Latest figures I have are from a little before the 170hr point (with 22hrs still to run) and show William having closed the gap between himself and the #1 Didier Sessegolo to “only” 11.8 miles / 19km (and this despite the hectic race conditions today with literally hundreds of people joining the 8-day runners on the course, all doing their bit to raise money for children’s charities). At approx 169.5hrs, William had covered 563miles / 922.08 km. Last year, when William won the 8-day “No Finish Line” race, he set a new course record and became the first person ever to run over 1000km on the Monaco course. A year on, with the course busier than ever before and  (with William now aged 59) it looks very likely that both William and Didier will each exceed the 1000km mark (they are running in different age categories, I believe Dedier is 11 years younger than William). The main question remains can William catch Didier before the 192hr / 8-day point? As William’s training advisor I know he has the physical (and just as importantly mental) strength and stamina to do this, but it is going to be a *very* busy day on the course on Sunday, as the event draws to it’s close and a truly huge number of people enter the race to fit in a few laps before the finish. This will inevitably slow all the top runners, regardless of their physcial condition, as they will need to weave their way in and out among the crowds – naturally this will not help anyone chasing for the lead position… But before we get to the last few hours of the race, there is still a long, hard night of running to come in which the course is likely to be relatively quiet, allowing the runners to clock up whatever distance they can during the lonely, small hours of darkness. It will be a very trying time for everyone, but this is what the athletes train for. At such times the real test is not whether one athlete can beat another but rather the competition is with oneself, to push that bit harder, to carry on despite exhastion, and to achieve the greatest distance personally possible on the day. This testing of the self applies every bit as much to the runner with the shortest distance as to the race leaders – there is never such a thing as an “easy” ultra and every entrant deserves considerable respect. The physical and psychological pressure is really on now and only time will tell the end result.

 

Place	Dist.	Nb tour	Nom	Equipe	Cat	Pl Cat.	Dernier passage
1	941.064 km	694	SESSEGOLO Didier – (dos. 36)	PERFORMANCE SPORTS NUTRITION	V1M	1/850	167:39:25
2	922.08 km	680	SICHEL William – (dos. 46)	METROPOLE FASHION TEAM	V2M	1/470	169:33:52
3	786.48 km	580	CHEVILLON Bernard – (dos. 15)	ACM	V3M	1/176	170:21:12
4	772.92 km	570	BEAUMEL Jean Claude – (dos. 43)	ACM	V3M	2/176	170:16:11
5	751.224 km	554	BARNETT Sarah – (dos. 38)	MI	SEF	1/1348	170:20:07
6	740.376 km	546	JAMESON Iveagh – (dos. 24)	FONDATION SANCTA DEVOTA	V1M	2/850	170:26:29
7	732.24 km	540	DERRIEN Franck – (dos. 37)	MI	SEM	1/1247	170:24:29
8	728.172 km	537	MIORIN Robert – (dos. 6)	ACM	V2M	2/470	169:45:03
9	675.288 km	498	FORCELLA Alain – (dos. 17)	PERFORMANCE SPORTS NUTRITION	V2M	3/470	170:29:00
10	667.152 km	492	HABASQUE Gerard – (dos. 26)	PERFORMANCE SPORTS NUTRITION	V1M	3/850	170:22:15
11	637.32 km	470	LOQUET Patrice – (dos. 2392)	ACM	V2M	4/470	170:15:24
12	622.404 km	459	CHEVILLON Mimi – (dos. 14)	ACM	V1F	1/906	169:57:44
13	622.404 km	459	ODOUARD Dominique – (dos. 10)	CFM	V2M	5/470	170:26:22
14	597.996 km	441	LARCHER Rene – (dos. 16)	US AIGREFEUILLE	V3M	3/176	170:14:07
15	593.928 km	438	KLUKA Peter – (dos. 39)	CARITAS RIBEIRO MVT STE DEVOTE	V3M	4/176	170:22:22
16	581.724 km	429	GILLARD Claude – (dos. 35)		V3M	5/176	170:15:10
17	562.74 km	415	ARZEL Jean Claude – (dos. 42)	ACM	V2M	6/470	168:50:53
18	562.74 km	415	DEFECHEUREUX Bernard – (dos. 41)	ECOTELEC ABYLON ROSNY SS BOIS	V2M	7/470	170:19:40
19	553.248 km	408	BETAILLE Roger – (dos. 22)	FSN SAM	V2M	8/470	170:26:38
20	551.892 km	407	FOUNDLING HAWKER Heather Ruth – (dos. 6623)	FONDATION SANCTA DEVOTA	V1F	2/906	170:13:05
21	549.18 km	405	SCHEFFER Christian – (dos. 5)		V2M	9/470	169:51:10
22	547.824 km	404	FOUCHARD DJEBLI ***** Annick – (dos. 1687)	MI	V3F	1/216	170:24:56
23	543.756 km	401	JEANNIN Christian – (dos. 31)	MI	V3M	6/176	170:26:02
24	522.06 km	385	MOZSIK Jozsef – (dos. 21)		SEM	2/1247	167:09:57
25	511.212 km	377	SALILLAS GARCIA Garcia – (dos. 25)		SEM	3/1247	170:15:35
26	504.432 km	372	RUSSIAS Pierre – (dos. 4)	ACM	V3M	7/176	169:51:58
27	501.72 km	370	COLLIOU Jean Claude – (dos. 11)		V3M	8/176	170:18:33
28	500.364 km	369	SHERRINGTON Abichal – (dos. 6808)	METROPOLE FASHION TEAM	V2M	10/470	143:08:25
29	471.888 km	348	FLORIER Fabrice – (dos. 19)	CHPG	V1M	4/850	170:22:33
30	470.532 km	347	BOULITEAU Bernard – (dos. 32)	PERFORMANCE SPORTS NUTRITION	V1M	5/850	169:24:20
31	458.328 km	338	JUDLIN Roland – (dos. 13)		V4M	1/85	170:28:53
32	451.548 km	333	MARO Csaba – (dos. 33)		V1M	6/850	165:33:56
33	446.124 km	329	LANNOY Francis – (dos. 12)		V3M	9/176	170:07:04
34	429.852 km	317	VOEGELI Dorothe – (dos. 6518)	CHILDREN et FUTURE	V1F	3/906	168:41:11
35	421.716 km	311	NYSTROM Kg – (dos. 6724)	PUSSY FOOTING AROUND	V4M	2/85	170:16:46
36	401.376 km	296	PIERRE Patrick – (dos. 27)		V3M	10/176	168:12:41
37	400.02 km	295	ESTATOF Bernard – (dos. 8)	MI	V3M	11/176	169:46:39
38	397.308 km	293	RAMUSSEN Morten Emil – (dos. 29)		SEM	4/1247	170:15:47
39	397.308 km	293	LE FORESTIER David – (dos. 3977)	FONDATION SANCTA DEVOTA	SEM	5/1247	170:22:51