The death of a Shanghai-based American businessman during an endurance competition in the Gobi Desert organised by a Hong Kong company has raised concern over the control of such events.
Like many of the Gobi March competitors, the chance to test the limits of human endurance in some of the most remote and exotic locations in the world was probably why Nicholas Kruse signed up for the 250-kilometre foot race.
But four days into the week-long race, Kruse, 31, collapsed. He died three days later, on July 3, in Urumqi Xinjiang Autonomous Region Hospital. Kruse, a Shanghai-based entrepreneur, was competing in the race for the first time.
In a press release posted online by the Hong Kong-based race organiser, RacingThePlanet, Kruse's death was attributed to 'complications due to the heatstroke he suffered on Stage 4 of the Gobi March'. While Stage 4 of the race, on June 30 - the day Kruse collapsed - was very hot, according to fellow competitors, some of them said they believed things might have turned out differently for Kruse had the race been better organised.
One competitor said Kruse's level of fitness seemed fine when they raced together at the end of Stage 2 and throughout Stage 3, although temperatures were cooler then. Another said the area where Kruse was found was quite isolated and he was at the tail end of the race, so he was probably exposed to hotter temperatures than those who raced earlier.
None of the competitors wanted to be identified.
According to RacingThePlanet founder Mary Gadams, Kruse was found collapsed by a fellow competitor about 1.5 kilometres from the finishing line of the 36-kilometre Stage 4. Another competitor ran to the campsite, which sent a doctor to help Kruse with intravenous fluids. At 4.40pm organisers called for an ambulance, which arrived about 50 minutes later to take him to nearby Turpan Hospital. Kruse was transferred that night to Urumqi Xinjiang Autonomous Region Hospital. His condition worsened and he died on July 3.