Backcountry.com Athlete Joe Holland in the Atacama Crossing

The Atacama Crossing is one of 4 Racing the Planet desert races where competitors cross one of the most inhospitable and driest locations on the planet. Founded in 1996, these races crossing the Gobi Desert of China, the Sahara of Africa, the Atacama of Chile and a portion of the "Last Desert" in Antarctica, these multi-stage races are not for the typical weekend warrior.

Backcountry.com athlete Joe Holland has competed in 2 of these races placing 5th at the Gobi and 3rd in the Sahara race both in 2005.

After the first stage Joe is in the lead with a 17 minute cushion between him and the next competitor. But these races with their marathon distance days have a way of shaking up the leader board. I doubt Joe will be relaxing too much even with a nice day 1 lead.

We'll keep updating the blog with daily results over the next 7 days of the race. Stay tuned.

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