Fourteen years after my first participation (2012), I decided to give the Dolomiti Marathon another go. Back then, I had ridden the course superbly, finishing in 5 hours and 29 minutes. Naturally, I am 14 years older now, so I set myself a pre-race goal of finishing in under six hours.

The weather was perfect—you could hardly ask for better conditions high up in the mountains. Things went according to plan: I rode the climbs solidly (for my age), enjoyed the descents as always, and picked up water bottles from Irma after the short loop; in short, everything was going smoothly until the start of the Falzarego climb. That’s when a cramp struck my right thigh—so severe that I had to stop, massage it, and then slowly continue in the easiest gear. After about five minutes, I started picking up the pace and gradually returning to my normal climbing power, only to be surprised by a new cramp just before the summit, this time in my left thigh. I repeated the routine of massaging and continuing in a low gear. Everything was fine on the descent, but before the final steep pitch—the *Mur di Giat"—cramps struck again, this time in both thighs. Despite this, I somehow muscled my way up the short climb out of the saddle and happily continued toward the finish, only to be hit again just one kilometer from the end. This time, the cramps were so intense that I couldn't move at all for two or three minutes. Eventually, I slowly rolled across the finish line with a time of 6 hours and 11 minutes, placing 20th in my category (55–60 years old).

It’s not bad at all; it stings a bit that my small group crossed the finish line in 5 hours and 58 minutes, which means that next time I would participate, I would be allowed to start in the second wave. :(

In any case, I highly recommend participating to all cyclists, as the organization is top-notch, the terrain (climbs) is epic, and the views are divine. An unforgettable experience!

Slovenski ultra-maratonski kolesar Marko Baloh se je letos odločil, da se poskusi v konkurenci 2-članskih mešanih ekip. Z Ryanom Collinsom (ZDA) v letu 2023 postavila rekord trase na Dirki preko zahoda  (RAW) med moškimi dvojicami. RAW poteka istočasno in na isti trasi kot prvi del Dirke preko Amerike oz. RAAM. Medtem, ko so se kolesarji na Dirki preko Amerike 2026 še bližali svojemu cilju v Annapolisu, je bila dirka preko zahoda končana v petek 19.6.2026.

Dirka preko zahoda je dolga 1.390km in ima več kot 12.000m vzponov. Poleg zmage je bil cilj izboljšati rekord trase, ki ga je leta 2019 postavil ameriški dvojec Team OB2, s časom 53 ur in 29 minut (oz. 17,36 milj/uro). Cilj je bila torej povprečna hitrost vsaj 17,4 milj/uro in to je bil primarni cilj Markove letošnje ekipe, imenovane “Team Baloh Coaching”.

Plan je bil opravljati menjave na vsakih 20-25 milj, torej med uro ter uro in pol. V tem času se lahko spočiješ, naješ in si pripravljen ponovno dati vse od sebe na naslednji menjavi. Startala sta po pričakovanjih odlično in že na prvi časovni postaji Borrego Springs po 142km sta imela kar lepo prednost pred ostalimi ekipami na dirki. Hkrati ps tudi pred virtualnima nasprotnikoma (OB2) in obtoječim rekordom trase. Prvo noč sta svoji prednosti dodajala od 5 do 10 minut vsako časovno postajo, v malo težjih klancih v Arizoni pa sta še bolj oddaljila tako od letošnje konkurence kot od rekordnega časa. Na cesti sami so se prehitevali le z vodilnim Avtrijcem na posamični Dirki preko Amerike, Philippom Kleiderjem. Le-ta je na poti, da se vsaj približa ali celo izboljša rekord RAAM-a. Po drugi noči, ko si je le-ta moral vzeti dobro uro za spanje, sta ostala sama v vodstvu in pripeljala prva v cilj Dirke preko zahoda. Dirko sta zaključila v času 43 ur 49 minut, oz povprečno hitrostjo 17,74 milj/uro in s tem izboljšala stari rekord za neverjetni dve milji na uro.

Marko pravi: »Zaradi vse večjih stroškov povezanih z Dirko preko Amerike je bilo smiselno poiskati malce bolj dosegljiv cilj, ki pa bi me hkrati dovolj motiviral za trening potreben, da ostaneš konkurenčen vedno mlajšim tekmecem. Z Kimmy Campbell se odlično razumeva odkar sem njen trener in na dosedanjih ultra dirkah je dokazala, da je sposobna prispevati porteben delež pri podiranju rekorda dirke. Dirko sva odpeljala res na visokem nivoju in se zasluženo veselila zmage. Tudi ekipa je odlično opravila svoje delo in na koncu smo se zasluženo veselili doseženega rekorda trase, ki ga bo v prihodnosti precej težko preseči.«

REZULTATI RAW, 2-članske ekipe:

1.mesto Team Baloh Coaching (M.Baloh SLO, K. Campbell ZDA) 43 ur 49 minut

2.mesto Legends of the road (M. Dymond, J. Ward oba USA) 48ur 36 minut

3.mesto Team GIRo (G. Lamberts, J. Van Goor oba Nizozemska) 57 ur 20 minut.

Race across the West (https://www.raceacrossthewest.org/) covers the first 840 miles of RAAM, from Oceanside (CA) to Durango (CO). Marko has won the race solo two times already (2014 and 2022) and two times in men’s 2-person teams (2018 and 2023). 

In June 2026 Marko will team up with Kimmy Campbell from Bakersfield (CA). She is one of the best up and coming female ultra-cyclists in the World, she has won the Hodoo Race in Utah multiple times. In June they will team up to win and try to set the new record at RAW. Marko has already  set the age category solo record and the overall 2-person Team record. We are confident that with Kimmy they can add the record in a Mixed 2-person Team division.

You can help us fund our attempt HERE (GoFundMe page)..

V četrtek 11.septembra 2025 je bila v Ljubljani predstavljena slovenska izdaja Guinnesove knjige rekordov za leto 2026. V njej je z dvema rekordoma doseženima v letu 2025 tudi Marko.

Victory!