Monday, July 04, 2016

They ride with him in world’s longest horse race

Kansas.com - Full Article

July 3 2016

Tim Finley to compete in Mongol Derby, an endurance horse race

Iraq veteran riding in honor of vets who have committed suicide

BY MADELINE FOX
mfox@wichitaeagle.com

Stretching 621 miles, the Mongol Derby bills itself as the longest and toughest horse race in the world.

It’s common for riders who enter the 10-day competition to drop out before the finish line.

That doesn’t faze Air Force Capt. Tim Finley.

Finley, 36, has trained for the 2016 derby throughout the past year, working out seven days a week and traveling around the country riding “everyone’s horses under the sun” to prepare for the many different horses he will ride during the derby.

The derby is modeled after the legendary Genghis Khan’s relay postal system and provides riders with semi-wild Mongolian horses switched out every 40 kilometers. It brings about 40 riders each year to the steppes of Mongolia, a country nestled between China to the south and Russia to the north. The 2016 race will be run Aug. 1-14.

For Finley, completing the race is not only a personal goal but part of a larger mission: He’s competing in honor of veterans who commit suicide – 22 on average each day – a cause with which he has personal experience...

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/news/local/article87506962.html#storylink=cpy

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Bless Tim I hope he finishes the race.