“My challenge takes place at the Playitas Resort on the Canary Islands (Fuerteventura), where he stays, starts swimming every morning in the 50-meter outdoor pool, then rides a 180-kilometer loop on the island and finally ends the day with a marathon run around the Playitas Resort.
The event is especially challenging due to the mountainous terrain of Fuerteventura and the constant strong winds and scorching sun. The bike route has an ascent of 1810 meters which means that during the 60 day period I will have to climb mountains equivalent to more than 12 Mount Everest’s (108 600 vertical meters of ascent).
The running route has also a lot of ascending and descending meters (292 m).”
This is really cool, thanks for posting this up. Hopefully it can get a small % of the viewership of that other attempt at a massive endurance challenge. I assume he is doing most of this solo? Do you know if he is using his own rules, or following standard guidelines for ironman racing?
This is really cool, thanks for posting this up. Hopefully it can get a small % of the viewership of that other attempt at a massive endurance challenge. I assume he is doing most of this solo? Do you know if he is using his own rules, or following standard guidelines for ironman racing?
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Rait follows the IUTA rules in his challenges…
IUTA - Rules (effective 1st January 2021) (iutasport.com)
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Thanks for the rules clarification, and since he is the only competitor, looks like he has to go solo in all 3 events…Just so people dont confuse this with the Cowboy’s event, it is immensely harder to do these ironman distance races alone on an open course, than the completely protected rules used in the other event. I said it in that thread that followed those races, he likely would not have even gotten to the first dozen if they were done under these rules, that is how much different the days are doing it this way.
I remember reading about this guy, and he seems like a legit contender to get this done, or at least a very good try. Not sure why he made it so hard on himself with the course laid out like it is, but maybe he just likes to add to the already hefty challenge…
Wow thanks very much for sharing, I had completely missed it. This is mental, and super exciting.
Just when I was starting to fully appreciate what James Lawrence achieved earlier this year, which was unreal…this man goes for 60, not on an easy course/without that much help, and with insane time goals.
Super inspiring, and I wish him all the best. Looking forward to following his exploits.
Thanks for the rules clarification, and since he is the only competitor, looks like he has to go solo in all 3 events…Just so people dont confuse this with the Cowboy’s event, it is immensely harder to do these ironman distance races alone on an open course, than the completely protected rules used in the other event. I said it in that thread that followed those races, he likely would not have even gotten to the first dozen if they were done under these rules, that is how much different the days are doing it this way.
I remember reading about this guy, and he seems like a legit contender to get this done, or at least a very good try. Not sure why he made it so hard on himself with the course laid out like it is, but maybe he just likes to add to the already hefty challenge…
I think he did 40 on this same course and ended up doing them all in 11-12h range. He also has done at least once 20xmarathon all sub 3h. Like said, mind boggling to me.
I think he did 40 on this same course and ended up doing them all in 11-12h range. He also has done at least once 20xmarathon all sub 3h. Like said, mind boggling to me.
Also found it amusing that he mentions Ironcowboy in this blog report:
“Prior to Ratasepp only two men in the world have completed a solo-event of a 40-time Ultra Triathlon in daily format. James Lawrence (USA) completed 50 triathlons, in 50 days, in 50 different states, and Ludovic Chorgnon (France) completed 41 triathlons, in 41 days. However, James Lawrence 50 triathlons are not comparable to others because he deliberately did not follow the basic rules of long distance triathlon (he was drafting on the bike, used some point an elliptical trainer etc) and WADA rules (IV infusions and/or injections are prohibited by WADA rules as a banned method). On average, Lawrence finished one triathlon within 14hrs and Chorgnon within 13hrs. Whereas, Ratasepp’s overall average finish time was only 11hrs 06min 32s, making him the fastest man of all of the three distances.”
I think he’s hoping to have similar average times in this 60/60 attempt, which as you mentioned before is mind boggling.
Day 1: 10:34:12 - Swim: 1:15:46 Bike: 5:45:45 Run: 3:16:58
Day 2: 10:43:25 - Swim: 1:17:51 Bike: 5:54:09 Run: 3:17:26
Day 2: There was a strong wind on the bike and it cost 4minutes. The race was hotter than yesterday and the heat has peaked during the race.(copy and pasted from his facebook)
The event is especially challenging due to the mountainous terrain of Fuerteventura and the constant strong winds and scorching sun. The bike route has an ascent of 1810 meters which means that during the 60 day period I will have to climb mountains equivalent to more than 12 Mount Everest’s (108 600 vertical meters of ascent). The running route has also a lot of ascending and descending meters (292 m)."
I can confirm the routes around Playitas are indeed challenging. Jorgan and I did our own training camp there many moons ago, great place but definitely challenging. AND, they don’t call it “the windy Island” for nothing!
I think he did 40 on this same course and ended up doing them all in 11-12h range. He also has done at least once 20xmarathon all sub 3h. Like said, mind boggling to me.
Also found it amusing that he mentions Ironcowboy in this blog report:
“Prior to Ratasepp only two men in the world have completed a solo-event of a 40-time Ultra Triathlon in daily format. James Lawrence (USA) completed 50 triathlons, in 50 days, in 50 different states, and Ludovic Chorgnon (France) completed 41 triathlons, in 41 days. However, James Lawrence 50 triathlons are not comparable to others because he deliberately did not follow the basic rules of long distance triathlon (he was drafting on the bike, used some point an elliptical trainer etc) and WADA rules (IV infusions and/or injections are prohibited by WADA rules as a banned method). On average, Lawrence finished one triathlon within 14hrs and Chorgnon within 13hrs. Whereas, Ratasepp’s overall average finish time was only 11hrs 06min 32s, making him the fastest man of all of the three distances.”
I think he’s hoping to have similar average times in this 60/60 attempt, which as you mentioned before is mind boggling.
The event is especially challenging due to the mountainous terrain of Fuerteventura and the constant strong winds and scorching sun. The bike route has an ascent of 1810 meters which means that during the 60 day period I will have to climb mountains equivalent to more than 12 Mount Everest’s (108 600 vertical meters of ascent). The running route has also a lot of ascending and descending meters (292 m)."
I can confirm the routes around Playitas are indeed challenging. Jorgan and I did our own training camp there many moons ago, great place but definitely challenging. AND, they don’t call it “the windy Island” for nothing!
Yeh, in the facebook posts they keep mentioning the strong winds and the heat, but on his Website Rait writes that he likes the roads and climate in Fuerteventura. I expect being sponsored by Playitas might have something to do with it, def. makes the logistical / financial side of things easier.
Day 1: 10:34:12 - Swim: 01:15:46 Bike: 05:45:45 Run: 03:16:58
Day 2: 10:43:25 - Swim: 01:17:51 Bike: 05:54:09 Run: 03:17:26
Day 3: 10:55:46 - Swim: 01:18:29 Bike: 05:59:21 Run: 03:23:48
Day 3 -(copy and pasted from his facebook account)
“There was a lot of adventure on the bike today: chain came off and putting it back on took 2 extra minutes. Descents where very problematic because there was more traffic than usual and Rait had to slow down and break very often.”
I was wondering if his settle in pace would be in the mid 11 hour range, seems like that is where he is heading. Unless he is getting some really bad weather days out there, how is it for him? Still pretty remarkable to be peeling off these times solo, especially the low to mid 3 hour runs. I mean, you actually have to be running the whole way to be doing 7 to 8 minute miles, dude must have bulletproof legs!!!
Thanks for the updates, this is quite interesting to me to see.
I was wondering if his settle in pace would be in the mid 11 hour range, seems like that is where he is heading. Unless he is getting some really bad weather days out there, how is it for him? Still pretty remarkable to be peeling off these times solo, especially the low to mid 3 hour runs. I mean, you actually have to be running the whole way to be doing 7 to 8 minute miles, dude must have bulletproof legs!!!
Thanks for the updates, this is quite interesting to me to see.
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You can follow the daily updates from the location at this FB page…He has had a couple of issues but if it was easy we would all be doing it…The guy is a machine.
Fenix Adventure | Facebook
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Great to see Kevin Mackinnon giving Rait some love…
Estonian triathlete looks to set new consecutive full-distance record - Triathlon Magazine Canada
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I was wondering if his settle in pace would be in the mid 11 hour range, seems like that is where he is heading. Unless he is getting some really bad weather days out there, how is it for him? Still pretty remarkable to be peeling off these times solo, especially the low to mid 3 hour runs. I mean, you actually have to be running the whole way to be doing 7 to 8 minute miles, dude must have bulletproof legs!!!
Thanks for the updates, this is quite interesting to me to see.
Hey Monty,
Copy and pasted from his facebook
“Day 5 swimming time was 1:20:39. There is a local triathlon competition right on Rait’s bike path. We contacted the organizers but got no answer whether we are allowed to enter the competition zone or not.
Rait finished 5th-day cycling with time 6:18:30. It turned out that Rait couldn‘t use the usual bike course due to a local triathlon competition. So Rait had to turn 180 degrees and use a backup plan.
Today there is a strong headwind and crosswind on the track. In some places the wind is so harsh, that support biker has hard time to stay up. The time of the half marathon is 1:44:27”
So yeh, looks like the winds are really strong at the moment, although this is to be expected really. Temperature is not too bad 25C, although it did rise to 30C the other day.
His running strength is crazy impressive. Last year he ran 20 sub 3 marathons in 20 days.
