Mongol Derby Is the Longest and Toughest Horse Race In The World

Held in the unforgiving countryside of Mongolia, the Mongol Derby is the ultimate test of survival, a 10 day race covering more than 1000 kilometres riding semi-wild horses and camping with herders. Sam Jones, a 40-year-old mining operator from Australia took first place, the second female to ever win the event and the first ever Australian. Held each year since 2009, the course recreates the legendary postal system of the Mongol Empire. Created in 1224 by Ghengis Khan, the founder of the empire, the horse relay postal system was instrumental in the expansion of the Mongol Empire. Guided by a local escort, the specially appointed postal riders would gallop more than 160 kilometres to a morin urtuu, a horse relay station, where another escort would be waiting with a fresh horse. At the peak of the empire, a letter could cross from Kharkhorin in the east to the Caspian Sea on the far western edge of the empire, a distance of around 6800 kilometres, in two weeks. This system of delivering mail continued until 1949 when the Soviet Union which then controlled Mongolia shut it down in an attempt to erase Genghis Khan’s history from the country. This year more than 30 riders competed in the arduous race through the Mongolian steppe (grassland region). Riders came from 16 countries including Australia, Germany, Switzerland, US, UK, Iceland, China and Ireland. Competitors had to submit a written application, be interviewed by phone, and pay a $14000 race fee to cover the cost of the horses, medical and veterinary support, GPS and tracking devices, interpreters and pre-race training. There is no route and no facilities like showers, toilets or grooms so riders have to care for themselves and their horses to complete the race. Packed with just essential survival gear they are only allowed to carry a maximum weight of five kilograms. Just like the ancient postal route, riders change horses at urtuu’s run by monadic families, although in race conditions, it’s every 40 kilometres. These families supply the horses for the gruelling race and are paid for each horse they provide. With more than 1000 horses needed for this year’s race, it has become a large part of the families income. At each urtuu, the riders horse have to be passed through a check by a professional team of vets before they are allowed to select another horse and continue. A rider whose horse fails a vet check is severely penalised and must stay with the horse while it is treated. Fewer than half the riders are ever expected to finish the race with riders often falling off multiple times during the race. It is a balance of survival skills and horsemanship where they must endure unpredictable elements and an unfamiliar food and terrain to get to the end.