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Derxen Does It Again

Russian rivalry at the TransAustralia Foot Race continues. The two Russians outdid themselves again today, eventhough they have run more than 3500 kilometers, with a very high average speed. Yesterday's win gave Andrei Derxen extra motivation and he managed to beat Anatoliy Kruglikov on today's stage by 12 seconds.

We were witness to an extraordinary race and the proof for that is Andrei's average speed of over 16 km/h, which is high above the average speed of the competition. The rest of the competitors weren't throwing away any unnecessary energy. Latvian Georgs Jermolajevs crossed the finish line behind the two Russians, proving that he's a specialist for shorter stages. His lack of endurance unables him to reach higher positions on longer stages, where he often loses precious minutes, even hours. Dusan Mravlje was fourth and German Schwerk fifth. Mick Francis was in front of Molnar after quite a while, in his usual position (6.) The rest of the runners crossed the finish line in the following order: Paul Every in eighth, Bobby Brown in ninth, Kaname Sakurai in tenth and George Audley in eleventh place. The last four competitors to reach Brimbank Park were Muller, Schlett, Kobus and Schieke.

With the help from some volunteers from Melbourne, the competitors ran the rest of the kilometers to the city centre without time measurement. The organisers decided to take a load off the escorting teams, who were exhausted after they had been accompanying their racers in heavy traffic and providing them with drinks, and told the runners to take the bicycle route to downtown Melbourne. A slower pace enabled them to observe Melbourne from a whole different perspective.

"Running along the river Yarri was a very beutiful experience for me. Today's stage has undoubtably been the most beutiful one," commented Marcus Muller. The runners finished the second part of today's stage on the bank of river Yarri in the city centre at 1 pm, when the place is filled with all sorts of amateur runners, who, rather than wait in line for fast food, make the most of their lunch breaks by running. The competitors were thrilled with the reception and, after a short chat with some of the curious locals, headed to Dandenong in the southeast of Melbourne, where tommorow's stage is bound to start. Tomorrow's stage will definitely be more relaxing and less caotic, with the caravan far away from the city bustle and all the Formula 1 enthusiasts. Melbourne is full of posters announcing the beginning of the Formula 1 season at Albert Park on Sunday. By then, the runners will be far away and heading toward their final destination-Canberra.

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