That’s how long it took Altoona native Jeff Benrud to finish the grueling Ironman competition in the 2015 Baja 1000 — the world’s longest continuous off-road race. Benrud took part in 700 combat missions Riding solo on a Honda CRF 450X motorcycle, he completed the nearly 825-mile Ironman more than two hours ahead of the next racer, but a disappointing turn of events — controversial penalties added time to his finish — put him into second place. Talking by cellphone while driving home to Raeford, N.C., afterward, the three-time Baja 1000 warrior said he can’t complain. “Just finishing is a valid accomplishment,” he said. The Baja 1000 is the flagship event of SCORE International, a sanctioning body in off-road desert racing. The 48th annual challenge powered up Nov. 20-21 on the Baja California Peninsula in northwestern Mexico. Of 239 starters, only 124 finished the race, according to SCORE. Competitors represented 21 countries, Jeff said.

This year’s course started and finished in Ensenada. Competitors zipped southward on the west coast of the mountainous peninsula, bordered by the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of California, then crossed to the east coast and looped back to Ensenada. “It’s probably one of the more physically difficult things I’ve done,” said Jeff, 46, who teaches riding in rugged terrain. The ride left him battered and bruised. He is a highly decorated retired sergeant major with the U.S. Army’s special operations unit with extensive combat experience, including in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since retiring from the military 2½ years ago, he co-founded American Off-Road driving company with legendary motocross and truck racer Ricky Johnson. The company teaches special operations soldiers and law enforcement officers driving in tactical situations, including high-speed chases. A YouTube video of the 2014 Baja 1000 produced by MultiCam features Benrud, sporting a beard and sunglasses, and Johnson.

The video captures the rocky desert, sandy roads and steep hills that riders traverse at high speeds through the heat of the day and the coldness of the night. Riders, who use GPS to navigate, must deal with heavy silt, ruts, holes, ridges and whoops (a series of bumps). Family members went to cheer on Jeff at the race, including his parents, Michael and Carol Benrud, longtime Altoona residents who are moving to Eau Claire, and his wife, Helen, and daughter, Hailey, 16, as well as Jeff’s sister Jennifer Rooney and nephew Nicholas Rooney of Chippewa Falls.are vega motorcycle helmets good Jeff also competed on motorcycle teams in the Baja 1000 in 2013 and 2014. best 600cc motorcycle cruiserThe first year a crash took out the bike’s high-power headlight, but the team still finished.scorpion youth motorcycle helmets

Last year one of the three riders on Jeff’s team broke his leg, and another became ill. Jeff rode about 900 of the race’s 1,275 miles, and the team placed fourth. While a team switches riders so they get breaks, Ironman riders who race continually. “They’re out in the wilderness alone much of the time and going as fast as they can,” Michael Benrud said in a phone interview. “The Ironman is so rigorous and so difficult that there’s very few that undertake it. It’s considered the ultimate challenge,” he said. Motorcycles are specially built to withstand rigors of the course. Jeff’s Honda CRF 450X was “extremely powerful. It takes a very strong rider to handle it,” Michael said. MultiCam, Safariland, Crye Precision, American Off-Road and others — including Benrud Rentals in Eau Claire and Heartland Contractors in Chippewa Falls — sponsored Jeff, whose racing colors were orange and white. Many of the racers were full-time professionals, Michael said.

Michael, Nicholas and Lincoln rode in chase vehicles providing mechanical support and supplies for Jeff during the race. While most of the course rolled through desolate wilderness, every so often the route crossed hard-surface roads where chase crews intercepted the racers to fix equipment, change tires and supply food, water and fuel. Support teams practiced before the event to establish where — and when — to meet racers. Two teams in the truck category even had helicopters follow them. “It’s so easy to get lost or break down or run out of gas or crash and get hurt,” Michael said. At one point Jeff’s back tire came off the rim, losing him an hour. Because flats would occur often with air-filled tires, racers use ones with hard foam inside. “There’s always something that’s going to go wrong. We got off light,” Jeff said. About the same time, he was running low on fuel. While racers pay ahead to get gas at pit stops organizers set up on the course, the closest one refused to fuel his bike because of a records mix-up.

He fortunately found a private pit stop in the darkness. The race has motorcycle, car, truck and ATV categories. All zoomed along the same course, with sometimes deadly results. One racer died this year when a truck ran him over while he was fixing his dune buggy, Michael said. The risks didn’t worry Jeff. He said he and his wife have a “strong faith in the good Lord” and believe everyone is put on the planet for a certain time to do certain things. “It’s your time and place, (then) it’s your time and place,” he said. While Michael also has a strong faith, he confessed to worrying about the safety of the racers and the support crews. “Eight of us were in three chase vehicles going at great speed on very dangerous narrow roads,” he said, as they tried to keep ahead of Jeff so they could intercept him at the crossover points. He shut his eyes sometimes as they traveled on winding roads with drop-off edges and blind corners at high speeds, much of the time in darkness.

“I’m getting kind of old for this,” said Michael, 68. After being 12 hours of darkness, Michael recalled thinking about Jeff in the “pink of early morning” Nov. 21. “As the sky began to lighten after 12 hours of darkness, we could only imagine his feeling of jubilation that he could see the countryside again and know the terrible night was over,” he said. A MultiCam film crew followed Benrud during the race. A more in-depth video is planned than the one shot last year, Jeff said. Although Jeff completed the Ironman in 25 hours, finishing far ahead of his competitors, organizers added about three hours to his time in penalties. The penalties dropped his time to 28:33:33, according to SCORE, placing him second behind Boe Huckins of Pueblo West, Colo. (27:29:23). Relatively short stretches of the race involve public roads with mandatory speed limits. “The penalties for exceeding the speed limits as verified on the bike’s transponder are apparently very significant,” Michael said, adding others also were penalized.

“Some of the areas are very confusing as to where the speed limits are raised and lowered. It is too bad, as the time gained while speeding would have been almost insignificant,” he said. The race left Jeff in severe pain and dehydrated. “He has severe blisters over his hands, (he) will lose fingernails, his seat and legs are rubbed raw and bleeding, and we had to have a nurse come in after the race to hook up an IV,” Michael said. “When I was done, I was just absolutely physically drained. I went to my hotel room and basically passed out,” Jeff said. An endurance race like the Baja 1000  requires a mental toughness, “to go past the physical and reach into mental reserves,” he said. His father described him as a “super tough guy. He has an extremely high pain threshold.” Both Michael and Carol Benrud said they are very proud of their son and all he has accomplished. From an early age, Jeff dreamed of racing motorcycles, Michael said, adding his son has been successful but started too late to turn pro.

“He’s extremely determined, a no-quit kind of person,” Michael said. “If there’s a challenge, he’s just into it.” Jeff has been an adventurer his whole life, Carol said. “Even as a child, he had that spirit in him.” Competing in the Baja 1000 is costly, so Jeff pursued sponsors. “It is a rather expensive endeavor as it costs approximately $35,000 to $50,000 for a cycle that is equipped to run in this kind of race. The cost is much more for a truck that races,” Michael said. Motorcycles must be rebuilt to withstand the abuse of the race. Other costs include spare equipment, chase vehicles, transportation, lodging, fuel and the entry fee. Jeff estimated his cost for the Ironman at about $50,000. Last year his team spent about $80,000 on its race, which was longer than the Ironman. Winners receive insignificant cash prizes, Jeff said. “It’s not at all about the money. It’s just there, like why do people climb the mountain.”