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In Naliboki, Aliaksei achieved something impressive: on May 23, 2026, he ran 102.2 km through forest trails in 8:19:14.2 (average pace of 4:53.09 per kilometer) — the first time in the 18-year history of the "marathon" that someone finished under 9 hours. A year earlier, he finished in 9:18:30 in very rainy weather, which was then the track record. For example, in 2021, when the distance was about 103 km, the winner took 9:26:46. Essentially, Aliaksei outpaced his predecessors by almost an hour — that’s how strong his time was.
For comparison, in the 100 km ultramarathon on the Minsk bike path, the leaders showed similar numbers: the record time belongs to Andrey Deriugin (2022) — 8:05:12, and Alexander Bendzer (2021) won the race in 8:21:00. Considering the surface and elevation differences, it turns out that Chakur ran through the forest almost as fast as the champions on a smooth road. This underscores the scale of his achievement and places his result among the strongest ultrarunners.
Ultramarathon Naliboki
I am one of those people who never worked a day in their field after university. I played in a post-punk, post-rock band, worked in real estate and equipment appraisal, and spent some time in an office — and quickly realized that this wasn’t my path. After that, I moved into creative work: I studied motion design, worked as a freelancer, and tried different directions. Perhaps this is my essence — I can’t stand still. Movement, development, and the feeling that I am growing and changing are important to me. Running, and especially ultrarunning, has become a continuation of this search for me. It’s not just about sports and results. It’s a way to look inside myself, understand my limits, and find my edge.
I started running more or less consciously quite late — at 34 years old. I first saw ultrarunners in person during my Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB) trek in 2019. They looked incredibly cool: ultralight gear, speed, and ease. I myself preached light hiking and minimalism in tourism, but these guys were on another level — even lighter, even faster! That’s when I first seriously thought about trail running, although for a long time I just ran for pleasure in my local park in Medvezhino. I simply didn’t want to compete with anyone; I didn’t see the point. At that time, I was more into bikepacking around Belarus and hiking in the mountains — Dolomite Alps, Maramures, Svaneti, Norway, Madeira. I completed the TMB circuit twice. Three years ago, just out of curiosity, at the beginning of spring, I decided to run the "Gaina" 26 km. And after a few weeks of active preparation, to my surprise, I finished 7th. I unexpectedly felt my long-dormant competitive spirit awaken. Although the race itself was terrible (my muscles acidified quickly, and I ended up almost walking at the end), it incredibly inspired me. A couple of months later, I took 2nd place in Naliboki at the 42 km distance. That’s when I probably first realized that I wanted to run ultratrails. And the longer, the better. The real realization came later: when I started reading books, watching race broadcasts, studying training methods, physiology, and nutrition. And if I’m completely honest, the prerequisites were there since childhood. I started running in school, competed in city running and skiing competitions. I was always very thin, loved sweets, and walked a lot — in a way, the perfect setup for ultras.
TMB2019
A lot of this stems from the previous point, but in short — ultratrail is simply closer to my spirit. For me, it’s a kind of meditation: a long run through the forest alone with my thoughts.
Why not road running? Road running, for me, is pure endurance on flat terrain. You go out, set a pace, and hold it until the end. In trail running, walking up steep hills (power hiking) is normal and even recommended.
Middle distances are about working at your limit; everything happens quickly and intensely. Plus, speed was never my main quality. Ultratrail, on the other hand, is a completely different world. It’s about strategy, planning, mental endurance, optimizing nutrition, and the ability to adapt. You’re constantly making decisions, adjusting to the situation, and figuring out how to get out of the next micro- or macro-crisis. I find this interesting — there are many variables here. In ultras, the mind plays a huge role. You have to accept in advance that you will feel bad for many hours. At times, very bad. And in those moments, it’s important to remember that going through all of this is entirely your own choice.
At that time, I won my first 100 km race and performed consistently well in several races, finishing in the top three. Behind the scenes, there was a lot of fairly mundane and routine work. I switched to more structured training, paid more attention to nutrition during races, started doing more strength training, improved my sleep quality. Quality sleep is one of the main priorities. I think this “breakthrough” was more of a cumulative effect from all these small changes.
These were two completely different races. In 2025, there was a terrible downpour, and the conditions were very tough. It was my first 100 km, and the goal was simply to finish. I approached nutrition quite unsystematically then — I just randomly took various gels and bars, hoping to reach at least 90 g of carbohydrates per hour. But my motivation was off the charts.
This year, everything was much more structured. I worked hard on my base and strength endurance in preparation for Istria by UTMB 69 km, and studied how to fuel my body for such a long duration. And mentally, it was a completely different race. The question of “will I finish?” was no longer there. Based on my long training runs, where I could hold a 4:40–4:50/km pace for 3–4 hours in the upper range of my second heart rate zone with moderate cardiac drift, I roughly knew that with good tapering, I could maintain this pace for 8 hours.
I set my pace based on my long runs on flat terrain. The weather on race day was around +21–22°C. I didn’t feel extreme heat because I had done passive heat acclimation[^2] in the form of hot baths. Plus, I splashed a lot of water on myself at aid stations.
The plan was to break the distance into segments of 20–25 km between aid stations. Psychologically, this made it much easier and clearer — like mini-races within the race. For each of these segments, I calculated nutrition and hydration separately.
The main tactic was to start more conservatively, although in reality, the start was a bit more aggressive than planned. I was supposed to reach the first aid station at 24 km as easily as possible. Up to 53 km, it was about endurance and heart rate control, then I gradually started increasing caffeine intake (I don’t drink coffee, so my tolerance is almost zero).
I ran the second half of the race more by feel. My watch display only showed heart rate and navigation. As a result, the segment from the 75 km aid station to the finish was my fastest in terms of pace.
My heart rate was quite high from the start, probably due to a recent virus. But somewhere in the middle of the race, it miraculously normalized. The hardest parts were the last few kilometers before the aid stations at 53 km and 75 km. My stomach started cramping due to the high osmolarity of the nutrition, and it became difficult to maintain the pace. In such moments, I just had to endure and keep moving.
At the aid stations, I rested for a few minutes, hydrated, and mentally reset so that I could start each new segment as if from a clean slate.
My nutrition plan for the race looked something like this:
Carbohydrates: ~110–115 g/hour Sodium: ~850 mg/hour Fluids: ~650 ml/hour Caffeine: ~450 mg for the entire race
Almost all the gels I used during the race were homemade: maltodextrin + fructose in a 1:0.8 ratio, a bit of sea salt, pectin, and lemon juice.
I usually make my own isotonic drink:
- Maltodextrin + fructose 2:1;
- Or sugar + maltodextrin 2:1;
- Plus electrolytes or sea salt.
On average, it comes out to 30–40 g of carbohydrates and 300–400 mg of sodium per 500 ml of liquid.
I had some store-bought gels for a few hours, but my stomach cramped the most after those. In the future, I plan to try to give them up completely.
I also want to experiment and make all my race nutrition in a glucose/fructose ratio of 1:0.8 to see how my stomach reacts over long distances.
My favorite products during ultras are mineral water and Coca-Cola. Salty mineral water perfectly balances the sweetness, and cola is an ideal hypertonic drink with caffeine.
The virus, of course, ruined my taper. The cough made it harder to sleep and recover. On Tuesday, I decided to cancel my tempo workout and replaced it with an easy fartlek with short intervals, but the next morning I felt completely broken.
It felt like my body, instead of accumulating energy after reducing the load, was spending its immunity fighting the illness. I had to reduce the load to a minimum, and I spent the remaining week on a bike trainer.
The day before the race, I felt pretty good, but the cough still disrupted my sleep the night before the race.
In the morning on race day, after 4 hours of sleep, those thoughts were indeed there. But by that time, I had already done carb loading and prepared and laid out all my race nutrition, so I decided to just go to the start and see how the first half of the distance felt based on my sensations.
My minimum goal was to improve my time from last year.
I probably would have run Naliboki anyway.
Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc is a cult race where all the world’s top trail runners gather. 170+ km and about 10,000 meters of elevation gain. Tom Evans completed this distance last year in 19 hours and 18 minutes.
Yes, to participate in the UTMB lottery, you need to collect running stones. Stones are awarded for races under the UTMB umbrella around the world, and the number depends on the distance.
And yes, running the full UTMB circuit is my main running dream.
Probably also because the Mont Blanc region is a special place for me, one I want to return to again and again. There’s a kind of magic in Chamonix: the mecca of mountaineering, trail running, and people in love with the mountains.
Tour du Mont Blanc
After the base period, which involved a lot of strength work in the gym with heavy weights and low repetitions, I gradually began to add running specificity. First, I did tempo intervals on a treadmill with a 6–8% incline, gradually increasing the duration. In parallel, I started incorporating hill sprints and uphill accelerations, if the winter weather allowed.
After the base strength period, I began doing muscular endurance exercises — high reps, low weights, and short rest between sets. In the specificity phase, I did intervals on a treadmill with a 12–17% incline, which simulated the main steep climbs of Istria. Plus, I did long back-to-back[^1] runs with +1000 m elevation in my local park in Medvezhino.
In short: it’s mainly base volume in zone 2, tempo intervals on an incline in heart rate zone 3 (between aerobic and anaerobic thresholds), hill sprints and accelerations, strength endurance, and stabilization. Recovery is as easy as possible, often on a bike. I try to follow the principle of modulation: hard days are hard, easy days are truly easy.
I would say that vertical work primarily developed my resistance to fatigue and improved my running economy. If you look at the race itself, my fastest segment was from 75 km to the finish. I felt that my technique didn’t fall apart, my stabilization worked, and my muscles continued to utilize lactate.
One of the key factors was still the aerobic base — a powerful “engine.” In preparing for Istria, I tried to maximize my basic aerobic capacity by doing large volumes below the aerobic threshold.
I think the deciding role was played by the synergy of all components: base strength training, muscular endurance through vertical work, and the aerobic foundation.
It’s no coincidence they say: “Ultras are an eating contest with a bit of running added.” The ability to not just eat, but effectively absorb carbohydrates at high intensity, is critically important for ultradistances. The gastrointestinal tract also adapts very well to training.
Two months before the Istria start, I began gradually increasing the amount of carbohydrates during long runs. Later, I started training my nutrition during high-intensity workouts and gradually switched to a high-carb diet. Recovery noticeably accelerated, and the workouts became easier to handle.
By the time of Naliboki, I was just fine-tuning the details: experimenting with gel containers, trying cola during long and interval workouts, different isotonic concentrations, and flavor combinations. For example, gels with mint turned out not to be the best idea.
When, during long training sessions of 3+ hours, I could comfortably absorb 100–110 g of carbohydrates per hour without stomach discomfort, I knew my gut was ready for these numbers and even more.
Compared to 2025, back then I ate a lot of solid food: dates, bananas, marmalade, energy bars. My nutrition plan was: gels + a little solid food + isotonic drinks. This year, I completely switched to liquid fast carbohydrates and gels — they are absorbed much better and faster, especially at high intensity. Plus, if you make everything yourself, it’s very convenient to adjust the concentration for a specific race and weather conditions.
Probably the main mistake was that in 2025, I didn’t train my gut at all. I just showed up at the start and ran. Now, I’ve almost completely given up solid food during races, and a high-carb diet has become an integral part of my training process.
I have never participated in a single road race in my life. The philosophy of trail running is much closer to me, where effort is determined more by heart rate than by pace on the watch. You need to learn to control your intensity on climbs and develop the right downhill technique.
In trail running, every start is unique. You need to study the elevation profile of the course in advance, distribute your energy on the climbs, know the exact distance between aid stations (to properly distribute nutrition and hydration), and take into account the difficulty of the trail. In my opinion, this is even closer to light hiking tourism.
Psychologically, I perform better in the second half of the distance. After all, the real race in ultras only begins after the 40 km mark.
For me, ultratrail is a kind of subculture, not just a sport. Ordinary people often think we’re a little crazy. Maybe we are.
Yes, I usually have one full rest day a week. Light mobility or a walk is possible. As a rule, this is Monday after long training sessions on the weekend.
First and foremost, it’s a psychological reset and a transition to a new weekly cycle. Usually, on this day, I adjust the existing plan for the week depending on how I feel and how my body has absorbed the workload.
As for injuries, basic strength exercises with heavy weights and low reps are good injury prevention, especially for trail running. If you do quality work during the base period, you can minimize the risk of injury in the future. In simple terms — just squat with a barbell.
It’s extremely important to gradually increase volume and intensity, as well as use the principle of load modulation. Plus, I often use recovery workouts on a bike — they help a lot in recovering after intense running sessions.
The main indicator, in my opinion, is long back-to-back workouts that simulate the race itself. They should be as close as possible to the target start in terms of terrain, nutrition, and equipment. If on the second day, when glycogen stores are already depleted, I can calmly maintain the target pace and not fall apart — then my form is good, and I’m ready. All that’s left is to do a quality taper. I usually start tapering 10–14 days before the race.
My experience shows that in ultras, it’s very important to stick to your plan. If you start running with someone faster, you can burn out quickly, hit the wall, and then spend a long time trying to recover from that crisis. Or even finish the distance walking. Ultras are ruthless in this regard.
Mentally, I am fully prepared for physical pain during a race. For me, this is a basic mindset: I know it will be hard, and I accept it.
Probably the hardest thing is finding and maintaining that fine line of intensity that you can sustain for a very long time by feel, without critically accumulating lactate and fatigue, so as not to burn out too early.
As a rule, the battle with thoughts begins when the body starts to move out of this balance.
There are moments when you literally have to force yourself not to stop. In such moments, I just tell myself: everything is fine, you’re in control, this is temporary, and it’s your choice to be here.
Sometimes, on the contrary, I have to force myself to slow down to reduce the intensity.
In ultras, a lot happens in waves. Right now, you feel bad, nauseous, and can’t force down another gel, but 15–20 minutes later, you’re running as if nothing happened.
ITRA and UTMB rankings, of course, matter. But they’re not the end goal.
For me, it’s more about the journey. The opportunity to travel, see the world, and meet like-minded people who are passionate about trail running and mountains.
I dream of visiting legendary races like the Eiger Ultra Trail and UTMB, and seeing the “behind the scenes” of it all. Running my first 100-miler, gaining more elevation in one race than Everest.
All this experience will be my personal success. And who knows where this path will ultimately lead?
I don’t have a fear of 100 milers; it’s more of a curiosity. What’s actually hidden beyond the 100 km mark? What corners of myself will I have to explore to cover such a distance? Every new long distance is like a leap into the unknown.
Fear and awe — for races like Cocodona 250. That’s 250 miles and over 12,000 meters of elevation gain. I still can’t wrap my head around how it’s physically possible to cover more than 400 kilometers.
I train on my own. I constantly read literature, watch videos about training and nutrition in running and cycling — I try to keep up with the latest trends.
At the same time, neural networks are a full-fledged part of my training process. I call them my personal consultants. In every area, I have my own expert: sports nutrition, recovery, training analysis, strength training, heat acclimation, psychology.
While I plan mesocycles myself, neural networks help me compile microcycles with a gradual increase in volume and intensity. Initially, I set the basic principles and methodology I train by, which the neural network uses to create the plan. As we go, I make adjustments based on how I feel and how my body absorbs the load. The neural network takes over all the routine of creating a plan, but adapting to reality and monitoring how I feel remains my responsibility.
Sure, why not? I’m interested in this topic, and I want to continue developing and growing in it. If someone is interested in ultratrail or wants to run their first ultramarathon distance — I’d be happy to help with advice or share my experience.
It seems to me that trail running in Belarus is still more of a local story. Ultratrail is an even more niche topic. After all, we don’t have mountainous terrain, so most people run shorter and medium distances.
At the same time, the guys from ARF.by and Elkpath.by organize really cool, high-level races. But they are mainly focused on medium distances — that’s where the community is larger and more active.
I think we lack a legendary ultra-race through the swamps with its own history, atmosphere, and traditions. Something unique to Belarus.
Naliboki is already a legendary race by Belarusian standards. But the route changes every year, and because of this, there’s no attachment to a specific place and route, like many famous world races have.
A major international race, in my opinion, would give me even more motivation to grow and reach a new level. I want to see top trail runners in person, learn from their experience, and soak up the atmosphere of big mountain races.
For the past two years, I’ve been planning starts in Slovenia and Croatia, but so far, I haven’t been able to make it.
In general, I believe that development should happen gradually. A sharp leap can lead to regression, burnout, and loss of motivation. Everything here is built over years — through stability, a strong foundation, and a cumulative effect.
What would I say to that guy who first saw ultratrail runners at the foot of Mont Blanc 7 years ago?
Probably, I would say: don’t waste time. Life sends you signs — you just need to learn to notice them.
And yes, it will be a long journey full of adventures.
Col de la Seigne
[^1]: Back-to-back — long runs are long training sessions performed on two consecutive days, commonly used in ultramarathon training to build cumulative fatigue and resilience.
[^2]: Heat acclimation — passive exposure to heat, for example through hot-water immersion or hot baths, used to induce heat adaptation.