For many triathletes, to finish a sub 10 once on a Long Distance seems impossible, and for just as many triathletes it is at least a life goal. For Rait Ratasepp, it’s really just an easy job, because when he recently pulverized the World Record Decathlon (ten Long Distance times in as many days), he ended up with a record-breaking time of 99 hours, 49 minutes and 46 seconds under an average of ten hours per triathlon.
Ratasepp, an ultra-athlete with a lot of experience, set the new world record during the Ultra Triathlon Estonia and did so in his own country. With his finishing time of 99:49:46, he remained more than seven hours below the former world record.
On the first day Ratasepp recorded 9:51:08, the second day 9:51:25, the third day 9:53:34, the fourth day 9:52:55, the fifth day 9:56:59, the sixth day 9:55:31 and the seventh day 9:58:34. From then on, perhaps fatigue began to play a role, but the weather also changed as the wind picked up considerably and there was frequent rain.
This caused Ratasepp to not races above the ten hours for the last few days: on day eight he recorded 10:01:16, on day nine 10:11:43 and on the last day 10:16:38. In total, he was left with a little more than a ten-minute margin to stay under the hundred hours.
