All riders were thankful that the weather had become favorable for day two of the races. Some of the crazier had run in the morning's half or full grassland marathon before embarking on one of the afternoon's 43 or 23 kilometer courses which stretched between Xiwuqi's town square and the Mongolia Khan City.

Kathryn Fischer finished sixth in the race's second stage. "The track is pretty much through the grasslands or through mud," she reflected. "Some of the mud's quite hard, but if you hit a wet spot you can really lose your balance… I've taken a tumble a few times. But no major injuries, so…" Her sentence trailed off into a shrug and a smile.

The shorter stage wrapped up at the yurts of Mongolia Khan City where the banquet and party of the marathon and bike races was held. Competitors were treated to Mongolian performances and enough alcohol to create new challenges for the final stage of the weekend's race.

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