Doddie'5 Dazzlers Taking on the Mongol Derby

16 May 2022

Alice Gully and Kate Mactaggart, business women and mothers, both aged 46 from the Scottish Borders have been selected out of thousands of applicants to participate in the August 2022 Mongol Derby race.

Gully and Mactaggart (AKA Doddie’5 Dazzlers) are racing to raise £30,000 in aid of My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, set up by fellow Scot, Doddie Weir OBE. The Foundation is committed to helping improve the lives of those affected by Motor Neuron Disease.

With just 40 selected jockeys riding, this gruelling 1000km course takes up to 10 days and it is regarded as the longest and toughest horse race in the world. It is genuinely dangerous with a high chance of injury and typically only half the jockeys complete the race.

This is the greatest equine adventure in the world – high passes, huge valleys, wooded hills, river crossings, wetland, dunes and of course open steppe.  The jockeys live with the herders at night, eat local food (a diet of mutton and offal) and rely on their wits and skill during the day.  Weather extremes are expected in the Mongol Derby with temperatures ranging from freezing to 38⁰C and anything from horizontal rain to scorching sun.  

To prepare for this epic race, Gully and Mactaggart are both currently undergoing an intense training and exercise regime, which includes cycling 100 miles and rowing 21,000 meters per week, as well as a weekly 5k run, 20,000 steps per day and over 7hrs in the saddle each week. A huge commitment to undertake in addition to their businesses and family life, with 6 children between them.

To donate visit the Doddie’5 Dazzlers Just Giving Page

About the Mongol Derby: In 1224 Genghis Khan set up the world’s first long-distance horse messenger system, which connected half of the planet. Using a massive network of horse stations (‘morin urtuus’ in Mongolian) his hardy messengers could gallop from Kharkhorin to the Caspian Sea in a number of days. Nearly 800 years later, for 10 days each August, the Mongol Derby recreates this legendary system, utilising a network of urtuus at 40km intervals along the entire 1000km course.  

For further information, interview opportunities or quotes, contact Sofie Askew PR

sofie@sofieaskewpr.co.uk / 07590 398366