Many of us know about Russia's Take Baikal from our textbook, or by listening to Chinese singer Li Jian's hit song, Lie Baikal. But over the years, the world's deepest freshwater lake has been in the spotlight for an extreme sport.
Each March, about 150 people from around the world sign up for the Baikal Ice Marathon. The 26-mile (41, 84 kilometers) journey starts on the lake's eastern shore. In March, the ice is a meter thick and iron-hard. Runners cross this frozen surface, finishing on the western side of the lake.
It's believed that Lake Baikal's beauty is incomparable. Known as the "blue eye of Siberia", Lake Baikal has particularly clear waters. This means that its ice is almost perfectly transparent (透明的) . Seen from above, a runner on the ice looks as if he or she were jogging through space.
The scenery might be beautiful, but strong winds blast (侵袭) acorns the lake and forcible can occur within half an hour. Runners say the cold climate is what draws them and that running in such condition is a test of their limits.
"When you are in such an environment, you don't have cars around and don't have the noise around. I think these extreme races push you to be alone" Alicia Badalona, a 64-year-old runner from the US said.
The place offers some strange and unique characteristics for this marathon The finishing line is visible (可见的) from the start, but the endless while offers no progress markers. Tourists crowding the ice are mostly addicted to snapping sallies (自拍) and just ignore the runners.
For runners, the absence of spectators (观众) makes the race more challenging, because it's lonely. They must fight with themselves. "You are alone on Baikal. It is your race. You are alone with yourself. All you need to do is to defeat yourself." Veronique Messina. a French runner, told the Telegraph.
