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Derxen Wins Twice

Foggy morning and winding mountain road awoke the runners quickly, but nevertheless they didn’t start running with all their might, knowing that their main goal now is to reach Canberra. When the organizers announced that they weren’t going to run the stage in one piece, because the road that leads from Bombala and Nimmitabel was under construction, they were even more relaxed. The group of runners started running together, except for Andrei Derxen, who speeded up, knowing that Kruglikov isn't machine and that the 4000 kilometers did leave some negative effects on him.

Kruglikov has through Sakurai’s negative experience learned a thing or two and that has made him think. He can afford to slow his pace down a bit, since his advantage over second-placed Derxen in the overall standings is more than 18 hours. Anatoliy has proven in the past stages that he is with no doubt the best ultra-marathon runner in the world, so there was no reason for him to push himself on today’s stage and his fellow-runners were glad to keep him company and have a relaxing chat with him. While the group ran in a relaxing tempo, Derxen was running like he was late for work. As the road started to descend towards Bombala, the group started to break appart, so Wolfgang Schwerk found himself running alone in second place, with Molar and Francis behind him. Dusan Mravlje and Anatoliy Kruglikov, followed by Bobby Brown and Paul Evary, were running in fifth place and were talking during the whole stage. Marcus Muller ran with ease behind the group, and even Helmut Schieke and Karl-Heinz Kobus finished the first part of the stage with a smile on their faces.

Jermolajevs and Audley didn’t feel like smiling though, since the last few weeks left quite a few painful consequences. Audley, with his thigh musle inflamed, had the most trouble reaching the finish of the first part of the stage. The competitors, along with their escorting crews, then drove to Nimmitabel, and were glad they didn’t have to run through the Brown Mountain passage, because it would have been very exhausting and dangerous to run on the narrow and winding road with altitudes reaching up to 1100 meters, so the organisers didn’t want to take any chances.

The runners enjoyed a cup of coffee in a bakery and got ready for the second start of stage 61 at 11 o’clock. The course of events in part two of the stage was similar to the one in part one. Derxen was quickly ahead of everyone, followed by Schwerk and all the others. Jermolajevs and Audley were running far behind everybody and can hardly wait to reach Canberra, where Kaname Sakurai is waiting for his fellow-runners to arrive. Bernie Farmer, the director of the competition, sent Kaname to a hospital in Canberra, where he is waiting for Sunday’s award ceremony. "It’s too bad that today’s stage was shortened, since the run uphill would have been perfect for me to gain some time on Mihaly Molnar. Now, I think I’m going to run out of kilometers, but I still support the decision the organizers made, because the road was really dangerous" said Mick francis in the finish. The Hugarian followed him closely throughout the whole stage, and when Mick realised that he wouldn’t be able to get rid of Mihaly, the two rivals ran for the rest of the stage shoulder to shoulder. Dusan and Anatoliy had once again a lot to say to each other and enjoyed these last kilometers of stage 61. Marcus Muller was the unluckiest competitor today, having tripped so badly, that he had to have his head stitched. The fall didn’t result in a serious injury, and Marcus will be ready for tomorrow’s stage, which will lead to Michelage, from where the caravan will head towards their final destination-Canberra. Everybody can hardly wait to reach the capital city of Australia.

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