There were no rules in the race, except that the first car to Paris would win the prize of a magnum of Mumm champagne. The race went without any assistance through countryside where there were no roads or roadmaps. For the race, camels carrying fuel left Peking and set up at stations along the route, to provide fuel for the racers. The race followed a telegraph route, so that the race was well covered in newspapers at the time. Each car had one journalist as a passenger, with the journalists sending stories from the telegraph stations regularly throughout the race.

From Seattle, Washington to Marysville, Ohio on a Fowler Truss frame wheel in 53 days, covering over 2,600 miles on eighty-five dollars and fifty-nine cents. That is how William Henry Sheneman spent the summer of 1896.