Incredible performance

Even a 40-kilo chain couldn’t stop the Spartan!

Crossing the lake with the tree trunk.(Bild: zVg)

Extreme athlete Marco Hofstätter from Mühlviertel achieved a sensational eighth place at the Spartan Ultra World Championships. He overcame 57 kilometers, 3400 meters of altitude and 77 obstacles. Even hand injuries and the most extreme hurdles could not stop the 30-year-old!

You have to be tough to survive the competition. But to reach the finish line, you have to be unbreakable!

That's how this year's Spartan Ultra World Championship "lured" around 1200 extreme athletes to Morzine. In the French Alps, 57 kilometers, 3400 meters of altitude and 77 (!) extreme obstacles had to be overcome. Marco Hofstätter from Herzogsdorf, who is running for the national team for the first time this year, was more in the thick of it than just taking part. With flying colors! The 30-year-old finished in a sensational eighth place after a heroic competition.

The Mühlviertel native suffered a few injuries to both hands in the barbell obstacles due to the heat.(Bild: zVg)

"I knew that the course suited me. But my experience over longer distances in particular meant that I was able to leave countless rivals behind me," said the office worker in an interview with the "Krone". While many athletes struggled with the warm temperatures of around 25 degrees and sometimes staggered around in a daze, Hofstätter only really got up to operating temperature.

Watch out for barbed wire!(Bild: zVg)

"I also had periods of weakness. But I knew that I wouldn't let myself be thrown off course," said the man from Mühlviertel. Even the 77 obstacles, where the 1,200 daredevil athletes had to carry a 40 kg chain or a 30 kg sandbag over more than two kilometers, couldn't do that.

Running with a 40 kilogram chain
The Spartans also had to climb up a waterfall or cross the lake using a small tree trunk. "Nevertheless, I enjoyed the World Championships, the view of Mont Blanc was fantastic," smiles Hofstätter. After 57 kilometers and a final time of 7:52:26, he was awarded the medal as the eighth best in the world, but in the end he was not quite "unbreakable"!

Hofstätter with the medal and wounds.medal(Bild: zVg)

Because wounds on both hands proved the ordeal. "Due to the heat, I tore my hands open because of the sweat on the dumbbell obstacles. But the fun clearly trumped the pain!"