50 et 100 km des Mines réjouies Travers-Mines d'Asphalte

The ‘50 et 100 km des Mines réjouies Travers-Mines d’Asphalte’ took place on February 17th.

In cool and damp weather, it was for Beat Knechtle marathon number 432.

Pre-premiere of the 1st Freidorf Marathon

The 3 runners, Ursula Zünd, Christian Marti, and Beat Knechtle, celebrated the preview of the 1st Freidorf Marathon. The aim was to test the course in a competitive marathon before the first official Freidorf Marathon, which takes place in May as part of the Eastern Switzerland Marathon Days.

IUTA - List of athletes with the most victories

The IUTA has updated the list of athletes with the most victories.

Beat Knechtle has the most victories over the triple and the 5x distance.

It can also be seen that he has finished the most triples, quintuples and decathlons.

IUTA | General Statistics (iutasport.com) https://www.iutasport.com/records/general-statistics

Five-Years-Ranking

The IUTA has a new ranking including all races of the last 5 years.

Beat Knechtle leads with 3096 points ahead of the Frenchman Goulwenn Tristant with 2519 points.

IUTA | Five-Years-Ranking (iutasport.com) https://www.iutasport.com/records/five-years-ranking

Beat Knechtle - Genealogy

It is generally known that the most extreme endurance athletes in the ultramarathon or ultratriathlon come from Europe, especially Eastern Europe.

Beat Knechtle definitely comes from Europe, especially Switzerland. However, he also has genes from Italy, most likely from his mother, who was born in Graubünden.

The complete genealogy package - MyHeritage https://www.myheritage.ch/complete-genealogy-package?irclickid=QCeS7MQD2xyPRHexNSzC9WouUkHwNW0fe1Xsxs0&tr_ad_group=245060&irgwc=1&utm_source=partner_impact&utm_medium=partner&keyword=partners&utm_campaign=jan_21_banners&tr_funnel=Complete

Beobachter Spezial: Gesundheit

Do vitamin C tablets protect against colds? How dangerous is vitamin D deficiency?

Beat Knechtle in conversation with Martina Huber for Beobachter 03/2024.

“Every housewife overtakes me. But I train 25 to 30 hours a week.”

The full interview in the latest issue of Beobachter Spezial: Gesundheit: https://www.beobachter.ch/magazin/gesundheit.

Ice Bathing: Does It Improve Health or Is It All Just Imagination?

From Simon Joller on srf.ch:

More and more people are taking ice water baths since the COVID-19 pandemic, believing it benefits both body and mind. Goodbye flu, farewell winter blues. It’s also believed to aid in weight loss and protect against cardiovascular diseases long-term. While research has had to moderate some of these claims, it also confirms certain effects.

This view is shared by physician and extreme swimmer Beat Knechtle. He says he’s been asked so frequently about the effects of swimming in ice water in recent years that he wrote a review article (https://phc.swisshealthweb.ch/fileadmin/assets/PHC/2023/phc-d.2023.10702/phc-d-2023-10702.pdf) on the studies. His conclusion: there are indications of health benefits. However, similar benefits can be found in jogging, cycling, or swimming in normal water temperatures. This suggests that the benefits are more likely due to physical activity rather than the water temperature.

STARTSCHUSS RUN 3h│6h│12h #2024

Running in circles for 6 hours at minus 3 degrees in the middle of winter, that’s the season opener for the ultra runners in Jegenstorf.

Beat Knechtle: “You could have also run for 12 hours in the cold and fog, but after 6 hours, the first therapy session of the new year was done for me.”

https://my.raceresult.com/229726/info

IUTA Hall of Fame

After Beat Knechtle became the first triathlete in the world to break the barrier of 300 long-distance triathlons at the end of 2022, he was able to extend the world record to 326 long-distance triathlons at the end of 2023 thanks to second place at the BRASIL ULTRA TRI (Brazil) over five times the distance, 2nd place at the BRETZEL ULTRA TRI (France), also over five times the distance, 1st place at the SWISSULTRA (Switzerland) over ten times the distance and 1st place at the VIRGINIA ANVIL ULTRA TRI (USA) over five times the distance.