Rait Ratasepp, 38, started a unique challenge on Tuesday – the Estonian is looking to set a new record for consecutive full-distance triathlons. During the “Fenix Adventure” he’s aiming to do 60 over a tough course on Fuerteventura, one of the Canary Islands. While James Lawrence, the Iron Cowboy, finished 101 straight full-distance efforts earlier this year, Ratasepp’s challenge is different in that he won’t be doing any drafting on the bike (Lawrence rode in a group for many of his rides) and will also be following WADA protocols – Lawrence reportedly used IVs to stay hydrated during at least some of his efforts.
Ratasepp is hoping to break Ludovic Chorgnon’s record of 41 full distance triathlons in 41 consecutive days from 2015. He’s certainly picked a tough venue for the challenge – based out of Playitas Resort, where he’ll be doing the swims in a 50-m outdoor pool, the 180-km bike course has 1,810 m of climbing, while the run course includes 300 m of elevation. Fuerteventura, which is very close to Lanzarote, is renowned for its high winds, making the bike even more challenging.
Ratasepp hopes to average under 11 hours for each full-distance day and finish each marathon in under four hours.
More information about Ratasepp’s progress on the challenge can be found on his website, Facebook and Instagram. Live results can be found here.
Through the first four days of his challenge he’s finished the “races” in 10:34, 10:43, 10:55 and 11:19 – today’s effort was extremely difficult due to the high winds the Estonian faced.
