On 7 September 2017, Mary spoke to  IWIRC HK members about her role at RacingThePlanet, her motivation to launch the 4Deserts series, her journey so far and the challenges she has faced. She also provided key tips and suggestions for participation in off-trail and endurance foot-races. Mary is originally from the United States and has previously worked at a large US investment bank and in the Chairman's Office of The Samsung Group in Seoul, Korea as a global strategist where she worked on special projects including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, venture capital and global strategy.

Launched in early 2002, RacingThePlanet is an organizer of off-trail and rough-country endurance foot-races, including the 4 Deserts series. With the Inaugral race in 2003, 4Deserts is now celebrating 15 years. The four annual events take place across the world's most varied terrain and are located in the driest, windiest, hottest and coldest deserts on Earth. The series has since been named by Time magazine as one of the world's Top Ten Endurance Events, alongside such races as the Tour de France, Dakar Rally and Vendee Globe.

To date, 54 races in fifteen countries have been staged with more than 8,000 participants from 100 countries. In addition, 20 books have been written about the races; and more than 100 films have been produced including the award winning "Desert Runners" documentary.  RacingThePlanet has donated and raised in excess of US$1 million dollars for various charities and co-founded the RacingThePlanet / Esquel Foundation Scholarships for Minority Women in the Gobi Desert of China which provides high school and university education for girls.

Over the past five years, Mary and her husband have regenerated a rainforest in Australia, planting more than 40,000 trees and plants.  They also own a cabinet timber and macadamia farm.