The fifth and final stage of the Pathfinder Marathon starts with a vertical climb out of the Marineris Valley—that’s 13,610 m of pure elevation for our racers. Today, 14 of the original 40 women are left to take on the final stretch. The ascent is treacherous and gruelling for the racers that have spent the last 8 days pushing themselves to the absolute limits physically, mentally and emotionally. 

But today is a beautiful day on Mars—with low winds and great visibility. Geneva Liu took advantage of that and powered through the Melas Chasma to dominate Stage 4. The 35 year old had done moderately well thus far and run consistently in the middle of the pack. But today she blazed past all other racers to finish the stage with a whopping 2 hour lead! This has got to be a new record for the Pathfinder Marathon.

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

Stage 2 of the Women’s Pathfinder Marathon wrapped up today at 18:42—runners have been out on the field for over 11 hours and will be taking a well-deserved break before the Marathon continues.

Stage 2 of the Women’s Marathon started out strong on a clear Solis morning.  The route takes runners in a seemingly straightforward path through the Calydon Fossa. But as evidenced but the men’s race two days prior, injuries await the careless in this rubble-filled terrain