MAN WINS MAN VS. HORSE RACE

What started in 1980, has become an annual race that puts man against animal. To be more precise, against a horse.

The race takes place at Llanwrtyd Well in Powys, Wales every year.

This year’s winner, Ricky Lightfoot is only the third person to win the race since it started.

Because the horses and the humans take slightly different routes, Lightfoot had no idea that he had won.

The 37-year-old only discovered that he had won the entire race after he started asking around. Lightfoot’s first place means he won 1,000 runners and 50 horses.

His winning time of 2:22:23 for the 36-kilometre course won him almost R82,000.

When asked what it felt like when he discovered that he had won the race, he simply replied: “Pretty good, like”.

The firefighter told the BBC that he had been quietly confident about winning the race.

“It’s great to win the event and beat the horse. I thought I could give the horse a good race.”

He jokingly referred to entering Britain’s most famous horse race.

“It would be great if I could win the Grand National.”

The first time a human beat a horse in this race was in 2004. It was again accomplished in 2007, but this year is the first time that it’s been accomplished again.

Image credit: BBC