Blind Bulgarian runner defies sleep and exhaustion in ‘Everesting’ climbing challenge

SOFIA – Ultramarathon runner Victor Asenov may be blind, but the Bulgarian defied sleeplessness and exhaustion to repeatedly scale Vitosha mountain near Sofia non-stop for nearly two days last week, climbing the equivalent of the height of Mount Everest in one of the toughest challenges of its kind in the world.

With his guide dog Taddy, Asenov, one of a handful of blind ultramarathon runners in Europe, set off from a mountain hut for the Black Peak summit of Vitosha, some 2,290m above the Bulgarian capital, at 9.32am local time on March 21 to raise awareness about the training of guide dogs.

Going without sleep for 46 hours and stopping only for food, he climbed 8,848m in total – the height of Mount Everest – by running up and down the peak 19 times, before finishing at 7.40am on March 23.

“The requirement is not to sleep, so you can’t do it by climbing once and then (continue) the next day. You have to do it 19 times in a row,” Asenov said, before the “Everesting” challenge to raise funds for a guide dog school – Eyes on Four Paws Foundation – in Sofia, the only school of its kind in the Balkan nation.

Asenov said Taddy was trained for the city but he has taught her how to help him navigate treacherous trails in the mountains.

“I have already shown her how she can guide me when I am not running, when I am purely hiking in the mountains,” he said.

Pacers escorted Asenov throughout the challenge, and their encouragement helped him to fight off the physical and mental fatigue and make it to the finishing line, he added.

“Sometimes I even have these moments of weakness. I want to give up and just at that moment I need the person who is with me and who is running, who is my pacer – to give me some support, to tell me: ‘Vicky, come on, you can do it’.” REUTERS