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“I fell on the ground and just cried”
Upper Austrian Lukas Kaufmann finished second in the Race Across America on the east coast of the USA after eight days, 23 hours and twelve minutes and a total of just ten hours' sleep. The "Krone" spoke to the 30-year-old family man about the incredible hell ride.
"I'm exhausted, I didn't sleep well at all, but I'm also just relieved that I made it," said Lukas Kaufmann when the "Krone" reached him by phone in Atlantic City on Friday afternoon. In other words, around 20 hours after the Upper Austrian had covered 4923 km and over 50,000 meters of altitude in eight days, 23 hours and twelve minutes. His emotions understandably got the better of him after the hellish ride from the west to the east coast of the USA.
"Heat was the worst thing"
"When I saw the Atlantic Ocean and crossed the finish line in second place, it was incredible. I fell to the ground and just cried," admits the 30-year-old, who only got ten hours of sleep over the eight days and drank around 113 liters of liquid. The most difficult moments? "The heat was the worst thing, it was insane, you can't imagine. Normally you have a core temperature of 36 degrees, but I measured over 39," says Kaufmann.
No drinking from the doctor
Curious: despite the heat of 40 degrees and more, his doctor even banned him from drinking at times. "Everything I ate was documented in detail and if I drank too much and there was a risk of my body collapsing as a result, there was no more," reports Kaufmann.
Halfway through the race, he hit his physical low point. "I wanted to keep going, but I had no more strength!" However, thanks to phone calls with his wife Kathi and son Paul, who he will finally be able to hold in his arms again after his return journey on Sunday, he was somehow able to fight his way through and made it to the finish line at his RAAM premiere, just like Dominik Meierhofer from Salzburg (9 days, 2 hours).
Will he start again in 2025?
"I now need a few days to process everything and understand what I've achieved," says the Kronstorf native, who admits: "I'm a bit upset that I didn't win!" Incidentally, if the sponsors play ball, Kaufmann wants to attempt the hellish ride again.
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