Jasper Kenn Olsen, 32, of Denmark; Kaihata Kazuko, a Japanese woman of fifty; and Russia's Alexander Korotkov, 45, came to Moscow from the northwest, yesterday, after crossing St. Petersburg, Veliky Novgorod, Vyshny Volochok, Torzhok, Tver and Zavidovo. Their preceding route was via Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. The race started in London, January 1.
The athletes are making sixty kilometers a day, Korotkov said to a news conference in Moscow today.
Experts find the race deserving to enter the Guinness Book of Records on many nominations - not that it matters too much to the racers.
"While on the race, I feel outside time and space. I've got a chance to think about life, and even change it," said the Russian long-distance runner.
"The marathon helps me to see people's ethnic specifics, and study many cultures," said the Danish athlete, university professor of sociology and political sciences. He has not missed a single day to make an entry in his diary. Mr. Olsen hopes to develop his notes into a big travelogue book.
Kaihata Kazuko says she has studied many books about Russia before the race. To run across Siberia is her cherished dream.
Once they leave Moscow, the athletes will cross entire Russia, with Vladivostok on the Pacific coast for destination point. They will go on to Japan, Australia, Canada, the USA, Mexico, Argentina, South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Turkey, Greece and France. Their itinerary is to finish, December 31, 2008, at the zero meridian in Greenwich.
