Taipei, Oct. 15 (CNA) Taiwanese ultra-marathon runner Lo Wei-ming (羅維銘) started Friday in New York in second place among seven runners in a 52-day road race, having already covered 4,106 kilometers in 40 days.

Lo, 58, is competing in the 25th Annual Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race, which organizers say has been certified as the world's longest road race.

He is behind last year's winner, Italy's Andrea Marcato, who has completed 4,627.1 km so far, keeping a pace of around 120 km a day compared to Lo's average of 101.5 km.

Last year, Marcato finished the 4,989-km race in 43 days, 12 hours, 7 minutes and 26 seconds, when the event was moved to Austria due to COVID-19.

Though Lo is competing in the invitation-only race for the first time, he has captured attention by running half of the distance in sandals, which the organizers described as "remarkable" in its day 35 online update of the event.

Runners start at 6 a.m. every day to run laps on an 880-meter sidewalk course in Queens, and they can run throughout the day until midnight, taking breaks as needed, according to the organizers.

To finish the distance in 52 days, participants need to run at least 95.9 km a day, according to the website.

Before he started the run on Sept. 5, he told reporters that he intends to be the first person in his 50s to finish the race.