Blind Bulgarian runner defies sleep and exhaustion in 'Everesting' climbing challenge

Record ID: 1985162

  • Title: Blind Bulgarian runner defies sleep and exhaustion in 'Everesting' climbing challenge
  • Date: 24th March 2025
  • Summary: BLACK PEAK SUMMIT, VITOSHA MOUNTAIN, BULGARIA (MARCH 21, 2025) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF DRONE VIEWS OF BLACK PEAK SUMMIT VARIOUS OF ULTRAMARATHON RUNNER VICTOR ASENOV AND PACERS, VOLUNTEERS WHO SET PACE OF RUN VARIOUS OF VIEWS OF SOFIA FROM BLACK PEAK SUMMIT (SOUNDBITE) (Bulgarian) ULTRAMARATHON RUNNER, VICTOR ASENOV, SAYING: "Everesting is starting from one point to another s
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Bulgaria Mount Everest Ultramarathon blind runner
  • Location: BLACK PEAK SUMMIT, VITOSHA MOUNTAIN, BULGARIA
  • City: BLACK PEAK SUMMIT, VITOSHA MOUNTAIN, BULGARIA
  • Country: Bulgaria
  • Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Europe
  • Reuters ID: LVA001110923032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Blind Bulgarian ultramarathon runner, Victor Asenov, defied a lack of sleep and exhaustion to repeatedly scale Vitosha mountain near Sofia non-stop for nearly two days last week, climbing the equivalent 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, Asenov set off from a mountain hut for the Black Peak summit of Vitosha, some 2,290 metres above the capital, at 0932 am (0732 GMT) on Friday (March 21) to raise awareness about the training of guide dogs.
    Going without sleep for 46 hours and stopping only for food, he climbed 8,848 metres in total - the height of Mount Everest - by running up and down to the peak 19 times, before finishing at 0740 am (0540 GMT) on Sunday (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 his endurance challenge raising funds for a guide dog school at the Eyes on Four Paws Foundation in Sofia, the only school of its kind in the Balkans region.
    Asenov says 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."
    Pacers escorted Asenov through the challenge, and their encouragement helped him fight off the physical and mental fatigue and make it to the finish line, he says.
    (Production: Spasiyana Sergieva, Malgorzata Wojtunik)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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