[imagesource: Gareth Everett / HUW Evans Picture Agency]

The race was on in Llanwrtyd Wells, Powys, Wales on Saturday with 1 000 runners up against 50 horses traversing muddy paths, slippery streams, ravines, and numerous hills.

The Whole Earth Man Vs. Horse marathon is the ultimate test of man against beast, and a lanky Briton with a really appropriate name managed to get the better of his four-legged rival.

Trail runner Ricky Lightfoot won this year’s multi-terrain race, becoming the third human winner since the competition – which pits horses against people in a running race – started in 1980.

Source: EquinePix Photography

The 37-year-old firefighter from the village of Dearham in Cumbria (northwest England) has impressed spectators for not only finishing the 22-mile (35-kilometres) trail with a time of 2:22:2 but for doing so after basically no sleep, per the BBC:

He told the BBC he had woken at 06:00 BST on Friday before catching a flight to Manchester at midnight. Landing at 04:00 he travelled to Wales, arriving at Llanwrtyd Wells, Powys, at 09:00 for the race start at 11:00.

Source: EquinePix Photography

Crossing the line, the 6ft 4in (1.93m) athlete had no idea whether he had won as the people and animals take slightly different routes.

This video shows all the details of the race, with Lightfoot coming in towards the end:

Lightfoot won the grand prize of £3 500 (just under R60 000) after beating the first horse by more than two minutes, which he reckons was “pretty good, like”:

“It’s great to win the event and beat the horse,” he said.
“I called my partner and said: ‘I beat the horse’. And she said: ‘You’re joking?’.
“And I said: ‘No, I did.’ She was like, ‘oh my God!'”
The firefighter said he had been quietly confident.
“I thought I could give the horse a good race,” he explained.

The last time a person took the top spot honour was 15 years ago, with Florien Holtinger triumphing in 2007.

The competition was established after two people at the local Neuadd Arms pub bet on whether a man could defeat a horse in a long-distance race.

Classic.

[source:bbc]