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Awaiting Canberra

The competitors in the Trans Australia Foot Race have once again shown what they are made of. Although the overall places were more or less decided before the start of the stage, they still put all the effort into their running. A chilly morning and running against the wind at an altitude of over 900 meters made the runners stick together for the first ten kilometers of the stage. Kriglikov and Derxen were the only exceptions.

Anatoliy Kruglikov has proven yet again, that he’s in a class of his own, and won the stage without any trouble. He spent most of the afternoon preparing his new shoes for tomorrow’s last stage of the competition. "I will most likely be running in my old shoes, since new shoes need about 50 kilometers of running to get into the right shape," said "Kalashnikov". His fellow-runners were teasing him he should, rather than prepare his shoes, prepare himself for tomorrow’s interviews with numerous journalists awaiting the runners in Canberra. Andrei Derxen didn’t show any emotions in the finish, but was still satisfied with his his performance. The rivalry between Mick Francis and Mihaly Molnar continued on stage 62. Mick came into the finish behind the two Russians, Mihaly followed with a deficit of 3 minutes and 45 seconds, and steal Molnars overall fourt. A miracle would have to happen tomorrow, if Mick was to gain 35 minutes and 12 seconds on the Hungarian, and steal Molnar's overall fourth place. The rest of the runners were running with the best of their capabilities, and crossed the finish line in a good mood. Even Marcus Muller was in good spirits, despite the unpleasant stitches on his head and hands. George Audley was running in last place again, not wanting to make his injury worse. His advantage over Helmut Schieke has narrowed down to one hour and two minutes, and the struggle for eleventh place between the two oldest men in the competition will reach its peak on the last stage.

Competitors’ relatives and David Criniti, who withdrew from the race in stage 12, were waiting in the finish in Michelago. Tomorrow’s day is going to be historical, because the first ultra-marathon across Australia will be completed. The ambassadors of the participating countries will be a part of a big crowd, which is bound to gather in the finish by the parliament in Canberra. The best-placed competitors will, besides trophies, also get some prize money. The winner will receive a check for $20,000, second-placed runner $10,000, third-placed $5,000, fourth-placed $2,000 and the runners placed in positions 5-10 will get $1,000 each. But money was no object in this competition. Competitors took part in this competition, in order to test their physical as well as their mental capabilities, and quite a few interesting things have happened to them in the 65 days of this toughest ultra-marathon competition in the world.

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