Ashgabat resident Alakbar Akhmedov took part in the Markotkh Trail race
Alekper Akhmedov, a member of the Ashgabat alpine club "Agama", became the first in his age category "50+" in the trail-racing "Markotkh Trail 2018" race at a distance of 56 kilometers.
The track with a common set of heights of 2600 meters was passed by the runner in 7 hours 58 minutes, bringing him to the 34th place in the overall standings. These factors allowed him to score 55 points according to ITRA classification - the International Traffic and Navigation Association, whose certification was given to this difficult and lengthy route.
The name of Markotkh Trail was given by the name of the Markotkh Range, which is in the vicinity of Novorossiysk in the Krasnodar Territory of the Russian Federation.
A total of 231 athletes went to the start of the medium distance. Before the finish, not all who did not fit into the time limit were cut off on two control sites. 210 participants successfully passed the route. The leader of the race Anton Golovin from the Sverdlovsk region of the Russian Federation finished at 5 hours 27 minutes, with the last of the 210 participants finishing behind him by the same 5 hours and 27 minutes.
At dawn at 6 am the participants were disturbed by a strong northeast wind. By noon the temperature had risen to 16 degrees and started to heat, which could be a problem, given the high humidity of the seaside air. However, the runners were refreshed the strong gusts of wind, which were especially felt on the mountain ridges. And in the ravines – by shallow, but stony streams that needed to be ford.
On the day of the race the weather turned out to be sunny, so that nothing prevented to see the surrounding beauty. A significant section of the route ran directly along the crest of the Markotkh Range, past the peaks with amusing, and sometimes frightening names: Sugar Loaf, Kvashin hillock and even Madness. The purposefulness of Alekper allowed him to successfully pass the entire route and show a good result, given the high level of rivals.
Ashgabat resident Alekper Ahmedov is the owner of the Turkmenistan Skinning Cup 2015 and 2016. In 2017, he became the second in his age category "50+" in the trailrunning "Solomon Cappadocia Trail" race at a distance of 60 kilometers in Turkey - in central Anatolia, in the Goreme National Park area and the cave settlements of Cappadocia.
High results in his age category were repeatedly demonstrated by our compatriot in skyrunning races in the Caucasus Elbrus, including high-rise marathons. In the "flat" marathon, Alekper performed well last year in Dubai.
By the way, in the near future he intends to again go to Elbrus - the highest point in Europe, the annual ascent to which became a good tradition for the Ashgabat mountaineer.
Part of the Greater Caucasus is the Marcotx Range, which is 90 kilometers long. All runs of the races here are laid along the mountainous terrain with a considerable difference in altitude, since the trail-railing is a run along natural crossed terrain, which includes cross-country and mountain run elements.
Within the Markotkh Trail 2018, the runners passed the exam on several tracks at once: hardcore - 109 kilometers, medium - 56 km, as well as light-25 km, fast - 4 km and 4/4 km relay. In total, over a thousand participants came to the start of the races.
The ridge's heights are up to seven hundred meters above sea level, and from the race track there was a magnificent view of the city of Novorossiysk and the port, the cement and Gelendzhik bay and the amazing technogenic landscape of the mining quarries. They extracted marl, which goes to the production of cement.
Races here are held for the second year and have already proved themselves to be the most mass event of a kind in Russia. By the way, the two longest distances are certified as qualifying for the Ultra Trail® Mont-Blanc competitions - this is the prestigious international series of cross-country races at ultra-long distances.
