Samantha Fanshawe has something of a natural flair for being a citizen of the planet. She was born to British parents in Peru, and went to school in Pakistan for a few years before the age of 11.
After graduating from the University of Leeds with a joint honors degree in Maths and Biology she took some time out to see the word, including working in Sydney, Australia, before returning to the United Kingdom for two years in business development of corporate clients in the recruitment industry. She was then transferred to Singapore with the same company for a regional management role before moving to Penang in Malaysia and then Hong Kong.
Along the way she mastered the art of dragon boat racing, competing in Dragon Boat World Championships. Sam is an all-around sportswoman, being a runner herself and also enjoys hiking, horse riding and mountain biking. It was while in Asia that she took up running a bit more seriously, starting with more than a dozen half-marathons, and then completing the Singapore Marathon, sprint triathlons, adventure races and ultramarathons such as the Hong Kong Oxfam Trailwalker, Hong Kong 100, the Gobi March and Mongolia Sunrise to Sunset.
Sam's involvement with RacingThePlanet started when she volunteered at the Gobi March 2005 in the Turpan Basin of Xinjiang Autonomous Region of far western China. Despite it being the hottest event on record, she fell in love with the spirit of the 4 Deserts races and soon came on board as a staff member a few years later.
Sam has been to more than forty RacingThePlanet / 4 Deserts events, in a management capacity during her nearly 15 years with the company.
Thomas BOHNE
Course Director
Germany, Resident in Austria
Thomas Bohne is the Course Director for the Namib Race 2024. He works in Germany's Silicon Valley while competing in ultra-marathons around the world. Thomas is an experienced endurance event athlete, having completed Ironman triathlons, marathons and ultra-marathons and his most impressive recent feat was completing Tors des Geants 2017 in the Top 10. He inspires people with his web-blog and writes in a freelance capacity for several German running magazines. Thomas' history with RacingThePlanet / the 4 Deserts Race Series goes back to 2008. This is his ninth time working on a RacingThePlanet course where he is responsible for all course logistics and safety while covering large portions of the terrain (multiple times) on foot.
Tony BRAMMER
Volunteer Manager & CP Captain
United Kingdom
The 4 Deserts Club member Tony Brammer from Manchester, UK, is a man whose sense of humour is seemingly as great as his determination to finish as far back in the field as possible. The father of two and grandfather only set out to complete one race of the 4 Deserts series. He achieved that aim with the Sahara Race (Egypt) 2005 but carried on through the Atacama Crossing (Chile) 2006, the Gobi March (China) 2007 and The Last Desert (Antarctica) 2008. A company owner and consultant for Brammer Dixon, Tony is a man who sees the funny side of most things. The harder it gets, the more he's likely to call on his sense of humour to see him through. Behind the humour and self-effacing exterior is a man dedicated to helping others. As a 4 Deserts competitor Tony raised money for a children's charity called SAFE at Last, which helps young people who run away from home. Tony is a dedicated 4 Deserts management team volunteer having worked on the volunteer team at more than twenty(!) races since his first time at the Sahara Race (Egypt) 2008. He is again an invaluable management volunteer in the role for checkpoint captain and volunteer manager at Namib Race (Namibia) 2024.
Simon DAMODARAN
Operations Director
United Kingdom, Resident in Hong Kong
Simon is a long-term Hong Kong resident who has worked for RacingThePlanet since 2012 and is joining his second race at the Namib Race. Away from work, Simon spends most of his free time with his two girls hiking or cycling around Hong Kong, and holidays always include as many dive trips as possible.
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