U.S. ultrarunner outlasts a Tesla Model 3

American ultrarunner Robbie Balenger who’s known for setting the FKT (fastest known time) in New York City’s Central Park in 2021, this week ran longer than the battery of a Tesla Model 3 in Austin, Texas. The Tesla was able to go 242 miles (390 km) on a single full charge over 72 hours. Balenger covered the distance in 77 hours between April 11 and 14. 

Balenger started ahead of pace to outrun the Tesla in the time limit, covering nearly 100 miles in the 24 hours. He ran into some trouble with an injury on his second day, which forced him to slow down. The Model 3 and Balenger both started from the same point, 250 or so miles outside of Austin, Texas. The car drove until it ran out of battery, which end up being 242 miles over 72 hours. 

His progress throughout his challenge was posted on his and his sponsor’s (Ten Thousand) social media pages.

In 2021, he set out to break The Central Park Loop FKT, which follows a 10K route around the park, involving running as many laps as possible in one day. Balenger covered 98 miles in just over 18 hours. The challenge with the Central Park FKT is the fact that the park is only open from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. This means runners only have 19 hours to complete their FKT attempt. Balenger also ran 5,000 kilometres across the U.S. in 2019 on a vegan diet. 

It has not been confirmed what Balenger will be getting out of completing this challenge, but I think running 390 kilometres for a free Tesla Model 3 would be well worth it. 

posted Sunday April 17th
by Running Magazine