RAAM Fun Facts

* The 2007 Race Across America route is about 3,043 miles long. Collectively, the 2007 Solo finishers will travel a combined distance equivalent to circling the Earth at the equator four times.

* This year's race spans a wider range of elevations than it has for nearly 20 years. Riders descend to 170 feet below sea level (in Mecca, California) and climb to 10,550 feet above sea level (Wolf Creek Pass in central Colorado). This elevation range exceeds two vertical miles.

* Each solo RAAM finisher climbs nearly 108,600 feet, which is roughly the distance from the ground to the edge of space, three times the altitude flown by commercial jetliners and almost four times the altitude of Mt. Everest.

* Only 164 solo and tandem riders have officially finished solo RAAM at least once, compared with over 1,300 individuals who have climbed Mt. Everest.

* Austrian adventurer Wolfgang Fasching has won solo RAAM and climbed Mt. Everest. “Everest is more dangerous, but RAAM is much harder,” Said Fasching.

* Among those who have finished solo RAAM are a one-legged cyclist with a prosthesis (Jim Penseyres) and a one-armed cyclist (Benny Furrer). Two blind cyclists completed Team RAAM on tandems (Ray Collins and Kathy Urschel). Last year a six-rider team of handcyclists from Austria raced — using arm-power to climb the 108,000 feet!

* Riders from 15 countries are racing in RAAM 2007: 35 solo racers, 126 team competitors, and 27 24-hour racers.

* Solo racer Juré Robic holds the UltraMarathon Cycling Association 24-hour road record of 521.975 miles (21.75 mph). Marko Baloh, also racing solo, holds the 12-hour track record of 281.316 mi (23.44). Fred Boethling, racing solo, holds six cross-state records, more than any other rider. Dan McGehee, racing on a four-person team, holds the 200 mile road record of 9 hours 2 minutes 41 seconds (23.89) and the 100-mile road record of 4 hours 10 minutes 9 seconds (23.99 mph).

* This year’s racers will sprint across 15 different state lines, 16 if you count two visits to West Virginia and 18 if you also count three visits to Maryland. The race crosses California for the 21st time, yet in 2007 it follows the 2006 route influenced by the Oceanside start.

* The northernmost point is just outside Urbana, Ohio. Riders never get farther south than the starting point on the Oceanside Municipal Pier.

* In addition to the start and finish, the race passes through time stations in 56 different towns and cities. The largest time station city is Indianapolis, Indiana, (TS 40), which has a population larger than one of the states through which the race passes (Delaware). The smallest time station is Chiriaco Summit, California (TS 3), whose year-round population is similar in size to the population of the Indianapolis time station.

* The straightest and flattest section of the course is 22 miles. In the London Marathon after completing 22 miles, runners can view the Big Ben. On this stretch of RAAM road between Wenden and Aguila, Arizona, many riders have reported seeing "Big Ben" but were beyond telling the time.

* RAAM crosses the five longest rivers that are entirely in the US: the Mississippi, Missouri, Rio Grande, Arkansas and the Ohio.