Presporsky Ultra Trail

3 weeks ago I took part in another ultra marathon – Presporsky Ulra Trail. It was a community run in the Little Carpathians. There were 2 routes to choose from: around 50 and 100 km. I signed up for the longer one – 103 km, 3600 m vertical. The event was booked out already and I was put on the waiting list.

Luckily I got in, however it was just a week after Malokarpacka Vertikala so I had no time to rest. The race started on Saturday October 21st early morning. The weather was in a stark contrast to the previous weekend, no more sun but fog and clouds, and rain later in the day, also a lot colder. Fog limited visibility adding an aura of mystery to the woods and runners moving quietly like ghosts.

I started out slowly as is my usual strategy.  After 25 km I was 20th. I felt the previous race and growing fatigue creeping in way faster than expected. I lost my way once but spotted my mistake after 1 km.  I kept my pace, but after 50 km I started to slow down.  Still I was overtaking other runners. The last 25 km were mostly walking with some downhill running. Trekking poles were again a great help, more so towards the end.

Overall I finished 14th out of 89 runners for this distance in 12h 44 min. It was my best result when it comes to time and placement in an ultra event of such magnitude, especially considering another mountain ultra 7 days earlier. Still I paid the price not being able to run for almost 2 weeks afterwards. Now I am fully recovered and training for another race.

   

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