If all goes as planned, in June 2013, Ray Zahab and i2P team mate Ferg Hawke will attempt to run across the Gobi Desert at its widest point in summer, approximately 2,000km. The reality is they will have to run with very limited support, as few as one or two drops or re-supply per day! Along the way Ferg and Ray will visit and learn from the Mongolian people about desertification, and life in the harsh desert environment. Live broadcasting to schools and constant communication with students/website will round out a 'desertification' based program, and in the final days Ray and Ferg will be joined by two i2P Youth Ambassador Alumni. Stay tuned for an upcoming film piece on the Gobi expedition!
How do you prepare for running in the region of 70km per day while shlepping your daily supplies on your back across one of the world's most difficult environments? By training in the Arctic, of course!
In 2007, Ray ran the three coastal trails of Canada in sequence, one right after the other. The total time was 8 days from start to the last step on the West Coast Trail. In that time period he also ran across the East Coast Trail and Baffin Island on the Akshayuk Pass- an extremely difficult 100km Arctic stretch that usually takes 8-10 days to trek. Ray ran the Pass in 27 hours- and absolutely loved every minute of this spectacular Canadian wilderness! Ferg and Ray returned to Baffin summer 2012 to train and cross the pass together! Canada's Arctic is a beautiful place- but also rugged and demanding. It was gruelling, but totally awesome!
AND don't forget to check out the recently completed i2P Youth Expedition to Botswana! i2pbotswana.com!
From May 12-19, 2013, impossible2Possible (i2P) is hosting an expedition to the state of Utah, which will combine a team of world-class adventurers with Youth Ambassadors. They will run upwards of a marathon per day, joining educators and scientists to study "Earth Science and the Rise of Dinosaurs"! Live video conferencing, live website will bring the expedition into classrooms, and classrooms onto the expedition from around the world! Here is the 2013 Youth Team heading to Utah!. impossible2Possible is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring, educating, and empowering young people to make a positive impact on the global community.
Expedition Africa 2012: Details & Registration
Youth Ambassadors Selected!
Introducing the Youth Ambassadors for Expedition Africa2012! Welcome to the i2P team Breanna, Gillian, Hannah, Holly, Hope, Marie, Nansen and Saskia!
Expedition Details
In the fall of 2012, impossible2Possible (i2P) is going back to the incredible continent of Africa! On this next adventure
i2P will lead 8 Youth Ambassadors (aged 17-21) on the journey of their lives as they run across some of the most beautiful
regions in the Republic of Botswana - a country of 2 million people that is located just north of South Africa. The i2P Youth
Ambassadors will relay information back to thousands of students in classrooms around the world as they study water,
share the experience of running ultra marathons day after day, and learn what it takes to execute an international
expedition.
"i2P provided a real-world connection to our curriculum learning that as a teacher you
are always striving to create. We were able to apply what we were learning to the real
world as we learned about it! Being part of the i2P community was enormously
motivational and demonstrated to me and my class that anything is possible with
determination!" - Shelley Stedman,
MacLachlan College,
Oakville, ON
Expreso de los Andes 2012: What an Adventure!
i2P Expreso de los Andes Expedition featured a 3-tier challenge with a purpose of educating, inspiring and empowering administrators, teachers and students to take on a Health & Physical Activity Challenge. Ray Zahab and Kevin Vallely attempted to run approx 1,700km across the South American continent from Concon, Chile to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Joining them in the final non-stop stretch was to be two i2P Youth Ambassadors from previous Youth Expeditions! Simultaneously, school Principal George Singfield committed to training for upcoming challenges of his own - the Ottawa Half Marathon and a 50km trail running event in fall 2012! 'Principal George' has already enthused and inspired many teachers to follow in his footsteps and prepare for challenges of their own...will you? Many unforseen challenges faced the runners in this expedition, check out the website AndesRun.com to learn more!
2011 i2P Expedition India: Expedition Completed!
i2P Youth Ambassadors Emma Cook-Clarke, Jessica Kenny, Harshveer Singh Saluja, and Patrick Doughty travelled to India and embarked on their epic expedition across the Thar Desert, running 270km in 7 days, connecting with classrooms around the globe and learning about a captivating curriculum on World Health!
Starting August 26th, 2011, Ray joined friend Will Laughlin to run the length of Death Valley- from north park boundary to south park boundary. The distance was close to 250km, and the duo relied on water re-supply every 10-25km during the entirely off-road run.
Ray tested gear, new technologies and foods he will use in upcoming expeditions- most importantly for a January attempt to run 2,000km across Saudi Arabia (back-up plan Kalahari). During the run, the duo carried emergency supplies, food and fluid required for each 10-25km section. Running packs were heavy with 7-8 liters of fluid required for each leg.
In May 2011 impossible2Possible visited the mountain nation of Bolivia, to run across the world's largest salt flats and celebrate the International Year of Chemistry. Five Youth Ambassadors were selected to join Ray Zahab, and fellow i2P adventurers in a running expedition across the salt flats. Youth Ambassadors ran 201 km, and communicated live with students all over the world. Dr. George Agnes and Dr. Greg Wells conducted live experiments that rounded out i2P's finest Experiential Learning Program to date! Want to see more? bolivia2011.com
Adventures in Death Valley
This August I will be joining my friend Will Laughlin in Death Valley for an interesting training run. In preperation for my upcoming January 2012 proposed 2000km run across Saudi Arabia, I will join Will as we attempt to run 300km off-road across Death Valley. More info soon!
Atacama Extreme Expedition Completed!
On February 12th 2011, I completed the Atacama Extreme Expedition! The expedition began near the Peruvian border, north of Arica, and ended in the Province of Copiapo approximately 1,200km later. The expedition took a total of 20 days to complete and I ran an average of 60km per day while carrying camping supplies and relied on minimal daily water/food re-supplies. During the expedition, I communicated via videoconferencing to students everywhere!
This expedition followed the Amazon Youth Expedition which took place in October 2010. The topic of biodiversity was once again visited and the contrast of the Atacama Desert to the Amazon Jungle was highlighted. Daily video journals touched on topics such as history, industry, life and desert environment.
Atacama Extreme kicks off 2011 with two Youth based expeditions to follow. Students and schools don't delay registering for Expedition Bolivia! See impossible2Possible.com for instructions.
The third stage of the i2P World Expedition Series was modeled on the same platform as the highly celebrated 2009 Baffin Island and 2010 Tunisia Youth Expeditions, with all three in dramatically contrasting locales � the Arctic, the Sahara Desert, and now the Amazon Jungle! In October 2010, four i2P Youth Ambassadors joined Ray Zahab, along with fellow i2P ambassadors and adventurers, in an incredible journey through the Tapajos National Forest. Youth ambassadors trekked for 8 days - and nearly 150km � through incredibly dense jungle, swamps and oppressive humidity in a quest to study and learn about the culture and biodiversity of the region. They shared their experience with thousands of students around the globe.
Following in the footsteps of successful expeditions to Baffin Island and the Sahara Desert, four Youth Ambassadors will be joining me on an i2P expedition team as they trek through the Amazon Basin in October 2010. Using internet technology I, and the i2P team, will communicate live from the Amazon to participating students and teachers around the world. Complementing this live communication will be a rich i2P education resource complete with education modules, blogs, topical questions and class exercises. 2010 has been declared the International Year of Biodiversity. In order to highlight the year, i2P has designed an expedition to focus on Biodiversity and the importance of the many millions of distinct life forms found on Earth today.
The i2P Youth Ambassadors for the upcoming Amazon Expedition have been selected!
This second stage of the i2P World Expedition Series was on the same platform as the 2009 Baffin Island Youth Expedition, but in a dramatically contrasting locale - the northern Sahara Desert in Tunisia. On the heels of the Siberian Express for Water Expedition, in April 2010, four Youth Ambassadors were selected to join me, along with fellow i2P ambassadors and adventurers, in this homage to 'Running the Sahara'. Youth ambassadors ran for 7 days - and a total of 260+ kms - through searing heat, salt pans and sand dunes in a quest to cross a section of the Sahara, while pushing their own physical and mental limitations. Over 8,500 students followed their journey and participated in a live interactive website that was a two-way street of communication, and participated in fundraising efforts for 2 water projects in Africa.
I teamed up with i2P Ambassador Kevin Vallely for another epic impossible2Possible expedition. We travelled to the far reaches of frozen Siberia and the remote shores of Lake Baikal, the oldest, deepest lake in the world, to run some 650km unsupported down the length of its frozen surface. We averaged approximately 50km per day on this grueling expedition, while hauling all of our food and supplies. Over 8,500 students took part in both the Experiential Learning program and fundraising initiative for water projects in Africa.
