Photo: Leo Francis / Rat Race Adventure Sports / telegraph.co.uk
Having an airline company misplace or lose one's luggage can be a small tragedy in and of itself, but nothing can compare to the despair one British adventurer must have felt when it happened ahead of a competition in extreme conditions in Mongolia.
Peter Messervy-Gross flew into the country to take part in a 100-mile ultramarathon that would see him cross the frozen lake of Khövsgöl Nuur. He had trained hard for the competition and had invested a lot of money in the equipment, only to land and find out that it had mysteriously gone missing from the plane, Sky Sports reports.
He kept in regular contact with the airline up to the last minute of the race, but ultimately, he was faced with a difficult decision: give up and go home, or try to make the best out of a very, very bad situation. He chose the second option, so he crossed the lake in his jeans and his old office shoes, a pair of brogues.
For 4 days, Messervy-Gross trekked on the frozen lake, as temperatures reached -25C. He walked about 26 miles a day and, at the end of the competition, his feet were incredibly sore and painful. He also endured unspeakable cold, even with all the help he got from the other competitors.
Truth be told, Messervy-Gross did have some equipment, from what the other competitors could spare. He couldn’t buy another pair of shoes because he’s a 13, and he couldn’t find any pair that fit.
“The generosity of the people on the trip was just phenomenal,” he says, as cited by the BBC. “As soon as word got around that my kit really wasn't turning up, people kept coming up to me and offering various items that they felt they could spare.”
“Starting the trip in a pair of dress shoes was suboptimal, to say the least, so I just had to change my mindset,” he explains. So, instead of thinking of this as a competition, he focused on putting “one foot after the other, like everyone else really,” until he went over the finishing line.
The hilarious part of the story is that, 15 minutes before boarding the plane for back home, his luggage showed up. The airline never told him where his equipment had been.
He kept in regular contact with the airline up to the last minute of the race, but ultimately, he was faced with a difficult decision: give up and go home, or try to make the best out of a very, very bad situation. He chose the second option, so he crossed the lake in his jeans and his old office shoes, a pair of brogues.
For 4 days, Messervy-Gross trekked on the frozen lake, as temperatures reached -25C. He walked about 26 miles a day and, at the end of the competition, his feet were incredibly sore and painful. He also endured unspeakable cold, even with all the help he got from the other competitors.
Truth be told, Messervy-Gross did have some equipment, from what the other competitors could spare. He couldn’t buy another pair of shoes because he’s a 13, and he couldn’t find any pair that fit.
“The generosity of the people on the trip was just phenomenal,” he says, as cited by the BBC. “As soon as word got around that my kit really wasn't turning up, people kept coming up to me and offering various items that they felt they could spare.”
“Starting the trip in a pair of dress shoes was suboptimal, to say the least, so I just had to change my mindset,” he explains. So, instead of thinking of this as a competition, he focused on putting “one foot after the other, like everyone else really,” until he went over the finishing line.
The hilarious part of the story is that, 15 minutes before boarding the plane for back home, his luggage showed up. The airline never told him where his equipment had been.
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