One of the toughest horse races in the world was yesterday nearly won by a man in running shoes and shorts.

After powering over 22 miles, three mountains and two rivers, John McFarlane came in a close second in the Man Versus Horse race at Llanwrtyd Wells in Wales. Though McFarlane, a runner with Thames Hare and Hounds athletics club in London, finished 30 seconds behind the winner, a horse called Dukes Touch of Fun, he beat 45 other horses and more than 300 runners.

McFarlane, 35, a junior doctor from Wimbledon, southwest London, said yesterday: “It’s good to have won the human race, but frustrating for it to be that close and to be beaten right at the end. The horses can gallop away on the flat, but you can get an advantage on the hills.”

The quest to find out which is faster over open country – man or horse – originally took shape in a pub. The first event was held after Gordon Green, then landlord at the Neuadd Arms in Llanwrtyd Wells, overheard a discussion whether a man could ever match or even beat a horse in a cross-country race.

On the flat a horse should easily win. But in open country? Green decided to put the matter to the test.

The race route heads northeast out of the town square on a metalled road but soon turns onto hillside and rough forest tracks. The competitors have to cross two rivers and climb more than 3,000ft. The runners start out 15 minutes before the horses to avoid any accidents at the beginning – but all the competitors are running against the clock.

As the paths narrow and overhanging tree branches crowd in on the competitors, the horse can begin to slow. Steep and often rocky descents can also hamper their progress. The highest peak of the race is 1,640ft.

Nevertheless, horses were the undisputed victors more than 20 times on the trot, even when the course was changed to give runners more of a chance.

Pen Hadow, the polar explorer, who competed the challenge last year, said: “It’s a great event and more people should do it. It is spectacular countryside. You can’t get into a rhythm at any point. You’re going over very rough terrain for 22 miles, up and down. You go over three mountains and you’re not even on a path for some of it.

“The elite fell runners chew through the miles and it doesn’t matter what the ground is like. Whereas for the horses, it is not possible to trot fast, let alone canter down the hills. They are much quicker on the flat, but the steep hills slow them up.”

Hadow raced against his wife Mary, who was riding her horse Fogles. Mary and Fogles beat Hadow by an hour. But the reign of the horse has not been invincible. In 2004 Huw Lobb, a 31-year-old runner from south London, “blasted” across the course and won the race, picking up an accumulated prize pot of £25,000 – then the biggest unclaimed prize in British athletics.

“The advantage that a runner has is that you can gauge your effort on the uphill and throw yourself down on the other side,” Lobb said yesterday. “I think for a horse, and especially a rider, they might not want to take the same risks and throw themselves down in the same way.”

A second runner, a German called Florian Holzinger, was victorious in 2007. After those successes bookmakers reduced the odds on runners winning. In the days the horses dominated the race, William Hill used to offer odds of 33 to 1 against a runner winning. The odds have now fallen to 5 to 1.

This year, however, horses fought back and the winning rider, Geoffrey Allen, came home in a time of 2hr 18min 13sec. McFarlane managed 2hr 18min 43sec. McFarlane, a regular competitor in the London marathon, said the course and conditions suited him.

“The horses have just prevailed, but it was a close thing,” said Graham Sharpe, a spokesman for William Hill, which sponsors the event. “I’m sure everyone will be back next year to have another go.”

This annual duel helps fuel debates over the relative merits of man and beast over set distances. Jesse Owens, the star athlete who won four golds at the 1936 Olympics, raced a horse, Julio McCaw, over 100m later that year. He won, but he said it was because the horse had been frightened by the starter gun, while other reports suggested the athlete was given a head start.

More recently, in April 2007, Bryan Habana, a wing for the South African rugby team, raced a cheetah called Cetane. Although Habana was given a 30m start over 100m, Cetane, who was chasing an 8lb leg of lamb, still won. Game wardens with tranquilliser guns were posted around the track to ward off the cheetah in case she decided to chase Habana rather than the lamb.

— Additional reporting: Georgia Warren

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