Bulgarian and a South African run side-by-side for 140 km during Pirin Ultra

Bulgarian Petar Hristov and South African Michael Wittenberg delivered a unique finish to one of Bulgaria's toughest mountain ultramarathons - Pirin Ultra. In the 160 km race the two crossed the finish line together in first place with a time of 29:41:30. They started as rivals and after the first 20 km they engaged in a fierce battle for the lead on the grueling course. However, neither managed to break away and the race gradually transformed into a shared challenge.

"Imagine someone chasing you for 5 km. Now imagine that for 140 km... or 24 hours! That is exactly how long Michael and I chased each other across extreme terrain, day and night. It was a huge pleasure for me to share first place with him," Petar Hristov wrote on Facebook after the finish.

Editor: Miglena Ivanova