Wyoming
American distance jockey is abandoned in Mongolia after getting too sick to ride in 620-mile race: ‘They told me to ride it out’
A Wyoming-based extreme distance jockey was left to fend for herself in Mongolia after race organizers “couldn’t give a crap” about what happened to her when she fell too sick to compete in the 620-mile trek across the East Asian country.
Dede Anders, 49, was a last-minute entry in the Mongol Derby and arrived in Mongolia on Aug. 1 after race organizers reached out to her last month when another competitor dropped out, she told the Cowboy State Daily.
From the nation’s capital of Ulaanbaatar, Anders took an eight-hour trip to the race starting point and was all set to take the lengthy ride across the Mongolian Steppe.
The race — self-proclaimed as the world’s toughest horse race — recreates the horse messenger system developed by Genghis Khan in 1224, according to The Mongolian Derby’s website.
However, on Monday, two days before the race was set to start, she became violently ill.
“It’s a lot of gastrointestinal stuff,” Anders told the outlet. “I was throwing up and stuff like that.”
The race — which usually takes 10 days to complete as riders navigate through wicked terrain and spend, on average, around 13 hours a day in the saddle — was now out of the question given her condition.
Even worse, when Anders tried to seek medical help at the base camp, she was shocked by the lack of empathy or care the race’s medical staff showed for one of their registered riders.
“Two medics looked at me. They told me I needed nothing but did nothing for me. They told me to ride it out,” the lifelong horse racer told the outlet.
Anders, a US Army medic veteran with a doctorate in medical science and emergency medicine from Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tenn., was astonished that a race that claimed to have “an international team of highly experienced medics” did so little to help her.
“One of the medics didn’t even touch me or ask me any questions,” she told the outlet.
“The other one took my pulse for a couple of seconds. They didn’t take my vitals, didn’t ask if I was diabetic or what medications I was taking. All they told me was it would pass in 24 hours.”
Anders then met with the Mongol Derby’s race director, Katherine, to tell her she wouldn’t be racing because of how sick she became.
“Katherine came to my yurt and talked to me at least twice,” Anders said. “I told her I was sick both days.”
During this time, she claims the race provided her with no medical care but instead drove her back to Mongolia’s capital, where a driver stranded her at a hotel.
“They put me in a vehicle for eight hours sick with a GI bug, with a driver who barely spoke English,” Anders told the outlet.
“I had to use Expedia from base camp to book a hotel, had the driver stop in the city, and get my passport so I could finally check into the hotel.”
She claims being “dumped off” back in the capital was the thing only organizers of the derby did to help her while ill.
“I was too ill to get on a horse for 620 miles,” Anders shared. “But I was also too ill to get in a car for eight hours and be dumped off into a city without a passport or a flight home.”
Now alone and still dealing with illness in a foreign country, Anders’ trouble continued when she struggled to find a flight back to the US.
“I had to call home and have my boyfriend book a flight for me because I didn’t have cellphone reception,” she said. “Seattle is the closest I could get. I just want to get back to the US.”
The experienced rider couldn’t find a flight back to the US until Aug. 11, and once she lands in Seattle, she will need to make other travel arrangements to get back to Wyoming.
As she waits to return home, Anders said she has emailed race organizers about her feelings about how she was treated but hasn’t “received a response.”
“I paid around $30,000 to go over for this thing,” the rider said. “My entry fee alone was almost $17,000, and I didn’t even get my blood pressure taken when I was sick.”
Prior to the drama, Anders told Cody Enterprise that she was making “payments of about $900 per month” to foot the cost of the race she once considered a “lifelong dream.”
Missing out on the Mongol Derby, which she described as “kind of a mess” and “not very organized,” is the least of her concerns now, given how apathetic the race’s medical staff was while she was ill.
“I work in the ER, and I have my doctorate in emergency medicine,” she told the outlet.
“You couldn’t swing a cat and hit a medic over there. I don’t know what the holdup was, but I was definitely blown off for whatever reason.”
A pair of bills signed into law last week aim to build out a more comprehensive system of literacy education across Wyoming’s public schools.
One mandates evidence-based practices and requires regular screenings for dyslexia, while the other enables the Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) to hire a dedicated literacy professional to oversee statewide compliance.
Gov. Mark Gordon’s signing of both bills on Friday was the latest accomplishment of an ongoing push for improved literacy standards. That push has been spearheaded by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder.
“Wyoming is not going to let a single child fall through the cracks,” Degenfelder said during a public bill signing last week. “We are not going to fall behind when it comes to ensuring that our children can read at grade level.”
The primary bill, Senate File 59, establishes a statewide K-12 program for teaching students to read that is built on “evidence based language and literacy instruction, assessment, intervention and professional development that supports educators, engages families and promotes literacy proficiency for all Wyoming students.”
The bill defines evidence-based strategies as those that conform to the science of reading, a term that will be defined and updated by Degenfelder’s office. Nationwide, it generally means putting academic research into practice in classrooms. SF 59 specifically prohibits the exclusive use of “three-cueing” — a strategy once widely employed to teach reading but which education experts now say is outdated and less effective than other strategies.
It also requires annual dyslexia screeners for students below the third grade, and testing for reading difficulties for all students.
The screeners are used to identify the severity of reading difficulties in order to direct “tiered” support that offers the most intensive interventions to the students most in need, while still providing “evidence based” language instruction to all students.
Each school district must formulate an individualized reading plan “for each student identified as having reading difficulties or at risk for poor reading outcomes.”
Districts must now report to the state annually regarding their literacy-related work. Any district where 60% or more of the students are struggling will be required to implement “summer literacy camps or extended supports, including after school support and tutoring.”
The bill also requires literacy related professional development for teachers and specialists “appropriate to their role and level of responsibility” related to literacy education.
SF 59 was backed by dyslexia advocates and literacy specialists.
Senate File 14, the other literacy bill signed into law Friday, appropriates $120,000 annually for the next two years for a full-time position at WDE “to assist school districts in implementing a reading assessment and intervention program and language and literacy programs.”
Both bills go into effect July 1.
LARAMIE — The University of Wyoming and the Mountain West Conference announced the Cowboys’ 2026 football schedule Monday, a slate that opens with the Border War and concludes with back-to-back home games in Laramie.
Wyoming opens the season Sept. 5 on the road against Colorado State in the 118th edition of the Border War. The Cowboys then host Northern Colorado on Sept. 12 in the home opener before traveling to Central Michigan on Sept. 19.
The Cowboys begin Mountain West play Sept. 26 at home against Hawaii in a matchup for the Paniolo Trophy. Wyoming then faces back-to-back road games at North Dakota State on Oct. 3 and San Jose State on Oct. 10.
Advertisement – Story continues below…
University of Wyoming sports coverage
in Southwest Wyoming is supported by these great sponsors:
Wyoming returns to War Memorial Stadium on Oct. 17 to host conference newcomer Northern Illinois before facing Air Force at home on Oct. 24. The Cowboys will have an open week on Oct. 31.
The Cowboys open November with road games at UNLV on Nov. 7 and at UTEP on Nov. 14, marking Wyoming’s first meeting with the Miners as members of the Mountain West. Wyoming closes conference play by hosting New Mexico on Nov. 21 and wraps up the regular season with a nonconference game against UConn on Nov. 28 in Laramie.
Each Mountain West team will play four home and four road conference games during the 13-week season, which will conclude with the Mountain West Football Championship Game featuring the two teams with the highest conference winning percentages. The championship game date will be announced later.
With the conference schedule set, Mountain West television partners CBS Sports, FOX Sports, and The CW will begin selecting broadcast games, which could include moving some contests to non-Saturday dates. Network assignments and kickoff times will be announced at a later date.
Season ticket renewals for the 2026 Wyoming football season are now available. Fans can renew their tickets online by visiting gowyo.com/tickets and logging into their account.
The 2026 Wyoming prep girls’ basketball season is nearly done. Two state champions were crowned in Classes 1A and 2A last Saturday. Southeast won the 1A title for the third consecutive season, and Sundance won the 2A title for the first time in eight years. Class 3A and 4A held their regional tournaments, which qualified teams for the state tournament later this week in Casper.
WYOPREPS WEEK 12 GIRLS BASKETBALL STANDINGS 2026
These are the girls’ basketball team records for all games played through March 7, 2026. For all but 16 teams, this is the final record of the season. Those squads will play in the 3A-4A state tournament starting on Thursday in Casper.
1A Northwest: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Burlington 24-5, 8-0
Riverside 14-10, 6-2
Dubois 11-10, 4-4
St. Stephens 3-16, 1-7
Meeteetse 1-20, 1-7
1A Southwest: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Cokeville 23-4, 10-0
Little Snake River 23-4, 8-2
Farson-Eden 16-12, 5-5
Saratoga 13-11, 5-5
Ft. Washakie 8-13, 2-8
Encampment 3-19, 0-10
1A Northeast: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Upton 16-7, 10-0
Kaycee 13-12, 7-3
Hulett 12-13, 7-3
Arvada-Clearmont 9-12, 4-6
Casper Christian 4-13, 2-8
Midwest 1-16, 0-10
1A Southeast: (Overall Record, followed by Reg. Season Points)
Southeast 24-5, 40 points
Lingle-Ft. Laramie 17-11, 31 points
Lusk 15-13, 26 points
H.E.M. 13-11, 24 points
Rock River 6-14, 12 points
Guernsey-Sunrise 2-18, 4 points
2A Northwest: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Thermopolis 16-13, 5-1
Greybull 16-15, 4-2
Rocky Mountain 9-17, 2-4
Shoshoni 11-18, 1-5
2A Southwest: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Wyoming Indian 23-7, 6-0
Big Piney 8-16, 4-2
Kemmerer 2-21, 1-5
Wind River 2-23, 1-5
2A East: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Sundance 23-4, 5-0
Big Horn 21-6, 4-1
Tongue River 18-11, 3-2
Pine Bluffs 17-12, 2-3
Moorcroft 7-18, 1-4
Wright 3-23, 0-5
Read More Girls Basketball News from WyoPreps
WyoPreps 1A-2A Girls State Basketball Scoreboard 2026
WyoPreps 3A-4A Girls Regional Basketball Scoreboard 2026
WyoPreps Coaches and Media Final Basketball Poll 2026
WyoPreps 1A-2A Girls Regional Basketball Scoreboard 2026
WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Poll 2-25-26
WyoPreps Girls Basketball Week 10 Scores 2026
WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Poll 2-18-26
WyoPreps Girls Basketball Week 9 Scores 2026
WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Polls 2-11-26
WyoPreps Girls Basketball Week 8 Scores 2026
WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Polls 2-4-26
WyoPreps Girls Basketball Week 7 Scores 2026
Nominate A Basketball Player for the WyoPreps Athlete of the Week Honor
3A West: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Cody 24-0, 10-0
Lander 21-4, 9-1
Pinedale 20-5, 7-3
Powell 16-9, 6-4
Lovell 16-10, 4-6
Worland 9-16, 2-8
Lyman 10-11, 2-8
Mountain View 4-19, 0-10
3A East: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Wheatland 22-4, 10-0
Buffalo 13-11, 8-2
Douglas 14-11, 6-4
Burns 16-13, 5-5
Torrington 10-11, 5-5
Glenrock 12-13, 3-7
Newcastle 1-22, 1-9
Rawlins 2-21, 0-10
4A Northwest: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Green River 23-2, 6-0
Natrona County 9-16, 4-2
Kelly Walsh 8-15, 2-4
Rock Springs 5-20, 0-6
4A Southwest: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Star Valley 16-7, 5-1
Evanston 16-10, 5-1
Riverton 7-19, 1-5
Jackson 3-19, 1-5
4A East: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Cheyenne East 21-3, 11-1
Cheyenne Central 16-9, 10-2
Sheridan 14-10, 7-5
Thunder Basin 14-10, 6-6
Laramie 12-11, 6-6
Campbell County 1-19, 1-10
Cheyenne South 1-21, 0-11
*The second Campbell County-Cheyenne South girls’ game was canceled.
Wyoming 3A Boys Swimming & Diving State Championships 2026
Photos from the 3A Boys State Swim Meet
Gallery Credit: Courtesy: Marcello Monterastelli Photography & Jared Newland, WHSAA
Source: Lamont Paris returning to South Carolina next season
Trading property tax for sales tax: Legislature moves forward with parts of homeowner relief package
In final address, Gov. Bill Lee credits TN economic, innovation gains
Most applicants for Texas school choice vouchers already attend private schools, state data shows
‘They’re trying to change the rules’: Republicans ramp up fight to stop new maps in Utah
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Indiana Members Credit Union announced as new anchor tenant at Bottleworks District
Map: 2.3-Magnitude Earthquake Reported North of New York City
Trump stirs GOP primary drama with visit to Massie’s Kentucky home turf
Israeli air strike targets building in south Lebanon
Ed Martin, outspoken Justice Department lawyer, is formally accused of ethical violations | CNN Politics
Trump reveals top issues GOP should focus on to secure midterms victory: ‘I’ve never been more confident’
-
Wisconsin1 week agoSetting sail on iceboats across a frozen lake in Wisconsin
-
Massachusetts1 week agoMassachusetts man awaits word from family in Iran after attacks
-
Maryland1 week agoAM showers Sunday in Maryland
-
Pennsylvania5 days agoPa. man found guilty of raping teen girl who he took to Mexico
-
Florida1 week agoFlorida man rescued after being stuck in shoulder-deep mud for days
-
Sports6 days agoKeith Olbermann under fire for calling Lou Holtz a ‘scumbag’ after legendary coach’s death
-
Virginia6 days agoGiants will hold 2026 training camp in West Virginia
-
Politics1 week agoMamdani’s response to Trump’s Iran strike sparks conservative backlash: ‘Rooting for the ayatollah’