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Charlestown man nears finish in grueling Sahara race

E-mail|Link|Comments () October 30, 2009 03:41 PM

RacingThePlanet Limited

One competitor racing across the sand

By Michaela Stanelun, Globe Correspondent

A Charlestown man is making a name for himself while running a grueling 150-mile race through the parched sands of the Sahara Desert and is poised to finish as the top American contender in the contest.

George Chmiel, 28, began his journey across the Sahara Desert in Egypt on Sunday. Today, he is only several miles away from finishing the seven-day foot race, which goes up and down steep sand dunes and across what Chmiel describes as “super soft sand.”

Chmiel and 128 other competitors from 30 countries are participating in what is called the 4 Deserts Series, and the Sahara Race is one of the four races in the series.

The 4 Deserts race founder Mary K. Gadams said in an e-mail to the Globe that Chmiel will likely be the top American and place in the top 10 overall.

Chmiel, who is running the race to raise money for the MAGIC Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to children with medical conditions or disorders affecting their growth, has said he has already raised more than $50,000.

While running, he has also been keeping a blog discussing at length each leg of the race. His latest entry, posted this morning at 3:33 a.m. EDT, is about the Black Desert March, a 58-mile segment of the race. In it, he discussed seeing children who grabbed his hands and began running with him for a couple hundred yards.

“That moment is probably what I’ll remember most from this journey,” Chmiel wrote.