Place and Time:
June 25-26, 2023 | Death Valley, USA

Goal: The goal was to run from Badwater Basin (-86 meters below sea level) through Death Valley to the highest peak in continental America, Mount Whitney (4,421 meters).
Note: Due to the fact that by late June Mount Whitney was still covered in snow, the challenge had to finish at the base of Mount Whitney at an altitude of 2,548 meters. Therefore, the Badwater135 route was completed.

Result: 40 hours, 9 minutes, and 50 seconds
Due to mistakes in preparation and equipment choices, this challenge became one of the greatest tests of endurance I have faced so far. After completing a distance equivalent to two marathons, I had to abandon all time-related goals and focus solely on reaching the finish line.

Place and Time:
November 16-25, 2022 | Canary Islands, Spain

Goal:
The goal was to run across all eight Canary Islands from coast to coast, summiting the highest peak on each island, and complete the challenge within 10 days.

Result:
700.24 km completed in 9 days, 15 hours, and 23 minutes

Results by day and island:

DAY 1

• El Hierro – 37.98 km
  Time: 5:03:11 (moving time 4:49:37)
  Elevation Gain: 1802 m, Elevation Loss: 1802 m
• Gran Canaria – 25.57 km
  Time: 4:11:31 (moving time 3:47:34)
  Elevation Gain: 1241 m, Elevation Loss: 606 m

DAY 2

• Gran Canaria – 73.23 km
• Time: 11:35:40 (moving time 10:21:43)
• Elevation Gain: 3027 m, Elevation Loss: 3662 m

DAY 3

• La Gomeral – 34.31 km
  Time: 5:14:15 (moving time 4:49:28)
  Elevation Gain: 1904 m, Elevation Loss: 1904 m
• La Palma – 17.69 km
  Time: 2:48:24 (moving time 2:44:29)
  Elevation Gain: 1502 m, Elevation Loss: 702 m

DAY 4 ja 5

• La Palma – 78.02 km. Time: 12:11:03 (moving time 11:03:10). Elevation Gain: 4046, Elevation Loss: 4846
• Tenerife – 74.72 km. Time: 12:29:20 (moving time 11:28:05). Elevation Gain: 4257 m, Elevation Loss: 1909 m

DAY 6

• Tenerife – 51.42 km. Time: 10:43:19 (moving time 9:18:33). Elevation Gain: 1867 m, Elevation Loss: 4215 m

DAY 7

• La Graciosa – 14.62 km. Time: 1:59:59 (moving time 1:48:21). Elevation Gain: 485 m, Elevation Loss: 485 m
• Lanzarote – 28.53 km. Time: 3:59:33 (moving time 3:45:29). Elevation Gain: 734 m, Elevation Loss: 182 m

DAY 8

• Lanzarote – 69.54 km
  Time: 10:10:48 (moving time 8:48:49)
  Elevation Gain: 1520 m, Elevation Loss: 2072 m

DAY 9

• Fuerteventura – 102.33 km
  Time: 16:11:51 (moving time 13:55:04)
  Elevation Gain: 2279 m, Elevation Loss: 2279 m

DAY 10

Challenge Format:
60 consecutive days x (swim 3.8 km + bike 180 km + run 42.2 km)

Date and Location:
October 5 – December 3, 2021 | Canary Islands (Fuerteventura)

About the Course:
Each day followed the same course (except for a few days when slight adjustments were required due to road closures). This consistency allowed for data comparison, including heart rate, speeds, elevation gains, and swimming, cycling, running, and finishing times.

Swimming:
Swimming took place in a 50-meter outdoor pool, requiring 152 laps daily. The start time was 7:30 AM from day 1 to 26. After the time change, from day 27 onwards, swimming began at 7:20 AM. On the final day, it started at 7:00 AM.

Cycling:
Each day involved a single 180 km loop on Fuerteventura’s mountainous terrain with open traffic. According to my Garmin watch, the daily elevation gain was 1,779 meters, with a total of 106,740 meters accumulated over the 60 days. The toughest challenge was Fuerteventura’s characteristic strong winds.

On the 14th day, I had a collision with a car, which damaged my bike and required a replacement. While my bones remained intact, I suffered significant wounds that took a long time to heal, impacting my sleep quality and overall performance.

By clicking here, you can see the bike map

Running:
The marathon began at midday, during the peak of the heat. The course consisted of a 4.39 km loop, which I ran 9.6 times daily. Each 42.2 km marathon included an elevation gain of 292 meters per day.

By clicking here, you can see the run map

Result: I completed 60 full triathlons in a total time of 657:40:09 (the fastest time in the world).
Results by Day:

Team:
The success of this challenge was made possible thanks to my support team. Over 60 days, 41 people ensured I could fully focus on the athletic effort. The team’s responsibilities included assembling and preparing equipment, counting pool laps, providing food, drinks, clothing, and other essential supplies during activities, escorting me on the bike course with a car and on the run course with a bike, and timing my performances. Additionally, they managed social media updates to keep supporters and fans in Estonia informed about my progress and share exciting moments on and off the course.

Challenge Budget:
€123,000 (including equipment and services provided by partners).

Video (by Tair Timmi):

Challenge Format:
20 consecutive days running two marathons each day

Date and Place:
May 25 – June 3, 2021 | Estonia

Goal: Run two marathons every day for 10 consecutive days, each under the magical 3-hour mark.

Course Details: All marathons were run near my home in Tartu on an 8.44 km loop, which I completed five times each day.

By clicking here, you can see the run map

Results: the first six marathons I ran under the magical 3 hours.

The 7th marathon marked the first time my completion time exceeded three hours. By the 5th day, it was evident that I wouldn’t be able to run sub-3-hour marathons in the second half of the challenge. As a result, after 10 marathons I decided to end the Challenge. Given that this challenge wasn’t my main goal for the season, I avoided the risk of overtraining or injury by merely completing the attempt. For me, it was still a major achievement as I managed to run two sub-3-hour marathons per day for three consecutive days for the first time.

Two key factors contributed to not achieving my goal.
First, the weather wasn’t on my side this time. The cold, windy, and rainy conditions during the second and third days made the challenge particularly tough. However, I don’t consider the weather to be the decisive factor, as I believe such conditions could have been overcome had I allowed equal recovery time between marathons. Ideally, I should have run the first marathon from 8 AM to 11 AM and the second from 7 PM to 10 PM.

Instead, to ensure enough sleep, I allowed 13 hours of recovery time at night and 5 hours during the day. This turned out to be a mistake. The issue arose because I couldn’t replenish the energy consumed during the first marathon within those few hours before the second marathon. As a result, I ran the second marathon of the day in an energy deficit, which accumulated over multiple days and became decisive in not achieving the goal.

Results by Day:

Challenge Format:
20 consecutive days running one marathon each day (42.195 km)

Date and Place
July 13 – August 1, 2020 | Estonia

Course Details: Over the course of 20 days, I ran one marathon per day, changing locations between cities. Altogether, I ran in six Estonian cities on the following dates:

• Day 1 (Mon – July 13) – Tartu
• Day 2 (Tue – July 14) – Tartu
• Day 3 (Wed – July 15) – Tartu
• Day 4 (Thu – July 16) – Tartu
• Day 5 (Fri – July 17) – Tartu
• Day 6 (Sat – July 18) – Pärnu
• Day 7 (Sun – July 19) – Pärnu
• Day 8 (Mon – July 20) – Tartu
• Day 9 (Tue – July 21) – Tartu
• Day 10 (Wed – July 22) – Tartu
• Day 11 (Thu – July 23) – Tartu
• Day 12 (Fri – July 24) – Tartu
• Day 13 (Sat – July 25) – Rakvere
• Day 14 (Sun – July 26) – Narva
• Day 15 (Mon – July 27) – Viljandi
• Day 16 (Tue – July 28) – Pärnu
• Day 17 (Wed – July 29) – Tallinn
• Day 18 (Thu – July 30) – Tartu
• Day 19 (Fri – July 31) – Tartu
• Day 20 (Sat – August 1) – Tartu

By clicking here, you can see the run courses maps

Result: Each day, I ran a marathon under the magical 3-hour mark. The total time for completing 20 marathons was 57 hours, 30 minutes, and 46 seconds, making the average time per marathon 2:52:32. The fastest marathon was on the final day, with a time of 2:47:07.

Results by Days:

Challenge Format: 40 consecutive days x (swim 3.8 km + bike 180 km + run 42.2 km)

Date and Place:
September 28 – November 6, 2019 | Canary Islands (Fuerteventura)

About the Courses: Each day, I completed the same course. The goal was to collect comparable data (heart rate, speeds, elevation gain, swim, bike, run, and finish times) for later analysis.

Swimming: Took place in a 50-meter outdoor pool, requiring 152 laps daily. From Day 29, swimming started at 7:30 AM, and after the time change, it began at 7:40 AM for the final 11 days.

Cycling: One 180 km loop on open roads in Fuerteventura. The course was made challenging by the island’s mountainous terrain. According to my Garmin watch, I gained 2,079 meters of elevation daily. The most significant factor impacting the bike segment was the strong winds characteristic of Fuerteventura. Over 40 days, I climbed the equivalent of 9 Mount Everests on my bike.

By clicking here, you can see the bike map

Running: The marathon began at midday, during the peak of the heat. The course consisted of a 3.4 km loop, which I ran 12.5 times daily. Each 42.2 km marathon included an elevation gain of 336 meters per day.

By clicking here, you can see the run map

Results: I completed 40 full triathlons in a total time of 444:21:35 (the fastest time in the world).

Results by Day:

Team: The success of this challenge was made possible thanks to my support team. Over the 40 days, 25 people assisted me daily, ensuring I could focus entirely on the physical effort. The team’s responsibilities included preparing and organizing equipment, counting pool laps, providing food, drinks, clothing, and other essential items during the activities, accompanying me by car on the bike course and by bike on the run course, keeping time records, and more. They also managed social media updates, keeping supporters in Estonia informed about my progress and sharing highlights from the course and behind-the-scenes moments.

Challenge Budget: €35,000.

Video:

Challenge Format
20 consecutive days x (swim 3.8 km + bike 180 km + run 42.2 km)

Date and Place
September 23 – October 12, 2019 | Canary Islands

Course Deatails: Each day, I completed the same course. The goal was to collect comparable data (heart rate, speeds, elevation gain, swim, bike, run, and finish times) for later analysis.

Swimming: The swim took place in a 50-meter outdoor pool, with 152 laps to complete each day. The swim started every day at 8:00 AM.

Cycling: The bike course consisted of a single 180 km loop on the island of Fuerteventura, in open traffic. The challenging mountainous terrain of Fuerteventura made the ride demanding. According to my Garmin watch, I climbed 2,300 meters of elevation daily. The most impactful factor, however, was the island’s notorious strong winds. Over the 20 days, I climbed the equivalent of 5 Mount Everest heights on the bike.

By clicking here, you can see the bike map

Running: The marathon began at midday, during the peak of the heat. The course consisted of a 2.9 km loop, which I ran 14.5 times daily. Each 42.2 km marathon included an elevation gain of 434 meters per day.

By clicking here, you can see the run map

Results: I completed 20 full triathlons in a total time of 238:52:34 (the fastest time in the world).

Results by Day:

Team: Over the course of 20 days, I was supported by 14 individuals who ensured that I could focus entirely on the sport. The team’s responsibilities included assembling and preparing equipment, counting pool laps, providing food, drinks, clothing, and other necessary gear during the activities, accompanying me by car on the bike course and by bike on the running course, timekeeping, and more. Additionally, they managed the social media updates to keep supporters and fnas in Estonia informed about my progress and the exciting happenings on and around the course.

Challenge Budget: €35,000.

Video: Crossing the Finishline