By LT. J.G. NICOLE PAUL
\nFor the Saipan Tribune<\/p>\n
SANTA RITA, Guam\u2014Who runs across a desert? Lt. Brian Evans, the undersea medical officer on board USS Frank Cable, intends to, and he believes he has good reason. The Arizona native has decided to run across China\u2019s Gobi Desert in seven days during the annual 150-mile-long Gobi March hosted by Race the Planet in May 2006.<\/p>\n
Evans is running to raise money and awareness for the Christopher Reeve Foundation, an organization whose mission Evans says he strongly supports. The Christopher Reeve Foundation is a charitable organization committed to finding treatments and cures for paralysis and other neurological disorders, as well as improving the quality of life for people living with disabilities.<\/p>\n
Evans, who is a featured athlete for the race, hopes to raise $10,000 for the foundation by the time the race is over. The foundation\u2019s mission holds special meaning for Evans.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was in an adventure race with a very close friend of mine in August 2000, one week before I left for medical school,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had spent the entire summer on a road trip, 7,000 miles up the West Coast, doing everything from surfing in San Diego to skiing in British Columbia.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the race, Evans said, he saw his friend fall and sever his spinal cord. \u201cIt was devastating, mostly because I wasn\u2019t able to be around for the transition. Seeing a guy who I used to mountain bike with not being able to even pick up his arm really affects you.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 28-year-old doctor first learned about the race after reading an article in an adventure magazine. The event, known locally as \u201cthe race of no return,\u201d is held in honor of three women\u2014Eva and Francesca French and Mildred Cable\u2014who each crossed the Gobi Desert five times more than 100 years ago. \u201cEach day is a different distance; one day could be 10 miles of altitude gain while the next could be 50 miles of flat, monotonous desert sand,\u201d said Evans.<\/p>\n
Several pieces of equipment will help Evans accomplish this feat. The most important item of gear, he said, is his pack, which is specially designed for long endurance races.<\/p>\n
As his only source of survival throughout the race, his pack will hold everything from his food\u2014camping rations and electrolyte drinks\u2014to his multipurpose knife. He\u2019ll also be carrying a hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, a camera and if he has enough room, an MP3 player. His clothes are specially designed mountain and desert gear whose synthetic fibers will help keep him cool during the day and warm at night.<\/p>\n
Evans has been hard at work training for the race. Right now, he said he is focusing on increasing his base mileage, the preparation needed to get the body in preliminary shape for the longer, more intense training as the race approaches.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome days, I run nine miles straight through,\u201d Evans said. \u201cOther days, I run half with the pack on in the morning, then again without the pack at night.\u201d His pack is usually filled with 20 lbs. of weight so he can get used to running with it as well as determine any areas on the pack that may chafe him.<\/p>\n
Core strength workouts include exercises with a stability ball and hanging workouts where Evans hangs by his arms and pulls up his legs using his abdominal muscles. He also performs \u201cpower yoga,\u201d which offers more strength-training poses than traditional yoga. Evans anticipates commencing training specifically for the desert in January.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mileage will increase to 75 miles a week, and half of that will be with the pack on filled with my gear,\u201d Evans said. \u201cI will also start running during the hottest part of the day, which will be similar to the conditions I will face.\u201d The racecourse consists of undulating sand dunes, mountains and valleys.<\/p>\n
During the mountain crossings, Evans will be climbing to nearly 14,000 feet. Temperatures have been documented at up to 125 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and near freezing at night. He also expects sandstorms, scorpions and a myriad of other problems posed to anyone crossing the desert. He will have to deal with the threat of altitude sickness, frostbite and thin air as he crosses the mountain range. Water will become a precious commodity as he moves throughout his journey.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing that worries me the most about the race is the heat,\u201d Evans said. \u201cIt\u2019s probably my worst enemy because it very hard to protect yourself from it and still be competitive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evans asserted that his experiences with other endurance events\u2014three Iron Mans, two 24-hour mountain bike races and numerous adventure races\u2014will help him finish this one.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve learned from those races what my body needs, how it will react, and how mentally tough it is to keep going,\u201d he said. \u201cSo hopefully all of that experience will get me through this race.\u201d<\/p>\n
His secondary reason for running the race, he said, is the hope to inspire others to use their bodies to reach their maximum potential.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone who can walk can do something physical, and that is what you have to keep in mind. Stay positive and set small goals, and eventually you\u2019ll get to your larger one.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SANTA RITA, Guam\u2014Who runs across a desert? Lt. Brian Evans, the undersea medical officer on board USS Frank Cable, intends to, and he believes he has good reason. The Arizona native has decided to run across China\u2019s Gobi Desert in seven days during the annual 150-mile-long Gobi March hosted by Race the Planet in May 2006. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96339\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}