Katy Willings - Chief of Adventures at The Adventurists - Competing the Rickshaw Rally and rode in the inaugural Mongol Derby, the world's longest horse race!
Katy Willings is the Mongol Derby Chief, and erstwhile Chief of Adventures at The Adventurists. Based in Bristol, UK, she was a junior international dressage rider in her teens. She rode in the inaugural Mongol Derby, the world's longest horse race, in 2009, sparking a later endurance riding career which saw her compete up to 120kms internationally, and became a full-time Adventurist in 2010, working on the Derby, and later the Ice Run, Icarus Trophy and Monkey Run.
In the course of producing high profile events for the Adventurists she has ridden vintage Russian motorcycles in -30 (and got the damn things started in -40 when no-one else could), wrangled with customs in far-flung places to get equipment and people in country, managed local and international teams to deliver logistically complex and culturally significant goods and services. And learned to fly a paramotor. Kind of. She finally did her motorcycle test in May 2018 (5 years late then) and will be taking to the open road, legally, this summer.
She has ambitions to cycle the iron curtain, to fly her paramotor over Victoria Falls, to ride from New York to Buenos Aires as Aime Schiffely once did. In the meantime she'll be wielding a clipboard and a satellite phone in her spiritual home of Mongolia this summer, and manning the airwaves during the Mongol Derby (it's live now!) in the operations room.
She declares herself to be utterly devoid of talent, and proof that talent is no barrier to doing whatever the hell you want. One day she will ride at Grand Prix and further prove this. She has worked with horses in Europe, Mongolia and Malawi, and men and machines in Morocco, Siberia, Sierra Leone. She has had as much adventure putting on the adventures, as the participants have had taking part. Oftentimes, a great deal more.
Show notes
Social Media
Insta (Katy) - @willingskaya
Insta (Morindoo) - @morindooadventures
Website - Morindoo - www.morindoo.com
Website - The Mongol Derby - www.theadventurists.com
Twitter - Katy - @KatyAdvntrists
Twitter - Mongol Derby - @mongolderbylive
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