Gordon Oldham: Extreme running for children's charity

Action Asia founder and law firm partner 58-year-old Gordon Oldham is on a quest to raise HK$1 million (US$128,205) for Nepalese kids via the charity Child Welfare Scheme (CWS) by racing in three ultra-marathons: 

- through the outback of Western Australia;

- a 100-kilometer race through China’s Taklamakan Desert; 

- and a yet-to-be-raced 250-kilometer race in Antarctica on November 25, 2010 organized by Racing the Planet.

Is he insane?

When did he realize he was crazy enough to attempt these races? 

Ask Oldham and he'll laugh and say, “Well, maybe it had it to do with being raised from 0-5 in a mental institution where my father worked, so my view of what’s normal is completely different. No, I don’t think it’s crazy, a bit masochistic maybe. But hey, what else is there to do?”

Oldham does not consider himself a sporty person. He doesn’t even consider himself a serious runner.

Prior to his first ultra-marathon, he had only run a few marathons. He ran the New York Marathon for the first time with his son in 1996.

Oldham took part in his first ultra-marathon, the Marathon des Sables, in 2004 at the age of 52 on a challenge from his daughter-in law.

Oldham admits he does not train seriously for his races. “I might get on a bike or go running for a couple of hours while I’m here in the south of France,” he says, “but when I’m in Hong Kong, I just don’t have the time to train.” 

For hardly any training, Oldham still manages to finish most of his races in the top 50 percent. 

The only race he hasn’t completed was the race earlier this April, 250 kilometers through Western Australia, where an accidental overconsumption of electrolyte tablets led to dehydration in the Outback’s sweltering humidity. 

“I had consumed enough salt for a crisp factory,” he jokes. 

The attraction of adventure racing

During his other races though, he cannot recollect any moments where he ever wanted to quit. “There’s never a moment during every race where you don’t break down and cry because it’s so beautiful,” he says. 

It happened in Egypt when he was all by himself in the desert, as far as he could see. He had reached a high plateau, the sun was setting and the horizon lit up in a blaze of orange.

It was just him, his music and this awesome setting. “I was overwhelmed by how beautiful, how big the desert is," Oldman says. "Even getting there, it can be eight or nine hours drive without passing one single village.”

What attracts Oldham to these races is the adventure. So far, Oldham has raced in Morocco, Atacama in Chile, Gobi, Namibia, Sahara from Egypt and the Australian Outback. 

Racing through Nepal

Gordon at the CWS health clinic.

Next year, Oldham is pleased organizers have decided to run a race through Nepal, benefiting CWS, for which he serves as the Hong Kong Chair. 

Oldham traveled to Nepal a few times in the 1990s. Then he came across an article about Douglas Maclagan in the South China Morning Post asking for money.

He had fallen in love with the people of Nepal and offered to help.

From its early days as an NGO with an annual budget of US$50,000, CWS’s annual budget is now US$1 million with programs ranging from day care centers to vocational training centers for trafficked boys and girls to ambulances and clinics. CWS’s success was recently recognized when Maclagan was awarded the 2009 World of Children Health award. 

No, Gordon Oldham is not insane. He just cares.

CWS operates on a shoe-string budget; 88 percent of money raised goes directly to benefitting Nepalese children and youth. Currently, half of its annual budget is raised in Hong Kong, with the other half coming from the United Kingdom. Those interested in pledging their support for Gordon and CWS can make an online donation via paypal at cwshk.org/contribute.html.