ENTRIES for the epic Man v Horse race in Llanwrtyd Wells this summer will officially open this Saturday, January 7.

The return of Man v Horse last year saw 1,200 runners battle against a team of 60 horses and riders over 22 miles of Welsh countryside, with participants taking on gruelling ascents and tricky terrain, including bogs, streams, forestry tracks and fields.

The legend of one of Powys’ most popular sporting events – and arguably one of the world’s most bizarre – lives on after a human won the race for just the third time in its 40-year history.

Ricky Lightfoot won in a rapid time of 2 hours, 22 minutes, 23 seconds – beating the first horse home by two minutes and one second.

Ricky, 37, from Cumbria, took home the coveted title of beating the horse – something that has only been done three times in the 41 races that have been held since the inaugural race in 1980.

County Times: Ricky Lightfoot on his way to victory in 2022 - he became just the third person to beat the horse in the event's 40-year history Ricky Lightfoot on his way to victory in 2022 - he became just the third person to beat the horse in the event's 40-year history (Image: None)

Huw Lobb was the first human winner of the race in 2004, followed by Florian Holzinger in 2007.

Ricky also took home £3,500 – the race’s prize pot grows by £500 every year that the horse wins.

Entry costs for the 2023 event, which takes place on Saturday, June 10, will be priced at £40 per runner, while a horse and rider entries are £50. If you want to enter a relay team of 3 the cost is £99.

Enter via the Green Events website at https://www.green-events.co.uk/?mvh_main or check out the Green Events or Man versus Horse Facebook pages.

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The quirky event began in June 1980 following a heated chat in the back bar of Llanwrtyd’s Neuadd Arms Hotel. Then landlord, Gordon Green, overheard two men discussing the relative merits of men and horses running over mountainous terrain and whether a man could actually beat a horse.

The enterprising Gordon, never one to miss an opportunity to promote Llanwrtyd and improve business, decided to put it to the test. And so began Green Events and its first, longest standing and now internationally acclaimed event, Man v Horse.

The course was amended in 1982 to provide a more even match between human and horse, resulting year on year in very close finishes – sometimes with the horse winning by only a few seconds.

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In 2018, for example, Peter Davies on Ronnie beat Joe Dale by a mere 23 seconds, while in 2008 John Macfarlane was pipped to the finish line by 30 seconds by Geoffrey Allen on Dukes Touch of Fun.

It took 25 years for a runner to finally beat all the horses – Lobb won in 2 hours and 5 minutes, beating the fastest horse by 2 minutes and 17 seconds. His feat was repeated 3 years later by Holzinger and again in 2022 by Lightfoot.

In 2014 electronic timing was introduced, with each competitor wearing a tag which automatically records their time. This has improved the accuracy of results.

The escalating jackpot for a runner who beats the first horse and rider, which now starts at £500 and increases by £500 each year the event takes place until it is won, stands at a mere £500 for 2023, following Lightfoot’s victory last year.

To put Lobb’s achievement into perspective – being the first human champion after the race had been going a quarter of a century – his jackpot was £25,000.