August 16, 2019

American western horseman Bob Long wins eleventh running of the Mongol Derby. / Sarah Farnsworth photo

There are crazy things to do. And then there’s the Mongol Derby.

Foxhunters have been known to compete in the Mongol Derby, as if the post-and-rail line fences in Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire country, the wire in New Zealand, the banks and ditches of Ireland, or the hedges of the English Shires aren’t enough of a challenge. The Mongol Derby, according to the Guinness Book of Records, is the world’s longest and toughest horse race. This year forty-five men and women from eleven countries gathered to race one thousand kilometers (621 miles) across Mongolia on semi-wild horses.

Finishing strongly, seventy-year-old Robert Long, originally from Cheyenne, Wyoming but now living in Boise, Idaho, was the undisputed winner of this year’s race. Long reached the finish at 11:03 am Mongolian time on August 14, 2019, seven days after the starting gun. Competitors will continue to cross the finish line for another three days.