A bit of a shock at the 7hr point – the two top male German runners, Wolfgang Schwerk and Hans-Jurgen Schlotter, have both pulled out of the race at the 7hr point.

Alan tells me that Wolfgang Schwerk retired with a back problem and Hans-Jurgen Schlotter pulled out due to a knee and chest complaint. The best wishes of all at Team Sichel go to them both – here’s hoping for a speedy recovery.

Those of you who follow William regularly will know that he has a bit of a history with competing against both Schwerk and Schlotter.

After a brief head-to-head contest, William beat Hans-Jurgen Schlotter in the 6-day race in Hungary earlier this year, in the process making William  – for a while –  the World’s #1 Six-day runner… until in a later race Wolfgang Schwerk nudged ahead of William’s distance  to push William into the current World #2 spot.

William was looking forward to a friendly battle with both of the top German runners during the 48hr race, especially Wolfgang Schwerk who is now in the same age group as William (M55) and who is William’s biggest ultra-running  rival.

William is now very disappointed as this is the third time Wolfgang Schwerk has pulled out when racing with William.

But there are plenty of other runners to pose a serious challenge in the race, and many more hours ahead….