For Rangers Ultra 2018 Race Report - Stage Two

Today has been typified by hills, heat and herds...

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The runners are currently relaxing at tonight’s base camp. They’re feeling the effects of a long day in the sun and there are some sore muscles as you’d expect but they’re safe and well.

Tonight’s camp is situated on an open grass plain surrounded by hills. It’s a beautiful and isolated spot watched over by rangers from a rocky outcrop looming in the distance as well as by the teams on the ground. The sky at night out here has been staggering. The milky way is clearly visible each night and tonight promises to be just as spectacular.

Today has been typified by hills, heat and herds.

The rolling hills we expected today look tame on paper.  In reality, these long grinding climbs under the African sun are extremely tough. Most of this course is around 2000m above sea level too and the slightly rarefied air starts to take its toll on the climbs.

The temperature was particularly high today and there is almost no cover out there on the course. Between checkpoints, there is no opportunity to find shade so the heat has been hitting the runners who are less used to the high temperatures.

Borana’s wildlife made plenty of appearances today. Just before the start of the race the plane and a ranger team cleared a group of elephants who had decided that the trail was a perfectly good place to hang around and watch the sunrise. They weren’t wrong, the view of the sun climbing above the horizon from the gully they’d placed themselves in was spectacular, but they were standing directly in the runners’ path.

After the first climb of the day, the runner’s emerged onto a vast open plain and took a trail which crisscrossed a meandering route to the next checkpoint, a route which repeatedly took them through the path of a massive herd of zebra heading for a large lake to take water. We had our first wild rhino sightings today too. A group of three could be seen in the woods 100 metres or so from the course not far after CP2.

The Italian runners continued their dominance on stage two. Francesco Rigodanza crossed the line first in 4hrs 47 minutes with Alessio Zambon just over 10 minutes behind in second. Their compatriot Mateo Parise took third in 5:04. Alberto Ferratto, who performed so strongly yesterday, has unfortunately developed a knee problem which saw him drop down the pack today. Though not a serious injury, it has restricted him to walking the route.

In the women’s race, the top three was unchanged from yesterday. Jacqui Manson, Liz Winton and Kasia Bury remain in first, second and third today and overall with Jacqui looking unstoppable at this point.

The runners are setting up their beds and enjoying a welcome meal in the last of the sun. There’s also a lot of giraffe spotting going on as a herd has appeared in the treeline very nearby.

Tomorrow’s stage begins at 07:00 local time.

Join us then for more sunshine safari adventures.

Team BTU

[arve url=”https://youtu.be/vzgSAssSyrI” title=”For Rangers Ultra Testimonials – Maritz Theron” /]

LEADERBOARD
POSITIONFirst NameSurnameRace NumberNationalityStage OneStage TwoStage ThreeStage FourTotalDifference
1MartinLambertsen5Danish03:58:5104:36:2204:52:3906:01:1319:29:05
2FrodeLein54Norwiegan04:10:5404:57:1005:51:4506:39:2021:39:092:10:04
3MaelJouan9French04:59:0705:02:5905:04:5007:00:0522:07:010:27:52
4KatsushigeHoshino40Japanese05:27:2505:11:5506:07:2007:17:3524:04:151:57:14
5MihályBlaskò37Hungarian05:04:2005:40:3006:05:3507:27:2824:17:530:13:38
6TakaoKitada46Japanese05:47:4605:05:0006:11:4007:50:2724:54:530:37:00
7HilaryClinton35British04:59:1905:52:5206:13:5508:16:1625:22:220:27:29
8AlexanderLinkenbach33German05:58:2006:11:1006:34:2507:29:5026:13:450:51:23
9SimonBushby2British05:37:0006:01:1206:31:0208:23:4226:32:560:19:11
10JohnO'Sullivan48Irish05:14:3505:24:0506:56:1008:58:1626:33:060:00:10
11RafaelLochowski16German05:35:1005:52:5206:34:1508:46:5026:49:070:16:01
12DanielFurlong49British05:05:4406:50:1706:24:5608:54:1227:15:090:26:02
13DerrickKhan31British05:11:1007:21:3006:59:2509:24:1628:56:211:41:12
14NicholasEdwards38British06:15:2007:26:0506:57:3009:31:0330:09:581:13:37
15ShivomSinha34American07:11:3007:57:0407:44:3508:58:4731:51:561:41:58
16DavidGuetz50French06:48:1207:26:1308:26:1009:32:3832:13:130:21:17
17MckenzieMadison20British05:46:2507:38:4909:08:0609:52:5032:26:100:12:57
18AndreiGaspar51Hungarian06:53:5707:20:5408:46:2010:20:1833:21:290:55:19
19EmilianCroitoru12Romanian07:06:4008:13:2908:46:2009:22:5233:29:210:07:52
20AminMaalouf14Lebanese09:09:0110:04:1410:14:3007:38:2637:06:113:36:50
SHORT COURSE
First NameSurnameRace NumberNationalityStage OneStage TwoStage ThreeStage Four
RobWood22British04:15:1205:24:0506:38:53SHORT
JohnMcleary53British05:14:3507:06:4708:00:10SHORT
ToddHarris29British06:01:2506:53:1307:57:50SHORT
JoshHearnden10British05:55:2507:06:3408:20:50SHORT
CarolinBotterill8Canadian05:54:5808:01:0307:47:05SHORT
JohannaBauswein11American05:54:5808:01:0307:47:05SHORT
JasonCarpenter3American06:53:3008:02:3608:33:25SHORT
JacobOttosen36Danish06:36:2508:02:4009:06:40SHORT
TonyMather24British07:22:5007:38:4908:56:00SHORT
JamesFullarton30British06:35:5008:04:3509:30:30SHORT
ClaireBliss28British06:25:5509:01:5909:26:10SHORT
RasmusOlufson7Danish06:53:0008:26:0509:38:35SHORT
BenNorth6British06:56:2508:54:0209:08:03SHORT
AndrewBarber23British07:22:4508:51:3709:12:50SHORT
WanariMatsuno41Japanese07:45:4508:53:2309:28:10SHORT
StephenHayes25British07:44:0208:54:0209:30:30SHORT
HansAnker39Danish07:36:5508:06:0510:28:30SHORT
RyoChimori42Japanese08:05:1009:25:3908:52:05SHORT
SilviaCzaja32German07:25:0509:26:2709:33:35SHORT
AndrzejSzefler17American07:34:5009:27:3610:54:00SHORT
MustaphaMroueih21Lebanese09:09:0110:04:1410:15:45SHORT
DaniAfiouni45Lebanese09:09:0110:04:1411:36:50SHORT
MazenMroueih15Labanese09:09:0110:04:1411:36:50SHORT
DNF/DNS
First NameSurnameRace NumberNationalityStage OneStage TwoStage ThreeStage Four
SharonDick4British06:21:4208:02:0010:41:50DNS
TakashiOkada52Japanese07:45:4511:26:14SHORTDNF
HiroTakayama47Japanese09:39:1012:58:30SHORTDNF
SusantiningsihSzefler18Indonesian07:34:5009:27:3610:54:00DNF
AdamBrown27British06:25:5509:01:59DNFDNF
ChristineJahn19German07:25:0509:26:27DNFDNF
JakubJasinski44Polish07:36:5507:37:44DNFDNF
TerenceMcdonagh26American06:09:50DNSDNSDNF

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Will Roberts

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