Leading South African Ultra-distance athlete, Ryan Sandes, raced into unchartered territory and chalked up yet another career success when he placed second in the Cocodona 250, run between Phoenix and Flagstaff in Arizona, USA, over the past few days.
Most of the runners were still out on the 256 miles (410km) course more than three days after the start, having had to battle snow, hail and rain after an unseasonal storm turned parts of the trail into a mud bath.
An exhausted Sandes crossed the finish line in Heritage Square, Flagstaff, 61 hours 21 minutes and 4 seconds after the start of his epic adventure, less than three hours behind another 200 mile plus novice, Dan Green from West Virginia in the USA.
Few, if any trail athletes, have enjoyed as lengthy a career as an elite athlete as has Sandes, who has grabbed world headlines in trail running for more than two decades and at 43 years shows little sign of hanging up his trail shoes.
But Cocodona, run over 256 miles (the course was extended by 6,5 miles due to certain conservation concerns, was a new challenge for Sandes and significantly the longest distance he has raced in one segment.
While his feats in setting fastest known times in the Himalayas and around Lesotho were substantially longer in distance, they included nightly stops for rests. At Cocodona, rest was a luxury the top elites could scarcely afford, with Sandes stopping on just three occasions for 10 minute naps.
“At least it’s done – I probably didn’t sleep enough!” was sleep-deprived Sandes comment after finishing second.
Earlier the world’s leading ultra-distance woman athlete, American Courtney Dauwalter, had led the race overall after taking the lead from last year’s winner, Harry Subertas (Lithuania) 69 miles into the race, but opted to call it a day 108 miles into the race, leaving Green to take over as race lead.
For much of the race Green and Sandes ran within a few miles of each other, with Sandes taking over as race leader during the first day’s night hours as Green napped for 25 minutes at the Dead Horse Aid Station at 148 miles.
But as Sandes tired through lack of sleep, Green closed again to overtake Sandes and race away to a remarkable victory in 58:47:18, more than an hour inside Subertas’ time of 59:50:55 set last year on a course some 10km shorter.
American Rachel Entrekin ran impressively to win the women’s competition by a huge margin of 16 hours, coming in 4th overall in 63:50:55, just 42 minutes behind Ed Ramirez (63:10:13), whose strong finish clinched the final podium position.
Stephen Granger will be on leave until mid-June, walking the South West Coastal Path in England.
