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Hat-trick of Obstacle Course Racing World Championship titles for Jonathan Albon
Jonathan Albon on his way to a third Obstacle Course Racing World Championship title. Picture by Chosen - Credit: Archant
Jonathan Albon claimed a stunning victory in Canada to secure his third consecutive Obstacle Course Racing World Championship title.
Originally from Dunmow, Albon, who now lives in Norway, finished five minutes ahead of his nearest rival at the event in the Blue Mountains in Ontario.
The 15km course contained 48 obstacles including a barbed wire climb, wreck bag carry, traverse walls and log hop which the Essex native completed in one hour 24 minutes 36 seconds.
Albon, who earlier in the year also triumphed in the Scandinavian Toughest Series and the Extreme Sky Racing World Series, exclusively spoke to the Broadcast about the event.
He said: “The race went perfectly. I took the lead shortly after the first climb to the top of the ski slopes.
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“From here I took the obstacles smoothly at my own pace and didn’t falter on any of them.
“This allowed me to maintain my lead and ultimately win.
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“Throughout the course I was very focused.
“Some of the obstacles are quite tricky and they all must be completed.
“If you fail one you must retry until you succeed in order to win, this can take time and with many technical obstacles towards the end of the race you can never relax until over the line.
“It felt great to eventually cross the line and realise I have won this event three times in a row now.
“Thoughts soon turned to the team competition the next day.
“I guess not letting your team-mates down often takes precedent over celebrating.”
Having tasted victory in the men’s pro category, Albon and his GB team-mates James Appleton and Conor Hancock successfully defended their team title.
Despite these wins Albon puts his Extreme Sky Racing World Series triumph as the highlight of his year.
“My biggest success this year was in Sky Racing,” he said. “This extreme form of mountain running is my other main focus and this year I decided to concentrate on the Skyrunner Extreme World Series.
“Your best two races counted towards the series and I placed second in Tromsø Skyrace (Norway) and won the final race in the Glen Coe Skyline (Scotland).
“Placing first in this course, which is 50km long and climbs 4,700m, was enough to win the series.”
Albon will round off his year by competing in the World’s Toughest Mudder in Las Vegas this weekend.
Of that he added: “This 24- hour obstacle race is held in the dessert outside Las Vegas and sees competitors complete as many 8km laps as they can.
“An additional challenge is for two competitors to complete 100 miles running together and has been set with a bonus prize.
“This is the goal, but with so much water on the course and running in a wetsuit a necessity due to the cold desert nights, it isn’t going to be an easy task.”
