"Iron Moms" from Kazakhstan raced in the world's most extreme triathlonA

On July 2nd 2019, at 02:00 London time, four Kazakhstani triathletes - Elfira Dudnik, Elena Kun, Madina Kurmanbaeva and Anel Sytdykova from the Iron Moms KZ team, started in the extreme ultra-triathlon Enduroman Arch to Arc.

Not for nothing is this race called the "scariest in the world." Athletes complete a distance of almost 480 km, which starts from Marble Arch in London and ends at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The sequence of stages is as follows: the participants run from London to Dover (140 km), then swim the English Channel (about 36 km) and then ride bicycles to Paris (290 km).

The deaths of two competitors over the past three years have come about as a result of the channel crossing. In 2014, 45-year-old Briton Nick Thomas completed the distance in 80 hours and 50 minutes; in the summer of 2016 he decided to race again but lost consciousness at the finish of the swimming phase and died in hospital. A year later, the same fate befell another experienced English triathlete – 44-year-old Douglas Weymark. The Arch to Arc was completed for the first time by Briton Edgar Ette - in 81 hours and 5 minutes in 2001. Edgar is now the director and organizer of Enduroman Arch to Arc.

In order to register with Arch to Arc, athletes had to have confirmed and documented experience in running, swimming and cycling for long distances. They also had to pass a six-hour swimming test at a water temperature below 16 ° C.

 “Despite such serious conditions, the demand for participation in the Enduroman Arch to Arc triathlon is incredibly high, and registered participants sometimes have to wait for their turn for a year or two. The rules of the race are very tough - a referee accompanies the triathlete along the entire route” the press officer of the Almaty Triathlon Federation Elena Kun told us by telephone.

The start time of the triathlon depends on the weather conditions in the English Channel, and the participants did not know the exact start time almost until the last moment. The organizers of the triathlon gave the team 20 hours notice before the start of the race.

On July 2nd the “Iron Moms” ended their run at Dover. “We've done the run! And now we need a lot of strength and patience. We hope the English Channel will be a little bit kinder than usual!”

On July 3rd , the Kazakhstan triathletes swam the English Channel! Elena Kun said: “It was the most unforgettable night in my life! We did it! Now our girls are at the final stage of Enduroman Arch to Arc - a bicycle stage in France. We are glad that we are supported by hundreds of people - the British, the French, and our compatriots living in Europe. This suggests that today’s triathlon is one of the most popular sports in the world! ”, she said.