Like a good soufflé, the cream rises, steadily and unerringly. Kaneenika Janacova ,two-time defending women’s champion in the Ten Day race, whipped another day of 64 miles to take the overall lead by seven miles. What is most special about that day total is that she and her cohorts ran throughout the day of rain and the night of cold rain, punctuated by a spectacular thunderstorm that flooded everything in sight in Flushing Meadows Park. The men crept behind, led by Yuri Trostenyuk, with 487 miles,who keeps holding the lead from his other male counterparts , and Igor Mudryk, with 480 miles. Volodymyr Hluyshchuk is at 412 miles but is feeling the heat from young Mykhailo Ukrainsky who lurks only nine miles behind. Back on the distaff side, Jayasalini Abramovskikh has garnered 462 miles but feels pressure from behind by the multiday rookie Manjula Boehler of Austria, who is running a fine race so far with 445 miles
In the companion Six Day, Alex Swenson fromVashon,Washington has the three-day lead with 245 miles, closely followed by Dipali Cunningham, (243 miles)the perennial women’s champion who seeks to win the race overall again. In a bid for the top tiers sit two 3100 mile runners, Vladimir Balatskyy and Smarana Puntigam, both residents of Austria, who remain at 224 miles and 214 miles, respectively. At this point in the race six men and one woman are over 200 miles completed, with less than half the race remaining. With yet another 36 hours of rain expected, our heroes from both races must summon the willpower to continue on and fight the good fight. Yet, the outer race is still in question, the final places yet to be determined.
