Patagonian International Marathon
Ryan Sandes wins the 63k ultra
Anne-Marie Dunhill / 05.10.2013
Around kilometer twenty-one on the 63k ultra, the race route began to climb and Ryan Sandes started to shake off the competition. He had had a late start as well, as he was in the process of taking off his sweatpants when the race start was given. Not the least bit flustered, he continued to run strongly throughout the course.
Krissy Moehl continued to extend her comfortable lead over Veronica Bravo who was racing strongly as well. At one point Krissy came screeching down a hill and spotting a lovely tiny little hotel tucked at the base of a lake, yelled out, ‘Holy cow, what is that place, I want to live there!”
It was around the forty-forth kilometer that Yassine Diboun bombed. He had been in the lead group with Billy Barnett and Ryan. He began to experience troubles with his right hip and the ensuing compensation meant that the left leg was giving him troubles as well and he developed a distinctive hobble-hop as he pushed forward toward the coveted first finish on an international marathon.
Yassine had spoken at length about his passion for ultra running during the four and a half hour drive to Puerto Natales. He spoke openly about previous drug addictions and how he had felt a “primal, instinctive pull “ towards long distance running when he became clean. With an American mother and a father from the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, Yassine is also a vegetarian simply because as he explained it, “it feels right for my body, you should try it!” Owner of his own business and proud father of the three-year old Farah, Yassine is the epitome of a hard-earned healthy lifestyle.
Although Billy Barnett had not raced competitively for seven years, he continued to run his own race, strongly in second place. When the press met him in Puerto Natales, he had an angelic smile that never left him throughout the race. When asked how he could look so happy after just traveling from Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii, he replied that he was so delighted to be racing at the end of the world that jet-lag simply didn’t matter.
The race director had made an exception and kindly allowed our press van to pass in front of the 21k start and thus began the mad dash to find the leaders and make it to the finish line before they arrived, after dropping off various photographers along the route who weren’t as fussed about the finish of the ultra. It was a close call and at one point it sounded like a gospel revival in our van as Drew loudly exclaimed “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus” as we desperately scanned the horizon for the leaders.
After passing the hobble-hopping Yassine and Billy Barnett, Billy’s lovely girlfriend Amy Okura who was travelling with us finally spotted a cloud of dust in the distance, signaling the presence of the two motorcycles that were accompanying the leader and we knew that Ryan Sandes was near-by.
Careful not to create any more dust clouds, we quickly passed Ryan to take some pictures; unperturbed herds of guanacos grazed nearby. (Guanacos are lama-like animals and the indigenous people of Patagonia such as the Aonikenks originally dressed in their hides.) Ryan called out to us, asking how far behind his nearest competitor was.
The finish line was on the expansive lawns of the Hotel Las Torres. Bales of hay had been set up to form an alley through which the runners did a final sprint to the haven of the finish arch. In a goose-bump inspiring touch to the last meters, a group of six gauchos carrying regional flags galloped out to accompany the first racers on the 63k towards the finish.
Ryan Sandes crossed the finish line first with a racing time of 4:24, followed by Billy Barnett (4:56) and after bombing on the course, Yassine Deboun still managed to come in third with a time of 5:41. Yassine later commented that this was the most beautiful place imaginable in which to bomb!
Among the women racers on the 63k ultra, Krissy Moehl came in first with a time of 5:49, followed by Daniela Seyler Palomino of Chile (6:30). Veronica Bravo came in third (6:42). Krissy’s time placed her fifth in the overall ranking, quite a feat given her flight hiccups getting to the race. When asked afterwards how it felt to race straight away after so much time flying, she said that at several places she could feel herself shortening her stride as it felt as if her hamstrings would “snap and quickly roll up like a venetian blind.”
The post-race festivities on the lawns included a magnificent meal for all. Countless lamb and pigs were grilled on spits over open fires and racers and their friends and families ate copious amounts of the delicious meat on picnic tables near the finish line, punctuated by the shouts of the gauchos as they galloped out to accompany another group of runners in. Throughout the afternoon racers on the four distances continued to cross the finish line and the atmosphere was one a very joyous party with shouts of “Bravo!” reverberating off the nearby mountains.
A full list of the race results from which the above times were taken is available on the official website: http://www.patagonianinternationalmarathon.com/results2013/
References: Patagonia Chile manual de destino, www.patagoniapresskit.cl
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