PHOTO: Hundreds of people in Ozolnieki go for the hardest mud race in the Baltics

–

The competition, which was supported by Ozolnieki County Council and “Sportland”, took place in several starts for six hours, starting with the family and reconnaissance race and ending the day with a team race. As last year, three stages were planned for this year, but taking into account what is happening in the world and in Latvia, only one stage “Patria mud run” was left in Ozolnieki. During these three seasons, the obstacle course organized by ASK Patria has become the most important not only in our country, but also in the whole Baltics, which was also confirmed by the statements of the strongest Lithuanian athletes.

The greatest interest was generated by a sport distance of less than 14 kilometers, where almost a hundred participants competed in the elite group, determining the strongest athletes of the Latvian hurdle race. Almost all the strongest Latvian athletes started in this discipline, who also gained toughness in world and European championships.

Already after the start shot, ten athletes formed a group of leaders who covered the first two kilometers close to each other. After passing through the competition center, a leader quartet was formed with Latvia’s most titled athlete Artjom Rekunenko (ASK Patria) at the forefront, but at the end of the first lap the first four, where besides Rekunenko was experienced OCR athlete Edgars Apinis, Patria) and the strongest Lithuanian representative Daiņi Ļutks (OCR Baltic Warriors), gradually began to thin. In the second lap, the winner of last year’s well-known trail running series “Stirnu buks” in the “Buka” distance, Rekuņenko had increased his lead to two minutes. Thus, one of the fastest Latvian orienteers Artjoms Rekuenko celebrated the victory in Ozolnieki for the second year in a row, completing the track in an hour and two minutes. Repeating last year’s success, the second place was won by Apinis, who won the 4th place in the Latvian Canicross Championship with Obstacles or Dog Biathlon a week ago, but Cimermanis won his first prize in the competition organized by ASK Patria, whose best result was the two 4th places last year. In her debut at the finish, the promising Andis Sakne climbed to the fourth place, who after the finish rushed to the Maternity Hospital to be next to his wife in the birth of the second child. The fifth place was taken by Artis Ķemers, who won the 2nd place in Kuldīga last year, but only the sixth Lithuanian Lutks, who earned two victories in the “ASK Patria” obstacle course, finished, and had to fight his stomach problems.

Last year’s third place winner Liene Allere (ASK Patria) won the women’s race, where she had to cover the same distance as the men, who earned the full set of prizes in three stages last year and was in the top three in all stages, just like Kristīne Kuzņecova, who did not start this time, but is determined to return next year. Liene spent an hour and 21 minutes in the distance, overcoming all obstacles. The second place was won by teammate Ilze Meijere, who did not start in Ozolnieki last year, but in 2019 Kuldīga was second behind Allere. For the first time, Agita Kaļva, who dominated the “Squirrel” distance in “Stirnu buka” last year and improved her hand strength this year, took the 9th place in the ASK Patria obstacle course last September in Kuldīga. Rasma Čoiča, who completed the distance the fastest, took the 6th place at the end, because he had not overcome some obstacles that give valuable points. Meanwhile, Solvita Purmale finished in fourth place after three and achieved her best success.

In the shortest distance of 5.5 kilometers, more than 90 participants were dominated by Lithuanian athletes, occupying the entire podium in the men’s competition. The victory was won by Darjus Baranauskas (OCR Baltic Warriors), leaving behind his compatriots and teammates – Ričards Kvedravičs and Artūrs Pulšs. The fourth Latvian representative Guntis Peļņa finished fourth. Sandra Montvile (OCR Baltic Warriors) won the women’s 5.5 km distance, followed by Latvian athlete Viktorija Zaretskaja, and Lithuanian Neringa Griškiene (OCR Baltic Warriors).

In the youth distance of 5.5 kilometers, the fierce competition with the Lithuanian athlete Karolis Laukuti was won by Allere’s student Braens Meškis (ASK Patria), who was unbeaten in Ozolnieki also in 2019. Kristers Doroškēvičs achieved the third best result. The strongest girl in the “Patria Mud Run” stage was Adrija Prokopenko from Lithuania, the second place was won by Lāsma Bauska, but the trio was closed by the young generation representative Luīza Jakovļeva from Koknese.

At the end of the competition, the strongest in this obstacle course was determined between 12 teams. A great intrigue in this discipline remained until the very finish, where the first three teams competed similarly for victory. The winners were the Lithuanian OCR Baltic Warriors, who left the “Sporto Rīga” team, but the third was the team of the National Defense Academy.