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I had experienced so much for such a short time at this place. The nature is strong and severe, and sometimes mesmerizingly beautiful, like a mirage in a desert.

I had spent so many long hours alone, all by myself. There was no one to talk to and to listen to, except for my inner voice that was constantly fighting my weakness, tiredness and pain. There was nothing ahead of me but the road. There was nothing around but the endless steppe. The white-hot daytime air slowly overcomes the coolness of night, and the horizon line is melting and merging with the sky that seems to absorb everything and take you to the infiniteness.

I had never been under such circumstances before and I am happy I had a chance to test myself and get a new experience in this special place. I became so much stronger, braver and more confident than before! I had been given a chance to see the world at a different angle, and I have definitely changed something in my worldview. My horizons have expanded. Elton Ultra Trail is certainly one of the severest and most mesmerizing trails.

Elton chooses its heroes. It chooses those who dare to challenge nature and themselves. If you are one of them, welcome to Elton!

It has become my good tradition to participate in the Elton trail running every year. In 2016 I took part in the race for the first time. It was the 4th Elton marathon. My first distance was 28 kilometers.

In 2017 I didn’t make it there. I missed the official competition but went there alone in winter and ran around Lake Elton when the trail was covered with snow.

Due to a weird turn of events, I still managed to participate in 2018, in the 6th season. I completed the 82-kilometer distance. It was a night race around the lake.

This place is haloed by the mystery of incomprehensible and even mystical events occurring there now and then. It seemed to me sometimes that I come back here again and again in order to touch the sacral knowledge, which only becomes achievable for a few chosen ones.

Seasons of the year come and go. Days go by. A night comes after a day, and a day comes after night. The scorching midday sunshine, enough to boil an egg, was resonating with a cold silent moonlight. Humans should only accept the laws of nature here. Only then this place will welcome them and they will become one.

If you think too much of yourself and set yourself against the laws of nature, the heat will drain your flesh out for a few hours, and the nocturnal predators, howling under the cold moon, will not leave a single bone from the mortal body dried out in the sun.

Alternating between day and night runs at Lake Elton, I finally felt as if I had found some kind of harmony with the place. When the 7th season started, I felt it was inviting me even in the daytime. Who dared and tried running at this place once, will remember it forever. The year 2018 turned out to be symbolic and full of important events for me.

I took part in 5 ultramarathons for six months, from October till May, in various regions, cities, and different climate zones of Russia. I was running under the rain or snow, in the morning or at night, on the flatlands and high in the mountains, suffering from oxygen deficiency.

Elton was my first trail running with a distance of 82 km. The second ultra-trail was in the Altai mountains where I ran 72 km. The third one took place at Mount Elbrus 56 km and was 56 km. The fourth run was in Saratov, my hometown, along the river Volga. The distance was 72 km. The fifth ultra-trail marathon I did was in St. Petersburg, 100 km long. Now I was looking forward to the registration opening for the 7th ultra-trail marathon of Elton.

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