We are approaching the finals

You may be wondering why we don't publish text messages and photos from competitors anymore. The answer is simple. Martin's phone hasn't been working since Kraliki and Tomas lost it yesterday somewhere in the bush. So we have no connection with them and they have no connection with us. According to the rules, this should be a reason for not continuing the race, because a charged and working phone is mandatory equipment. But we're not gonna stick a pitchfork in them this close to the finish line. We haven't had a chance to reach Martin yet, as my wife and I are on our own and he hasn't gotten back to us yet either. He did say that when he was in a pub somewhere, he would at least send a text message from someone. Apparently he hasn't gone to the pub yet and is doing his best to catch up with Tomas. We understand. His pace is similar to Tomas', so he's slicing the difference in small increments. However, the Beskydy Mountains are incredibly long, and most importantly, they're snowless. Below Radhoštěm you can ride 5 km, but otherwise it's just walking again. That could be Martin's advantage. This year's edition is really scary in this respect. There can't be any less snow, so maybe not worse conditions next year. So the only thing we know about Martin is that he doesn't rest much and keeps a fast pace all the time. How he is doing or what he is experiencing we can only guess. EDIT - Martin's friend, Radek, with whom he organizes together the Wallachian Hump and Jesenický marathon, did not hesitate and went to meet Martin. He sent us a photo and a short video (it's on fb and insta) and Martin looks good and determined. And we also know that Martin's nickname is Gizo. Come on Gizo, you're the man!!

Thanks to Hanka, Martin and Lukáš, who drove Hosta to the border ridge of Beskydy, we managed to catch Tomáš while walking. He's fed up with it, but who wouldn't be after 520 kilometers of trudging through our mountains. In his words "The Beskydy Mountains are a massacre...... they are very long. I don't even know what time it is" Well, we know that Tomas is the first and if he doesn't sleep too long, it will stay that way. He's still going to wander around Nightingale, but we don't think the proximity of his destination will let him lie still for long. But it's going to be a long and difficult journey.

If you think that Tomas sometimes goes off the trail, it is because the route is mapped according to the winter ski trails. However, they are not there now, so the directorate agreed that it is unnecessary to copy these routes on the meadows and the competitors have the option to follow the red tourist route, which goes along the ridge and is slightly shorter. Unfortunately, we have no way to tell Martin this fact yet, so perhaps he will logically choose this more natural option. Although we know that he enjoys moving on the wet meadows, so we will see. Nevertheless, both of them should reach the finish during Saturday, unless some crisis or unexpected situation occurs (and as it is clear that it will not go smoothly)

Havířov is around the corner!