First competitors jump off a ferry into the 60° waters of Eidfjord (20 ft above sea level) to start their 2.4 mile swim...
Then they bike 112 miles up and down through the mountains, climbing a sum total of 10,000 feet in the process before descending to the shore of lake Tinnsjå (660 feet) to start the third leg...
The third leg is running a full 26 mile marathon, which sounds insane on it’s own, but those crazy vikings decided to make it harder by having the marathon go up a mountain.
The course climbs 6,000 feet to the summit of Gustatoppen. Because why not?
Why do I bring this up? Because WRC driver Andreas Mikkelsen and his co-driver Anders Jaeger decided to enter the race this year, for funsies and for something to do during the WRC summer break. Out of 240 starters, Andreas finished 90th, battling through fog, rain, and hail to complete the course in 14 hours 5 minutes. His co-driver Anders finished 69th, completing in 13h 31.
If that’s not a testament to the fitness level required at the top level of motorsport I don’t know what is.
Andreas’ vlog from the race: