Leonid Latsepov sets Rabajooks course record on its 100th edition
The long-running Rabajooks event took place in Nõmme on Sunday, and Leonid Latsepov put in a new course record, completing the 6.3 km course in 18:11.
This year was a special event as Rabajooks (literally "bog run") celebrated its 100th outing on Sunday, attracting around 3,000 participants to the Harku forest course and potentially setting a new attendance record in the process.
Latsepov's effort, winning by a wide margin, was put in just one day after already racing over 10K. Despite this he surpassed the previous Rabajooks course record, held for over 20 years by Vjatšeslav Košelev.
"On that last kilometer, I had to speed up a lot to get that record. I had this inner feeling that I wouldn't be able to make it; that I needed to push harder. Only when I saw the times board could I figure out that it might happen. I think that if I had come in fresh, I could have been 10 seconds quicker; if there was competition, maybe 20 seconds quicker, who knows," Latsepov said post-race.
Kertu Kula won the women's race with a time of 22:24, while Alfred Karu and Mathilde Nurmsalu won the boys' and girls' events respectively.
While not registered to compete, an elk was spotted near the race finish line, albeit after most participants had already finished and so unlikely to threaten any of the category records.
Rabajooks was first held half-a-century ago, and is held biannually.
--
Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!
Editor: Andrew Whyte, Anders Nõmm