Krystal Kelly Mongol Derby Ride(650 miles)

The Mongol Derby is the longest, toughest horse race in the world. It's the Khaan's mother of equine adventures, a 1000km (650 miles) multi-horse race across the epic wilderness of the Mongolian steppe. The mammoth network of horse stations is a recreation of Chinggis Khaan's legendary empire-busting postal system. Riders will race on around 25-30 semi-wild Mongolian horses from one horse station to the next. Riders brave unpredictable weather and varied terrain including rivers, mountains, deserts, and plains over a span of 10 days. The Mongol Derby is an extremely physically demanding and dangerous race. This really is the toughest horse race in the world and hold the Guiness World Record title for good reason.

Out of the selected 40 riders from across the globe to tackle the Mongol Derby, Krystal Kelly (age 24) is among them. Krystal Kelly is a California girl determined to travel the world on the back of a horse. Krystal has travelled solo, working in such countries as a show jumping horse rider/trainer in Belgium, Italy, Romania, Egypt, India and Bhutan. In pursuit of her lifelong goal to one day compete for Gold at the Olympics, she has worked in some startling situations. Some of which include: Surviving the Egyptian Revolution, trained in Belgium with a 5 time Olympic rider, Stormed Dracula’s Castle whilst competing in Romania over 1.30m jumps, Rode in the Himalayas for two weeks on semi-trained ponies and over dangerous mountains in Bhutan…the real question is not if Krystal is ready for the Mongol Derby but is the Mongol Derby ready for Krystal!

Apart from the entry fees for the Derby, sponsorships and equipment, Krystal is also raising money for charity. Krystal hopes to raise money for women empowerment programs to support illiterate and supressed women across the world. Apart of the money raised will be contributed for Krystal's cause. CoolEarth (Official Charity for the Mongol Derby) will also be recieving donations, which goes to helping to save the rainforests.