned it :

http://www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/jo4hospice/

Alternatively, Hospice EBOP can be contacted directly at

Hospice Eastern Bay of Plenty
PO Box 275
Whakatane 3158
New Zealand

or

37 Goulstone Road
Whakatane

Stage 5 …

jo4hospice — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 09:44:13 +0000

The Results have finally been updated and it looks like Jo had a brutal day. He took 17 hours 15 minutes, which is very slow. In Namibia, where he struggled on the ”long” day (100km), he was two hours quicker than yesterday’s effort. So something must have caused him major problems.

In any event, he is safely in the camp now, and he’ll be resting up in preparation for the last 20km on Saturday. At this stage, he has dropped back to 9th position overall, and he’ll be hoping that he can maintain that placing tomorrow.

Saturday’s Stage 6 is a 22km course named Sand Dunes to Shan Shan. It’s rolling sand dunes all the way to the finish line from Camp 6 in the heart of The Oven.

Then it will all be over …

99km : Stage 5

jo4hospice — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 19:08:45 +0000

It’s very worrying to see that Jo is not amongst the 11 finishers recorded for stage five. There are four options that I can think of :

1. I see that some children moved the flags along the course, and the leader got lost, as did another runner. Jo might have veered off course as well.

From the website updates for Thursday:

Chen Penbin of China was the first to reach the finish line of the Gobi March 2010 Long March. Chen successfully finished the course in just under 12 hours, at 19:59:18. Second place finisher, Austrian Christian Schiester, arrived less than ten minutes later, at 20:08:14, sobbing at his tremendous effort. Schiester shouted his thanks as he fell to the ground and supporters surrounded him.

Overall leader Dan Parr, who has led the race every day until today, came in a surprising third, at 20:18:56. Parr had been reported earlier in the day as leading the race by over an hour, and spectators at the finish line were puzzled by his absence. He’d worked hard during the middle 50km to gain an advantage over his closest competitors, but saw his efforts unravel during the final 11km after he became lost due to village children removing and playing with course-marking flags.

Parr said, “I practically had my valedictory speech penned and just out of Checkpoint 8 I turned a corner and saw these kids throwing the pink course flags around. I turned left at the road and got lost – I went completely the wrong way.”

“We’ve still got a race. That’s a nightmare because I was hoping to have it sewn up today!” Parr said after he and Schiester, currently second, shook hands.

(The poor guy – heartbreaking stuff – Ann)

2. JO’s had a slower run than expected and has taken a break at the overnight stop. The website describes the temperatures as “searing”, so this is very possible.

3. He’s had the same problem as last year : found the long day debilitating and ended up being quite disorientated when he finished (Craig’s personal report). He felt that the problem last year was that he got his electrolyte replacement wrong and planned carefully to avoid that this time.

4. Injury?

With the time difference being 4 hours, it will be this afternoon before the results are likely to be updated with the next wave of finishers.

I have to trust that Jo is okay …

And a BIG thank you to the generous folk who responded to an earlier post reminding readers of this blog that Jo is doing this event for Hospice. Several very welcome donations came in, and it could be that he is half way to his goal of $10,000.

Ann

Email from Jo about Stage 4

jo4hospice — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 09:09:10 +0000

Jo is writing about Stage 4 on Wednesday:

Today started early for us – up at 03h00; breakfast and then at 04h00 we all boarded buses for an hour and a half trip to the start (at 06h00).

The start was fast and furious–we were all keen to avoid the sun as much a possible. The course was very interesting – undulating hills and then a long stretch through canyons. By about 09h30 it was starting to warm up–up until then it had been remarkably cool.

The last few kms were all downhill in soft sand and the finish was a welcome sight for me (at 10h00).

The finish is hard to describe. The Flaming Mountains are directly in front of us; we are in a huge Buddhist complex (built 3yrs ago) and we are sleeping in the museum, a huge marble-floored mudbrick building that is unbelievably dusty.

Dan, the winner, and I went down to the stream in the valley, 500m away, and spent 30minutes lying in the cold fast flowing water–such bliss!!

I washed my clothes and shoes and then drifted back to the museum, by which time it was starting to get seriously hot. Mark was in charge of the competitors finishing and he was very keen to see me come in so early.

I am not sure how hot it is right now(15h00) but it must be close to 40 degrees.

Mark is up in the canyons, with a doctor rescuing those who are struggling. They have already had to put up a drip on a competitor still in the canyon. Fortunately Mark has taken a lot of fluid for himself and he is wearing his hat. He must be boiling up in the mountains though. He will have lots of stories to tell!!

I am worried about tomorrow (Jo is referring to the long, 99km day) I will make sure though that I have lots of fluid and electrolytes. A whole day in this incredible heat will b an interesting experience.

Until probably Friday,

Stage 5 coming up

jo4hospice — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 08:01:46 +0000

Thursday’s Stage 5 is going be very demanding. This is where some competitors split the distance and do part of it on Friday. Jo will be hoping to finish in one go, in which case Friday becomes a “rest” day for him. From the website:

The ”Long March” will be 99km, with the first and last sections being the most difficult.

Starting from the Buddhist Village campsite, competitors will descend into the Turpan Basin, the second lowest point on Earth at over 100m below sea-level. The course crosses through crop fields, pasture, salt flats and sandy tracks and, saving the best for last, a sting in the tail of sand dunes that need to be conquered to finally get into Camp 6 – called The Oven – in the heart of the dunes.

If you are interested in the Kiwi contingent doing the Gobi March, take a look at this item on Sportzhub (Thanks to Steve) :
http://www.sportzhub.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10106&Itemid=1

According to the results table, there are 146 of the 153 competitors still in the race.

One has to admire the tail enders. The leading runner has an overall time of 11hrs 34min whereas the tail ender has been walking for an overall time of 40 hours. The long day must be so daunting for the slower competitors - I take my hat off to them.

The most recent news update on the website :

Stage 4 was the first day of real heat, and competitors now know what lies in store for them on The Long March tomorrow through The Oven – the hottest place in China and the second lowest point on Earth. Competitors were early to bed to get as much rest as possible before tomorrow’s 99km Stage 5.