PRESS RELEASE       

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Basil Nikas

basil.nikas@gcinitiative.org

Washington, DC

202.250.1842

                                Rebecca Byerly leads the first American team to complete

                                            the 125 mile Libyan Challenge Master Trek

Greensboro, North Carolina March 20, 2009:  Journalist and adventure athlete, Rebecca Byerly will return to her hometown in Pleasant Garden, North Carolina tomorrow after leading the first American Team to complete the 125 mile, Libyan Challenge Master Trek in Ghat, Libya.  She used a GPS for navigation, completing the event with her team mates in 58 hours and 32 minutes and documenting the story with filmmaker JB Benna.

Byerly learned in September 2008, that the Libyan government had opened the race to Americans.  She saw this as an opportunity for other Americans to learn about the history, cultural and geography of Libya through the eyes of a runner. She worked as a liaison with race management, recruited participants, and negotiated the visa process. Fellow runner Howard Cohen defined the teams physical requirements, equipment, and strategy.

More than one hundred runners from around the world participated in this extraordinary event. The American team included; Rebecca Byerly, Isabella De La Houssaye, Bob Lashua, and Howard Cohen. Experienced ultra marathon runner Cohen was the first American across the finish line in 52 hours and 35 minutes. Tri-athlete and mother of five De La Houssaye, marathoner and former correctional officer Lashua, and Byerly finished the race together in 58 hours and 32 minutes.  Many of the Libyans and Tuaregs, the nomadic people indigenous to the area, had never met Americans before.

A graduate of American University, Byerly has worked in Afghanistan, Sudan, Palestine, India, Mongolia, Cambodia, and China. She has used running and writing to share the remarkable accounts of people in far-flung regions of the world whose stories would otherwise go untold.

"Some people wonder why we are doing this race," Rebecca said. "It definitely takes a special person to take on an event like this. But we take on these kinds of challenges because they not only offer an opportunity to grow personally, but to make life-long friends, and to improve understanding between nations. When you are out in the desert it does not matter which country you are from, which God you worship, or how much money you have.  We are all out there suffering together with one goal in mind - to cross the finish."

The successful groundwork the American Team established on this first historic event has opened the door for a much larger team in next years Master Trek.  The American Team appreciated the support they have received from friends across the globe.