Taiwanese runner Tommy Chen won the Atacama Crossing ultra-marathon in San Pedro de Atacama in Chile on Saturday. Chen completed the 73.4 km desert crossing with a time of 28 hours 58 minutes and 20 seconds.
Chen struggled in the fifth stage out of six, vomiting when he pushed himself to the limit at about the 50-km mark.
He said in a Facebook post that his will wavered at that point, but he recovered to finish third in that stage with a time of 8 hours 53 minutes and 8 seconds. That third place finish did not put a significant dent in his overall time, though. Chen managed to finish almost an hour ahead of the second place winner -- Neill Weir of Northern Ireland – who finished in second place with a time of 29 hours 51 minutes and 39 seconds.
Some 130 competitors from more than 30 countries took part in the Atacama Crossing race. President Tsai Ing-wen sent a congratulatory message to Chen for his achievement.
The win moved Chen a step closer to winning the overall title for the Four Deserts Race Series this year, putting him in the lead position after three of the year's four desert races.
Chen took second in the Sahara Race in Namibia in May and fifth in the Gobi March in China in June before fighting to first in Chile.
He hopes to claim the title when he competes in the Last Desert Antarctica ultra marathon, to be held six weeks from now between Nov.
18 and 29.