Endurance athletes have told us time and again their preferred lighting source for races is Fenix. When those same athletes come back and tell us they took first place – with the help of our products – we get REALLY excited. We’re officially excited.

At Fenix Lighting US, we work with a few professional athletes to help put our products to the extreme test. Two of our athletes – Kurt Refsnider and Team Yoga Slackers – have captured first place in every 2015 race to date!

They’ve shared some photos and feedback with us, so without further ado, here’s what they have to say…

Fenix has sponsored Kurt Refsnider (Salsa Cycles) since 2013, and he uses the company’s high-end bike lights for training and racing. He captured first place in the self-supported Arizona Trail 300 on April 5, and used Fenix BT20 LED bike lights over two consecutive nights on a course that was mostly rugged single track.

“I used BT20 LED bike lights on both my handlebars and helmet, and they were, once again, flawless. With only 24 minutes of sleep through 49 hours of racing, I counted on my Fenix lights to guide me and keep me alert through the nights. And during the dark hours, Fenix allowed me to see three kit foxes, an incredibly cute critter I had never seen before despite all the night riding I’ve done in the Southwest.” – Kurt Refsnider

US Adventure Racing Team YogaSlackers compete in races around the world, and have been using Fenix lights for more than five years. This March, the team took first place in the 72-hour Florida Sea To Sea race where they had to mountain bike, trek, run, paddle, swamp stomp and orienteer to the win. All the Yoga Slackers depend on several Fenix lighting products including HL50 and HL25 LED headlamps to navigate through the night.

“Since we only slept for 30 minutes over the course of 72 hours of racing, we had to travel, and see, during nearly ever minute of darkness. Having the Fenix HL50 and HL55 LED headlamps with such long burn times, and readily available spare batteries, was essential. The swamps were a surreal place at night, especially the river crossings. Alligators were a real concern; so being able to see and avoid them was a big deal to us.” – YogaSlacker team member, Jason Magness

In February, Refsnider won the 24 Hours In The Old Pueblo race – the largest 24-hour race in the United States, covering more than 17 miles of desert single-track – while using both BT20 and BT30R LED bike lights.

“In multi-day self-supported racing, it has continually been a struggle to find reliable lights on the market that are powered by replaceable batteries and provide sufficient light. If racing for more than one night, typical bike lights simply aren’t an option. Fenix LED bike lights work flawlessly.”