The Ultra-Trail® World Tour continues to gather momentum with the conclusion of Val d’Aran by UTMB® and RZD Golden Ring Ultra Trail 100 this month. Meanwhile the Whaler’s Great Route Ultra-Trail® scheduled to take place the 1st of August has been cancelled.
The current leader board standings on the Ultra-Trail® World Tour following these final two events put Pau Capell top of the men and Beth Pascal top of the women after 7 events held so far this season.
Renown for the fun atmosphere, the historic surroundings with over 300 architectural monuments and points of interest, as well as the faster, but more cross-country like trails, the RZD Golden Ring Ultra Trail 100 (16-18 July) provided an incredible experience to competitors in extreme conditions. With temperatures reaching 35 degrees Celsius, this has been the hottest race in the history of the event. Almost 40 tonnes of water were provided for a total of 4,233 runners as well as additional ambulances to provide more security to the participants.
Alexandra Morozova beat Antonina Yushina by less than 30 seconds in the T100, the longest of the event races at 100KM. Uri Vinogradov reigned supreme in the men’s category.
This year’s prize money has been increased to 6000€ for the absolute winners of T100 distance further increasing attraction to the event and brought runners from neighbouring as well as far off countries including South Africa, Israel and many European territories. In total there have been 2,703 men and 1,530 women participating in 8 different races spread across 3 days of activities in and around Suzdal.
500,000 online spectators viewed the race stream showing a strong indication of the growing interest in trail running in Russia with organisers promising an even more interesting event packed with additional activities next year.
Results for the RZD Golden Ring Ultra Trail 100:
T100 Women
1 - Alexandra Morozova - 10:21:17
2 - Antonina Yushina - 10:21:44
3 - Yulia Ryzhankova - 11:40:16
T100 Men
1 - Uri Vinogradov - 09:13:22
2 - Alexey Beresnev - 09:17:49
3 - Alexey Tolstenko - 09:18:55
© Val d'Aran by UTMB® , click here to download
The first edition of Val d’Aran by UTMB® (9 to 11 July) included 3,116 runners taking part and 2,110 finishing across four race distances. Nobody said it was easy, because if it was, the route would not be so spectacular.
The runners were treated to beautiful sunny and warm weather conditions. A course that will leave its mark on all runners, the three longer distances took them on a journey through the National Park ‘Aigues Tortes i Estany de Sant Maurici’ where Europe’s highest spa and the biggest area of glacier lakes in the Pyrenees are located, as well as through medieval villages which are often considered as the most beautiful in Spain. The VDA also traversed abandoned ancient mines and the Montgarri monastery founded in the XII century.
941 runners accepted the challenge of running the 162 kilometres that make up the flagship race of Val d’Aran by UTMB®. 475 managed to ring the bell. The VDA has had a total of 466 withdrawals, 426 voluntarily, and 40 because they exceeded cut-off times. The fastest, Ionel Cristian Manole, completed the course in a time of 23:56:26, while the Portuguese Joao Sanchez, the last rider to cross the finish line, did it in 47:52:04.
In the women's category, Sweden’s Anna Carlsson crossed the finish line after 29:25:19, to write her name into the history of the event. Japan's Kaori Niwa was second with a time of 32:22:17 and said: “It was a very tough race, with very long ascents and descents." Third was Canadian Stephanie Case in 33:56:00.
VDA results:
Women
1 - Anna CARLSSON
2 - Kaori NIWA
3 - Stephanie CASE
Men
1 - Ionel Cristian MANOLE
2 - Morgan PILLEY
3 - Jordi GAMITO
The Ultra-Trail® World Tour continues with TDS®, CCC® and UTMB® (UTMB® Mont-Blanc) on the 24th, 26th and 28th of August respectively following the cancellation of the Whaler’s Great Route Ultra-Trail®.
“Since the beginning of the pandemic, our team has been trying to find the best solutions to, on the one hand, guarantee the safety and well-being of everyone and, on the other, keep alive the spirit of trail running on the Azorean trails.
The biggest Azores Trail Run® event, the WGRUT, has been the most hampered due to the fact that it brings together many athletes from all over the world in an unstable global scenario, of insecurity and uncertainty.”
…
“Likewise, we ask that those who have confirmed their presence at WGRUT 2021 understand our decision: we will have to cancel the event.”
Read full statement here.