Hungarians Dominate World Ultramarathon Competition

Gábor Rakonczay and Viktoria Brown won the six-day world ultramarathon running championships organized by the Global Organization of Multi-Day Ultramarathoners (GOMU) in Policoro, Italy.

Rakonczay, a Guinness World Record holder in cross-Atlantic canoeing, took the lead at the 123rd hour of the race and crossed the 800-kilometer mark on Saturday morning, giving him almost eight hours to beat his own record of 844 kilometers. After 847.6 kilometers, the 42-year-old extreme athlete was able to climb to the top of the world championship podium.

In the men's field of 32 runners, several Hungarians were also in contention, with Szilárd Fodor finishing 13th (690.3 kms) and Benjamin Török 17th (602 kms).

In the women's race, Viktoria Brown, who lives in Canada but races in Hungarian colors (born in Hungary and Viktória Szilasi), was unbeaten in the six-day event (after winning the 48-hour world title last year), covering 684.9 kilometers, while Krisztina Drabik finished third (622.5 kms). Brown and Drabik also won the women's team title for Hungary.

Brown – who is also Hungary's first professional female poker player – had such a big lead that she dropped out of the race two and a half hours before the end after injuring her ankle, she wrote on her social media page.