RacingThePlanet (RTP) is an organizer of off-trail and rough-country endurance foot-races, including the 4 Deserts. The company also operates an outdoor products store and a dried foods company.
The 2011 Kimberley Ultramarathon was the subject of a parliamentary inquiry in Western Australia after a number of competitors suffered life-threatening burns when a bushfire overran a part of the route. 60 Minutes Australia documented the journey of one of the contestants burned by bushfire.
History
2002-2008
In 2002, RacingThePlanet is founded.
In 2003, the first race of the 4 Deserts Ultramarathon Series takes place in Dunhuang China: the Gobi March (China).
In 2004, the inaugural Atacama Crossing takes place in Chile.
In 2005, the inaugural Sahara Race takes place in Egypt.
In 2006, The Last Desert (Antarctica) takes place. Kevin Lin from Taiwan and Lisanne Dorion from USA are named the first 4 Deserts Champions.
In 2007, RacingThePlanet became a case study for the Harvard Business School and is one of the few case studies to be repeated yearly.
2008-2009
In 2009 RacingThePlanet launched an online retail store specializing in selling the outdoor apparel, equipment and nutritional products required for endurance racing. By 2010 the store had grown to stock a much larger variety of products for all Outdoors pursuits. Later in the year, The Outdoor Store became the largest online outdoor gear store in Asia and had distribution hubs in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom allowing global distribution.
In 2008, Dean Karnazes from USA and Laura Corti from Italy are named the 4 Deserts Champions.
In 2008 & 2009, 4 Deserts Ultramarathon Series is ranked #2 on the TIME Magazine's list of the World's Top Endurance Events.
2010-2011
In 2010 a record nine competitors completed the 4 Deserts Grand Slam, including three women who are the first to have achieved the feat - Samantha Gash of Australia, Lucy Rivers-Bulkeley and Linda Quirk.
A Shanghai-based competitor died of heatstroke after competing in the 2010 Gobi March. His brother claimed Racing the Planet was "reckless" and ill-prepared.
2010 also saw the first 100 km race organised by the company - the which took place in the desert around Hotan in China's western Xinjiang Province.
In 2010 Ryan Sandes of South Africa was crowned 4 Deserts Champion having won all four of the races he competed in, and Marjiana Pellizer of Croatia was crowned women's champion.
On September 2, 2011, at the 100 km event in the Kimberly, Western Australia, Turia Pitt, 24, and Kate Sanderson, 35, were left with severe burn injuries when fire swept through a rocky gorge during the outback race. Two men - Michael Hull and Martin van der Merwe - suffered less serious burns. RacingThePlanet has not compensated the victims or contributed to their medical treatment, including to Ms Pitt whose expenses exceed $2 million. In November 2012, the Government of Western Australia made ex gratia payments of $450,000 to each of the women.
Originally launched in English, in 2011 the Outdoor Store expanded capability to include Traditional and Simplified Chinese, as well as French, Spanish and Italian.
2012-2015
In 2012, Vicente Juan Garcia from Spain and Anne-Marie Flammersfeld from Germany become the first two, in a calendar year, to win all 4 Deserts Ultramarthons and achieve the 4 Deserts Grand Slam.
In the same year, RacingThePlanet partnered with The Esquel Group to fund nine (9) scholarships to send minority girls in the Gobi Desert to high school and university/technical schools.
In 2013, the film Desert Runners, shot at all 4 Deserts, and made its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in June 2013, and later on Netflix.
In 2014, "Chema" Martinez Fernandez & Isis Breiter, a double Olympian and a mother-of-three, respectively, are named 4 Deserts Champions 2014.
In 2015, The Sahara Race is temporarily relocated to Jordan from Egypt and at the first-ever female Afghan ultramarathon team to join the Gobi March.
2016-2020
In June 2016, the 50th 4 Deserts/Roving Race took place at the Gobi March (China). In addition, the Sahara Race is relocated to Namibia, where it currently remains and has been renamed to the Namib Race.
In June 2016, "Gobi the Dog" follows runners and is first adopted by Medlina Helil before becoming famous.
At the conclusion of 2016, Jax Mariash & Chen Yen-Po are named the 4 Deserts Champions & Cynthia Fish & Jax Mariash become the first females to complete the 4 Deserts Grand Slam Plus.