Athletes battle altitude during volcano marathon in Chile

Nov 23, 2015 Australian Doug Wilson recently battled high altitude and blistering heat to win the annual volcano marathon in the Chilean Atacama Desert.

Atacama Desert, which is commonly known as the driest place in the world, made sure that the marathon was a grueling affair for the 22 competitors from nine countries.

Australian Doug Wilson led from the outset and finally embraced the ribbon after four hours, 42 minutes and 27 seconds. American Mark Cooper emerged second place in 4:45:42 hours and Belgium’s Didier Geraerts came in third.

The women’s race saw 29-year-old Danish Kristina Madsen crossed the line in first place after five hours, 12 minutes and five seconds.

She finished ahead of Swiss runner Pia Hegner and Finnish Marianna Zaikova, who came in second and third respectively.

However the biggest cheer of the day was reserved for blind athlete, Sinead Kane and her guide John O’Regan from Ireland.