A British endurance athlete got the better of his four-legged rival by crossing the finish line first and winning the “The Whole Earth Man V Horse” race at Llanwrtyd Wells in Wales last Saturday (11).
Ricky Lightfoot, a 37-year-old firefighter from Dearham Village in Cumbria, northwest England became the third person to beat a horse in the history of the race, in which runners face off against the animals to see who can outrun the other.
Completing the 22-mile track, roughly 34 kilometers, with a time of 2:22:23, Lightfoot is also the first runner in 15 years to win the competition after Florien Holtinger’s 2007 triumph, the event organizers said in a statement.
The competition was created in the 1980s after two people placed a bet at the Neuadd Arms Hotal pub on whether a man could beat a horse in a long-distance race.
In 2004, Huw Lobb became the first man to win the event by defeating the fastest horse in 2:05, according to the competition’s official website.
This June 11, a group of 1,200 runners competed against 60 horses and riders in the event, which took place among the rugged hills and muddy terrain of the Welsh countryside. Lane House Boy took second place behind Lightfoot and rider Kim Alman, finishing with a time of 2:24:24.
Lightfoot’s impressive performance was even more notable as he had been up since 6am UK time on Friday to fly from Tenerife, Spain to Manchester, UK. .
He arrived in Wales at 4am (00h in Brazil) before traveling to Llanwrtyd Wells on Saturday (11), just two hours before the start of the race.
“I am pleased to have won the Whole Earth Man V Horse,” Lightfoot told CNN by email this Monday (13). “I had heard of the two previous winners, Huw Lobb and Florien Holtinger, and I am very happy to be among just the three people who have already won the horse.”
“It was great to compete in such a legendary and unique race that started from a conversation in a local pub. I was up for 29 hours before the race and had to drive home five hours afterward, so needless to say I’m finished, but it was worth it.”
Who is Lightfoot
A keen endurance runner, Lightfoot previously won the Zegama-Aizkorri race in Spain in 2009.
Three years later, he took victory in his first ultramarathon on the Hammer Trail in Denmark, before winning three more endurance trails in Wales, Reunion Island and South Africa in 2013.
In 2014, it took first place on the Dodo Trail in Mauritius and the Ultra SkyMarathon on Madeira Island the following year.
Source: CNN Brasil
