Day 46: Battle Royal in Longest Race

In what can best be described as a classic defense in a chess match, Yuri Trostenyuk withstood the ferocious charge of the Master of long distance- Ashprihanal Aalto and his 86.16 miles- in reaching the cusp of victory in the 3100 Mile Race. The morning dawned with Ashprihanal determined to equal the quirky record of sorts set by Ananda-Lahari Zuscin last year- 86. 1 miles on Day 44, the longest distance run in the last few days of the 3100.  The first few hours saw Ashprihanal blaze 5.5 miles an hour, including some laps in the low 5:20's. Yuri was not to be daunted by the inspiration from his rival-friend. Instead he increased his speed in the afternoon, and bypassed his second break after five straight hours of running. He equaled laps completed all afternoon by Mr. Aalto, and the gap which dwindled from 15 miles to eight, stayed there until Ashprihanal's evening break. With one last gasp, the Finn continued, but Yuri held him off as the hours and minutes ticked away. At days' end, Ashprihanal had his 86.1, but Yuri ran a sparkling 79 miles to counter all challenges.  Ashprihanal shook Yuri's hand as they came to the line together, acknowledging the Ukrainian's strength and stamina. Yuri smiled with still 35 minutes remaining. The race would be his.

The action at the front also inspired Atmavir Petr Spacil to another 70.79 day. Just as well, Ananda-Lahari Zuscin emerged from his month-long funk to serve as the rabbit/inspiration  for Ashprihanal to chase after for several hours. He finished with 73.5 miles, his best venture since Day 2.

Yuri will finish the race first in probably just over an hour on Thursday morning- only 9 laps remain for him. Ashprihanal will require 23 laps more to finish, so he would follow Yuri about 2.5 hours at the finish line.

What a day. The closest finish, the biggest totals in the last four days from two great runners.!