EISB’s Ollie Andrews runs away from the competition at marathon in Mala Karpaty
On 28 May EISB’s English/History teacher Oliver Andrews entered yet another extreme competition, the Stefanik Trail marathon which is 44 km through the trails of the Mala karpaty from Solosnica to Raca, some 1500 m in elevation difference.
Having just competed and won a half marathon the week before, Ollie wanted a change of pace and thought this “would be fun!”
The race has a check point thru Pezinska Baba, just 20 Km from the start. Ollie checked in at 1 hr.43 minutes, the fastest ever in the history of the race. The next closest runners were 1 hr 50, 1 hr 55 and 2 hr 04 respectively. For comparison, the fastest time previously was 2 hr 07.
Ollie went on to Raca crossing the finish line 1st at a blazing 3hr 16 …. BUT…. It turned out, that he had missed a turn somewhere in the last 10km cutting 3 km off the race. Although not disqualifying him officially, they added a penalty of 3 hours giving him an official competing time of 6 hr 16 and a 60th place finish.
Working out Ollie’s pace, had he been able to recognize his mistake earlier, he could’ve run back to where he left the course and still come in well before the next runners who finished at 3 hr 54, and at 4hr 18.
It begs the question of the organizers why the trail wasn’t clearly marked. When explained that they were to have officials at major points along the trail, and with GPS tracking, knowing that Ollie was on a record-breaking pace, how 2 people assigned to the area Ollie got lost, were not in place when he arrived.
Nonetheless, Ollie took it all quite gracefully and professionally. Overall, an amazing athletic achievement by someone who was there “just for fun.” Excited to see what he can do when he competes.
Ollie plans on leading a Running Club in the fall, FREE to students and families of EISB. Great chance to learn from the best 🙂
