Venture capitalist Derek Kwik Kwok-Tsan has gone from an ordinary Hong Kong guy who works behind a desk to one of 15 men to conquer the world's four deserts with harshest conditions for charity fund raising.

According to Tuesday's South China Morning Post, the humble city desk jockey last week battled typhoon-strength blizzards and freezing conditions to complete a 250-kilometer run through Antarctica.

The Four Deserts race for charity has taken him across the Sahara in Egypt (the hottest), the Gobi in Mongolia (the highest), the Atacama in Chile (the driest) and finally Antarctica (the coldest).

The finishing of the race in Antarctica brought an end to the 1,000-kilometer adventurous journey across the world's hardest environments and it has brought in more than 500,000 HK dollars (64,516 U.S. dollars) for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The 37-year-old Hong Konger's aim for participating the race was never about winning the event, but about finishing the challenge.

"The guy that came in first was a military instructor, the guy who came second an anti-terrorist expert," he said. "I'm just an ordinary guy form Hong Kong, who works behind a desk during the day and can only train after work and on weekends. For me, the challenge was really about inspiring people," he said in an interview with the English daily.

He was deeply impressed by the beautiful sights along the way which were totally different from things in Hong Kong.

The Antarctic leg of the race was the most challenging for Kwik. Before arriving at the frozen wasteland, his coldest experience was sitting in a sub-zero room in a vodka bar in Lan Kwai Fong to acclimatizes for the race.

He recalled the weather was so unpredictable that the participants had to decide the daily length of the race according to the changing weather. "This really plays on your mind, having to get up in the morning and know what is in front of you," he said.

Source: Xinhua