Rebecca Byerly, Leads the First American Team to Complete the 125 mile Libyan Challenge Master Trek Washington D.C. March 4, 2009: Journalist and adventure athlete, Rebecca Byerly returns to DC today.
Last Thursday she successfully led the first American Team to complete the 125 mile, Libyan Challenge Master Trek in Ghat, Libya. She used a GPS for navigation, and not only completed the event with her team mates in 58 hours and 32 minutes but also documented the story with filmmaker JB Benna.
Byerly learned in September 2008, that the Libyan government had opened the race to Americans. She saw this as an opportunity for other Americans to learn about the history, cultural and geography of Libya through the eyes of a runner. She worked as a liaison with race management, recruited participants, and negotiated the visa proc ess. Fellow runner Howard Cohen defined the teams physical requirements, equipment, and strategy for successfully completing the event.
Over one hundred runners from around the world participated in this extraordinary event. The American team successfully competed the event and included; Rebecca Byerly, Isabella De La Houssaye, Bob Lashua, and Howard Cohen. Experienced ultra marathon runner Cohen was the first American to complete the event in 52 hours and 35 minutes. Tri-athlete and mother of five De La Houssaye,
marathoner and former correctional officer Lashua, and Byerly finished the race together in 58 hours and 32 minutes. Many of the Libyans and Tuaregs, the nomadic people indigenous to the area, had never met Americans before.
A graduate of American University, Byerly has worked in various countries including Afghanistan, Sudan, Palestine, India, Mongolia, Cambodia, and China. She has used running and writing as a medium to share the remarkable accounts of people in far-flung regions of the world whose stories would otherwise
go untold.
"Some people wonder why we are doing this race," Rebecca said. "It definitely takes a special person to take on an event like this. But we take on these kinds of challenges because they offer an opportunity to not only grow as a person, but to make life long friends, and to take steps towards improved understanding between nations. When you are out in the desert it does not matter what country you are from, which God you worship, or how much money you have. We are all out there suffering together with one goal in mind - to cross the finish."
Byerly ran: Boston Marathon, USA; Luxor Marathon, Egypt; Two Ocean Ultra Marathon, South Africa; Dead Sea Ultra Marathon, Jordan; Adelaide Marathon, Australia; Marine Corps Marathon, USA; Bull Run 50 miler, USA; Delhi Marathon, India; Great Wall Marathon, China; Gobi March 155 mile Ultra Marathon, China; Sun Up to Sundown Ultra Marathon, Mongolia; Libyan Challenge 125 mile Ultra Marathon, Libya.
For more information on Rebecca:
http://rebeccabyerly.inf
http://blog.rebeccabyerly.info
http://youtube.com/
For media info contact:
Basil Nikas
202.250.1842
basil.nikas@
