The Official 26.2 Mile Inca Trail Marathon and Mini Marathon takes running travel to a whole new level — literally. The second annual edition of the mountain-high race takes off on August 15, 2013 as part of a nine-day Peruvian adventure organized by Erik’s Adventures, an adventure travel company run by avid marathoners and personal friends of mine, Erik and Myra Rasmussen.
The race traverses the footpath the ancient Incas used to commute between Cusco, Peru and the world famous citadel of Machu Picchu. The professionally measured 26.2-mile course reaches an elevation of 13,800 feet and usually takes the typical hiker three days to complete.
Last year’s men’s winner, Ryan Maxwell, finished in 7:44:05, and women’s winner, Megan Murray, finished in 9:57:59. Runners have just 12 hours to complete the course and could face temperature swings from as low as 32 degrees to as high as 80 degrees. But the payoff is worth it: a photo finish in front of Machu Picchu.
“We are an organized race,” said Myra Rasmussen. “We have aid stations, we have porters along the way in case anyone gets lost and we have bibs so that we can identify our runners at all the checkpoints. We try to make this as seamless as possible.”
Rasmussen and her husband Erik are no strangers to Peru. Both are Spanish-speakers with deep ties to the country. Myra’s father hails from Peru and she grew up visiting family there often. And Erik, the founder of Erik’s Adventures, has been leading hikes on the Inca Trail since 2006. They’re both competitive ultra runners and marathoners with Boston Marathon qualifying times.
sumber dari: communities.washingtontimes.com
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