Way back at the beginning of January I wrote about the Sahara Challenge 2012 during which Finnish endurance athlete Jukka Vilijanen was attempting to become the first man to run solo across the Sahara Desert. At the time, Jukka had just set out on his run, which would eventually cover more than 1609km (1000 miles) through some of the harshest, hottest environments on the planet.A few weeks back, on February 5th, Jukka completed the journey in just 31 days. The run started in the shadows of Morocco's Anti-Atlas mountains and proceeded south through the desert until he reached the Mauritania border, at which time Jukka had already entered the Sahel Desert. Averaging nearly 52km (32 miles) per day, the ultrarunner actually completed the challenge a few days ahead of schedule.
As I write this, Jukka is already back home in Finland, where I'm assured that he is resting and recuperating from this long run. But I'm also told that he is already planning his next endurance challenge for either 2013 or 2014, which will of course involve running across yet another desert. Can't wait to hear what's next!
Congratulations on completing the Sahara Challenge Jukka!
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