Start v petek 1.maja 2026, 775km in 11.000m višincev.

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!

sIf the plan was to finish in 54 hours and Marko finished in 54h 06min (+1h added for shuttle through Sedona), we can say the goal achieved, right? As expected Matthew Lefthand was a convincing winner with the time of 45h 39min. Congratulations Lefty, well deserved!

Marko started as usually, which is quite fast. He reached Borrego about the time that was planned (4h 42min), but here the trouble started. First the TT bike malfunctioned, so after a few minutes of trying to make it work, we had to get back on the road bike and use the trusty San Marino for the rest of the way.  The headwind with the heat of 46*C put his time between Borrego and Brawley among the worst in his RAAM history (only 17,7mph avg for the section that he used to do at 22+mph in the past). That was a bit demoralising, but as the temperatures cooled down, Marko was feeling better again and slowly picked up his pace. After a quick no.2 in Salome, we was back on his bike heading to Congress and Yarnell Climb. 

Arizona day was as hot as ever, but Marko managed the heat and climbs quite well. Other than dealing with constant pain in the left foot and the right heel, he was feeling as well as you can at riding a bike at 40-45*C. Mingus Mountain is still as steep as ever, but Marko managed it well. A quick foot massage at the top and he was on the way down through Jerome and towards Sedona, where the shuttle part awaited.  Marko slept like a baby during 40 or 45min of shuttling and enjoyed the part through Flagstaff, but not so much the descent after it, beacuse of strong side wind and the road surface that literally kicked his butt.

The stages to Tuba City and Kayenta were pretty uneventful, other than becoming so cold, that he had to put some winter clothing on. Usually during his solo RAWs marko didn't sleep, but this time because of the RAE coming later, plus Lefty being so far ahead and the 3rd person on the road being so far behind, we stopped to sleep in Kayenta. It was planned and the reservation was made before the race, but the thing is that we planned on arriving around midnight, but did  so only at 5AM. Hence, nobody was there at the reception. While Marko set in the car and tried to close his eyes a bit, the crew was trying to find anyone who could help us get the room. Fortunately after some 15min the lady showed up and let us into our room. Marko woke up a bit after 8AM and we continued our journey at 8.40 or so.

For the rest of the race the wind was favourable and Marko was making good times. One more no.2 break before Cortez, the climb towards Durango and a faboulous descent to the Finish line. Marko was happy with his avg speed which was almost identical to his last solo RAW three years prior.  If you consider 3+ hours of sleep, he was actually faster than in 2022. Not bad for a 57 year old guy, right?

Now 5 days of rest and the Race across the East is ON!

Soon after his return from Race across the East, which Marko unfortunatelly ended in an ER because of a crash, he decided to return next year to finish what he started. Being an overachiever like he is, Marko decided to up the challenge with adding also the start in Race across the West. He has already finished RAW four times, two times he won solo and two times he won with different partners in  2-person category. He will be the first cyclist in history to start both events in the same year and of course he believes also the first one to finish both in the same year.

"The challenge will be hard for me physically, but it will also be a very big logistical challenge for the crew. The plan is to use two different crews on West and East, with the common dominator being Irma as a crew chief. So we are the only ones to fly from Durango (Colorado) to Cincinnati (Ohio) and try to use the four plus days of rest in between the races.  At RAW Irma will be joined by Jane, Maria in Henry, all the experienced crew memmbers, and at RAE we'll be joined by experienced Borut and Martin, plus Joe as the only rookie of the team.

How I will in RAE this year is hard to predict as I have no clue how well can I recover in those short (or long if you look from RAAM perspective) four days. For sure I won't be as fresh as last year, so I expect to be somewhat slower in the frist 10-12 hours. After that things will hopefully level up and I could do a good second part of the race. The RAW I won't tackle any different as if it was my only race. I am alread y of age that I Cannot (and don't want to) race with the youth full of power, especially in the first part of the race.  I will try to pace myself so that i can last the whole distance and my plan is to finish hopefully in 54 hours. 

For RAE last year's plan was 36 hours and without the crach I would come very close to that goal. So this year we can probably add some 3-4 hours for RAW exhaustion, so I will be happy with anything under 40 hours."

Please follow us on social media (FB, IG), where Irma will try as much as the time and cell coverage allow her. Hopefully there will be some fun times included. Cycling is supposed to be fun, so I expect that fully.