A different adventure
Alumna travels to Mongolia for annual UltraMarathon
Mari Kandel Campbell wrote to Ohio Today after reading a Spring 2008 story about two alumni who traveled to Mongolia as part of a car rally. She traveled to Mongolia this summer and worked as a volunteer for the UltraMarathon, which raises funds for Hovsgol National Park and environmental awareness efforts. A letter from Campbell appeared in the Fall/Winter 2008 issue of Ohio Today. Here is the rest of her story.
By Mari Kandel Campbell, BSJ '66 I am 64 years old and continue to enjoy international travel, after my curiosity was piqued during my junior year abroad (when I traveled to Vienna, Austria, and Freiburg, Germany, as an Ohio University student). My most recent trip to Hovsgol National Park in Mongolia is a very different adventure from the drive to Mongolia from Russia described by 29-year-old Joshua Bernstein, BSJ '00, in the Spring 2008 issue of Ohio Today ("Have Engine, Will Travel").
 The idea for the UltraMarathon, a 100 km race which aims to preserve Hovsgol National Park, was conceived 10 years ago by two of my friends during a Mongolian horse-riding trip. They decided to create an annual Sunrise to Sunset UltraMarathon for their friends and the international community that is concerned about the environment.
The adventure includes running, fishing, hiking and horseback riding. Each year, monetary contributions are used to build environmental awareness. This year, organizers Angie Eagan of the U.S. and Nicholas Musy of Switzerland were presented an award from the Mongolian government for their efforts. They purchased a recycling truck and hired a driver who visits schools to educate students about littering and recycling.
The UltraMarathon starts at Lake Hovsgol at 4 a.m. -- sunrise. Eighteen of the 35 participants finished before the 10 p.m. sunset cutoff time. First place went to a British racer, second place went to a Mongolian and third place went to a Swiss man. The altitude of the course was 1,645 meters (5,400 feet). Participants and volunteers meet several days before the marathon and stay in "gers," traditional tents with wood-burning stoves in the middle. The camp staff includes professional folk singers and the dancing group "Dalai Eej," which performs the Mongolian long song about nature, dancing and "hoomi" (throat singing). Grilled lamb, lamb stew, lamb with noodles, yak, goat and cow tongue are some of the delicacies the participants enjoyed.
In addition to the runners, a doctor and aid station volunteers (like myself) are an integral part of the race. I spent 12 hours at an aid station that runners passed at kilometer 55 and 88 on the course. I worked with a translator, two horsemen and a local doctor who massaged the runners' legs. We ate mutton with noodles for lunch and fed the runners salty potatoes, tea, apples, donuts and clean water.
Before the race, I met the marathon participants in Beijing, and we flew together to Ulan Bator's Buyant-Ukhaa airport. The group included a mother from Toledo and her two young children, a 69-year-old from Baltimore running his 69th marathon, a 60-year-old woman from Denver and two Swiss participants who rode their bicycles from Russia.
This year, for the first time, the UltraMarathon was held during the national festival of Mongolia called Naadam. The three-day event features the "manly sports" of wrestling, archery and horseracing. Some of the male tourists participated in the wrestling. Wrestling uniforms include boots, pointed hats, very short pants and a decorative vest. Participants perform the eagle dance by flapping their arms. Under the previous Communist regime, there were military parades and workers' demonstrations in central Ulan Bator's Sukhbaatar Square.
Only men are permitted to perform in the archery competition, and only children weighing less than 80 pounds participate in horse racing. Mongolian horses are short and stubby and helped Genghis Khan conquer half the known world in the 13th century. Khan's warriors could leap on and off their horses in the middle of a battle. They could whirl around and shoot arrows while riding away from their enemies. Young horses with light, young riders in today's Naadam festivals ride bareback often, as they gallop into the festival site with clouds of dust reminiscent of the Mongolian warriors who attacked centuries ago.
For more information, visit the Mongolia UltraMarathon Web site.
Posted 12-02-2008
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