Great Britain: Runners and horses go head to head in marathon

Horseandhound.co.uk - Full Article

Sarah Radford
10:16 - 10 June, 2017

Nearly 700 runners and 60 horses will converge on Britain’s smallest town today (June 10) for an unusual 24-mile race.

The annual Man vs Horse marathon sees humans battling equines over the Welsh hills in a test of speed and endurance.

The event was conceived when Llanwrtyd Wells landlord Gordon Green overheard a discussion between two men in his pub, the Neuadd Arms. One suggested that a man would be as fast as a horse over a significant distance.

He decided to test the hypothesis, and organised the first event in 1980. The theory seemed to be swiftly disproved when rider Glyn Joes on Solomon beat fastest runner Dic Evans by 43 minutes.

Since then, however, a human has managed to triumph in the race on two occasions — Huw Lobb in 2004 and German runner Florian Holzinger in 2007...

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