- An inspiring explorer who was nominated Adventurer of the Year.
- First person to cross Kazakhstan’s Betpak-Dala Desert – also called the Steppe of Misfortune – from east to west, running eight marathons back to back across it in the process.
- Rode across Central Asia following the route of first Mount Everest expedition leader Sir Charles Howard-Bury on the centenary of his travels in the region.
- The focus of a number of award-winning film festival documentaries including A Portrait of Orozbek, Wild Steppe, and The Steppe of Misfortune.
Jamie Maddison is a British explorer, equestrian Long Rider and distance runner. He is best known for his exploration of the Central Asia region.
Jamie has mounted numerous expeditions including: spending one month living and working with Kirghiz hunters in South East Tajikistan, a 100 mile, multi-day, camel supported run across the Red Sands Desert in Uzbekistan, chronicling the lives of Kazakh eagle hunters in Western Mongolia and Winter pack rafting down the Khovd River, Mongolia (temperatures down to -20 °C) in retrofitted and homemade pack rafts.
In 2013, Jamie, alongside friend and colleague Matthew Traver, completed a 750 mile, 63-day-long, horse ride from Ust-Kamenogorsk to Almaty, in honour of the centenary of a historical journey through the region by the Anglo-Irish explorer Sir Charles Howard-Bury.
In the Autumn of 2014, he lead the first expedition ever to cross the Betpak-Dala or the ‘Steppe of Misfortune’ from its easternmost extremity on the shores of Lake Balkash to its western edge on the Sarysu River. He also ran 190 miles, nearly eight marathons, back to back over the course of eight days within the region.
Jamie is an established adventure journalist and former Editor of Sidetracked Magazine, and last year’s presenter for Kendal Mountain Festival. A keen ultra marathon runner and pole vaulter, his talks are funny, engaging and cover a variety of topics. His motivational talks are ideally suited for audiences after some much needed inspiration particularly younger people seeking direction.
United Kingdom