by Lazarus Lake | Oct 23, 2023 | Race Reports
the 47 all went out again. i am getting ever more excited about the number of people about to log a sub 48 hour time for 200 miles. . for most runners the time between midnight and dawn is the hardest to run. it takes a special mindset to maintain a steady performance...
by Lazarus Lake | Oct 23, 2023 | Race Reports
the 47 all cleared another yard. sunrise is less than three hours away. it will mark the beginning of the third day… . and a return to the feared trails! . not everyone fears the trails. team mexico cut their teeth on trails that could have big’s trail for...
by Lazarus Lake | Oct 23, 2023 | Race Reports
we got thru clean this time. 47 runners are now less than 4 hours from getting 200 miles in 48 hours. there has never been anything like that before. . i wish i could give a longer update but i want to try for my third 30 minute nap. . i know 3 thirty minute naps in...
by Naresh KN | Oct 23, 2023 | Race Reports
we lost a couple more. jason bigonia from the us turned around and didnt finish 43. nederlander roman packbier quit after 43. both of them referenced a fear of returning to the trail. . meanwhile, this is the yard for thembi to break the south african record that he...
by Lazarus Lake | Oct 23, 2023 | Race Reports
sadly we saw daniele lissoni of italy drop this hour. it was not that he couldn’t go on right now, but rather the belief he could not do the first trail loop in the morning. this knocks us down to 49. . loop 43 is a cause for celebration for one of our runners;...
by Lazarus Lake | Oct 23, 2023 | Race Reports
a clean hour coming up to midnight. of course it is not midnight for most of the field, for the japanese team it is early afternoon for the aussies and new zealanders it is late afternoon for the western europeans it is daybreak. . maybe the clean hour is because it...
by Lazarus Lake | Oct 23, 2023 | Race Reports
keith vangraafieland returned from yard 40 and did not finish it. this left 50 athletes to reach 40 hours. just another number with nothing to compare it to… . we have retired 1/3 of the runners i wonder if that means we have covered 1/3 of the distance? . camp...
by Lazarus Lake | Oct 23, 2023 | Race Reports
andres villagran of ecuador came in and rang the distance bell at the end yard 39. with two previous 38 hour backyards to his credit we figure he had been wanting to ring that bell for… . about 39 hours! then he retired to his tent and crawled in his sleeping...
by Lazarus Lake | Oct 22, 2023 | Race Reports
branislav pavic never arrived at the turnaround. rumours floated around camp that he was to be found sleeping in his tent… . and, indeed, that is where he was found. the number of surviving runners dropped to 52. . those 52 just keep on going. included in their...
by Lazarus Lake | Oct 22, 2023 | Race Reports
ritvars kalnins, the powerful latvian, missed the cutoff on 37. for him the end came quickly. canadian eric deshaies suffered a more lingering end, being another backyarder suffering from nausea. he returned after starting the 38th yard. switzerland’s nima...
by Lazarus Lake | Oct 22, 2023 | Race Reports
the first night loop passed smoothly and cleanly. no one seems to be remotely near in trouble altho we all know how quickly that can change; after all, the runners are over 150 miles now. . most depressing observation of the hour; “we are about 1/3 of the...
by Lazarus Lake | Oct 22, 2023 | Race Reports
once again the fall of darkness means firebuilding as well as a switch to the road. i am happy to report that the crews have a nice warm fire for the night… . all night. . the last stretch to the road was costly. kevin mccabe (USA) did not make the cutoff on 34....
by Lazarus Lake | Oct 22, 2023 | Race Reports
holding steady at 60 runners with now only two hours to reach the road. you can smell the anticipation. the field contains some committed trail runners, but at some point this week becomes about saving your body… , there is also a little bit of the craving to...
by Lazarus Lake | Oct 22, 2023 | Race Reports
3 hours to the road, and all 60 runners got in and went out. in keeping with my race plan to survive for 120 hours i will take a second nap instead of make a longer update!
by Lazarus Lake | Oct 22, 2023 | Race Reports
at last we had a clean hour. 61 runners are now only 4 hours from sunset. from here they can almost taste it. they can feel the cool air on their skin the flat surface under their feet…. . scratch that. i knew we could not be so lucky finland’s visa...
by Lazarus Lake | Oct 22, 2023 | Race Reports
an astonishing 62 athletes reached 30 yards. equally or more impressive than the 72 who reached 24? pawel pszczólkowski and soren moeller did not get back by the cutoff. christian mauduit made the cutoff by seconds, but turned back. 61 runners are now on the 31st...
by Lazarus Lake | Oct 22, 2023 | Race Reports
the madness continues. matteo tenchio turned back after starting 29 and christian mauduit missed the time limit. the difficulty of the course is evident when you consider the calibre of runners who have fallen short. 64 runners are attempting 30, which will be a...
by Lazarus Lake | Oct 22, 2023 | Race Reports
the casualties continue to mount. szilard fodor from hungary and Abderrahmane Ait Haddou from morocco both dropped after 28 with leg injuries they incurred earlier in the race. we had two more, christian mauduit and matteo tenchio have to run thru the starting field,...
by Lazarus Lake | Oct 22, 2023 | Race Reports
all i asked for this hour was that the excitement be ON THE TRAIL and not in the camp. i got my wish. runners came in after 3 whistles and after 2 whistles . we were down to the iceland champion,Thorleifur Thorleifsson still out on the trail. thor had been on a death...
by Lazarus Lake | Oct 22, 2023 | Race Reports
multiple crises pre-empted the hour 26 update. meanwhile the return to the trail has cut the usual swath thru the field. van da bui attempted 25, but also suffering from stomach issues could not make it in on time. . phillipe pollesel made it in on 25 with seconds to...
