The Mongol Rally is a madly adventurous no back-up, no support, no set route adventure for those bored with the blandness of modern living, that is expected to raise over £500,000 for its official charities this year alone.
Teams will take on up to 15 countries and 10,000 miles' worth of mountains, deserts, bad roads, no roads, bandits and various other pickles in comically unsuitable one litre cars.
The organisers said: “Imagine yourself in the middle of the Kazakh desert, your car slowly being shredded by the dirt track your map says is a motorway, completely lost hundreds of miles from civilisation with no back up crew to rescue you. Just you, your wits, your increasingly brown pants, a car that the laws of physics say shouldn't have got you past Peckham Rye and a slightly angry looking man with a gun.”
If this all conspires to make you think: “My goodness that's a terribly silly idea,” the Mongol Rally is probably not your cup of salted Mongolian tea. If, on the other hand, you think: "Hang on by gad, that's exactly what I need!", you've found your calling.
Nick Wiley, CEO of Invomo, said: “We are delighted to be able to support this excellent charitable endeavour which, while raising large sums of money for charities during this difficult time of dwindling donations due to the economic downturn, is also going to be great fun for all involved. Invomo is helping with the provision of a very fast and practical service for teams and their supporters to donate to charities and sharing our skills and resources. By donating directly through the cost of a call, administration costs are minimized and we give the donor an entertaining way of generating even more money by signing up to the SMS rally progress information service.”
Sean Mullins, team Hamilton Express said: “It is great to have the support of Invomo. The rally is a fun event and Invomo has entered into the spirit of the enterprise and provided us with fast, efficient ways of not only collecting money for the charities but making doing so an exhilarating experience. The length of the rally – up to six weeks – means that keeping in touch by SMS is a perfect way of making sure that all the thrills, spills and adventures along the road will be communicated to all who sign up for the messages.”