17/07/2021
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ELIN STARUP LEADER OF RAAM 2022
Elin Starup (Denmark) is leading the 2022 edition of the Race Across America—sort of. Starup was the first to register for next year’s RAAM. It seems she’s anxious to continue her pursuit of becoming the first Danish woman to complete RAAM. She tried in 2019, but it was not to be. The miles took their toll on the then 44-year-old who, despite her deep fatigue, pushed on to Bloomington, Indiana, 2,307 miles from Oceanside before withdrawing from her RAAM debut.
“I do not know why no Danish women have taken up the challenge before, because we are strong here in the Nordic countries,” she said prior to the start of RAAM 2019. How disappointed was she to have DNF’ed? Enough to have gotten a RAAM-themed tattoo that reads “Unfinished Business.
Shortly after RAAM 2019, she wrote of her experiences. “I know the doctor was so sad to have the task of waking me up as it's brutal to go back on the bike after 5, 20 or 90 minutes sleep. But I was ok with that part. I knew the goal and wanted it. However, the fatigue turned out to get me. And when I watch the videos it becomes clear to me how tired I was. I experienced falling asleep on the bike several times - then it was in the car and getting 5 minutes sleep, then on the bike again. It worked at the beginning, but eventually, the short power-naps no longer worked. Falling asleep on the bike is not cool or heroic. It's stupid and dangerous. When it became clear we couldn't make the cut-off at Time Station 52, everyone was prepared to help me as far as we could get.”
We suspect that next June in Oceanside she’ll perhaps a bit stronger and surely with a better understanding of what it takes for RAAM success.
