he World Marathon Drawback (WMC) acquired right here to an end in Miami on Tuesday, with the few dozen athletes entered throughout the event ending their seventh marathon in as many days on all seven continents. When he crossed the top line in Miami, Britain’s Darren Edwards grew to develop into the first handcycle athlete to complete the WMC, an issue he used to elevate close to C$75,000 for charity.
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Edwards’s journey
The WMC started with the first of its seven day by day marathons in Antarctica on Jan. 31, and Edwards crossed the top line in 5:48:37. The group then flew to South Africa, the place Edwards decrease an enormous time period from his earlier day’s consequence, posting a sub-three-hour reduce up of two:52:04 on a scorching and windy course in Cape Metropolis. The next stop was Perth, Australia, nonetheless the event confronted a tempo bump as crew and athletes tried to depart South Africa, forcing WMC organizers to vary the event schedule. The upshot was that the athletes purchased an extra day of restoration ahead of the Perth marathon, which was moved to Feb. 3.
Edwards clearly used his rest day correctly, since he laid down an unlimited finish in Australia, the place he stopped the clock in a PB of two:36:30, no matter racing in 36 C heat. The following day took racers to Dubai for the Asian leg of the issue, the place Edwards set another PB, smashing his day-old best by a whopping 13 minutes and posting a time of two hours, 23 minutes. He and his fellow WMC challengers then flew to Madrid, and although Edwards slowed considerably, he nonetheless managed to file a stellar time of three:23:05 for his fifth marathon in six days.
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With the European leg full, athletes have been set for a busy final day of racing. They arrived in Fortaleza, Brazil, for the penultimate marathon of the issue, which started late at night. Edwards bounced once more from his slower finish in Spain to submit one different sub-three-hour time, crossing the street in 2:36:59. Some further journey factors prevented race crew and athletes from leaving Brazil on time, nonetheless they managed to make it to Miami shortly Monday. The race started merely after midnight Tuesday morning, with Edwards crossing the street in 2:31:40 to vary into the first handcycle athlete to finish the WMC.
He accomplished his seven marathons in a imply time of 4 hours, 20 minutes, although his finish in Antarctica skewed that time pretty a bit; not counting Antarctica, his frequent was a blazing two hours, 43 minutes. Edwards’s current fundraising full of C$74,300 shall be donated to the British Armed Forces Para-Snowsport Workers, a program to help “50 injured [and] wounded veterans to experience the freedom of alpine [and] nordic snowboarding (along with snowboarding) on the annual AFPST teaching camp in 2023,” as well-known on Edwards’s fundraising web internet web page.
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Totally different WMC outcomes
Inside the males’s drawback, American David Kilgore gained all seven marathons. His slowest was a 3:23 finish in Antarctica, which was his solely run over three hours. On the women’s aspect, Kilgore’s compatriot Deirdre Keane purchased off to a scorching start, worthwhile the first three marathons. As quickly as they hit Dubai, nonetheless, fellow American Julie Uychiat took over on the pinnacle of the issue, and she or he didn’t look once more, worthwhile the last word 4 races of the WMC.
For full outcomes from all seven WMC races, click on on proper right here.