Murilla Triumphs Through the Chaos

24 year old Luisa Murilla holds onto her lead as she heads the pack towards the finish line through the Chaos! 

Day 4 of the Women’s Pathfinder Marathon challenges racers with a steep descent down the Tithonium Chasma and through the canyon systems of the Candor Chasma. The 200 km course takes place over the course of a single day. Athletes will need to navigate their way through unpredictable and cracked terrain appropriately named the Candor Chaos.

Stage 3 marks the halfway point of the entire marathon and racers are starting to run ragged.

Murilla and Kang battled it out at the start of the course as they jostled for first. However, a risky gamble by Kang to jump a rocky gully sent her stumbling. It cost her precious seconds, and the lead. Not only was she unable to regain her position, Kang was quickly overtaken by fellow racers and finished in 11th place.

Sangeeta Mahawal of Amrita gave an impressive performance as the 30 year old came in second. Mahawal had a rocky start—a stretch of loose rubble along her chosen route forced her to forego her running blades. But by the afternoon, Mahawal had caught up to the rest of the racers. "I knew  had to be really aggressive to make up for lost time," she said.

Anya Pande of Europa regained her position in the top 5 after a disappointing run in the Calydon Fossa of stage 2

The Canyon Takes its Toll

Nine racers were eliminated from the running.

Despite running in the top 5 for this stage, Otar Anderson dropped out halfway through the race after a misplaced step sent her careening down the side of a cliff. While she sustained no injuries, the visibly shaken 27 year old decided not to continue the marathon. She said, “I’m proud of everything I’ve accomplished in these 4 days—it was an once in a lifetime opportunity for me. And I wish all the other challengers the best of luck!”

A careless step sent Marineris runner Ida Horn crashing to the ground and irreparably cracked her life support pack. Support drones were able to quickly pick her up before she suffered from prolonged exposure to the Martian atmosphere.

Other racers were unable to complete the course due to sheer exhaustion and the end of the day saw 20 challengers left of the original 40.

Men's Stage 3 - Chaos Decimates

Aquarius 23, 2077, m249

The story of the day for the men's heat was simple: They dropped like flies.

This was the 4th day of racing for the men and it was apparent how worn down they had become early in the day.  With the start point at the centre of Tithonium Chasma, the 200 km course across the canyon system into Candor Chaos presented unique challenges for the runners.  Though appearing mostly smooth, the floor of the Chasma is mostly composed of pristine landslide material, making for an unpredictable running surface. 

Segments of the course were too soft for blades.  Racers were often required to dismount and run on foot using poles to keep balance.  All of this extra effort compounding on the already weary pack.

By mid morning, Bavash Yalaran (Marineris) called it quits after 54 km.

Before lunch, Xue Feng Fu and Sam Kashmiri, both from San Olympus, tapped out at 56 km and 58 km respectively.

As the terrain shifted heading into Candor Chaos, Michael Pan (Europa) collapsed at 115 km.  2 km back, upon seeing Pan drop down, Paul Borroni (Novyimir) made the decision to end his race.

Jamal Carter (Columbia Hills), who started with a commanding lead for the first half, maintained a top 5 position through most of the day until an unlucky step caught a blade and his leg snapped as his body twisted around his fixed leg.

This opened up the opportunity for Owen Dubad (Marineris) to take the lead.  Dubad did not let it go to waste.  Pacing himself carefully against Samual Gates (Europa), Dubad was able to hang on to take the Stage.

Behind him, 9 more racers withdrew, calling it quits and conceding to Candor Chaos.  In total, 15 racers did not finish, the largest single drop off in this year's competition.  This leaves 23 runners for the final 2 stages.

"A lot of notable contenders went down today," said Garin Papaviny, former Pathfinder Champion, "Mehrad Shirani and Jamal Carter were favourites from bootcamp that I thought had a chance, but Pathfinder is merciless.  Tomorrow we will see how the women fair against Chaos."

Panchehra (Europa), winner of stage 1, finished in 18th position.  Crowd favourites El-Morad (Al'amal), Rafeeq Afzal (Al'amal), and Marshall Shannon (HDX) survive for Stage 4.