Skyrunning Limone Extreme SKY – Race Report

The 2014 Skyrunner® World Series came to a dramatic conclusion in Limone on the banks of Lake Garda today. Although the final race was a formality for Stevie Kremer and Kilian Jornet (both unbeatable after 3 victories) a battle commenced and what a battle…

The Limone Extreme course is a true ‘classic’ Skyrunning race. In simple terms, it’s straight up, run across a ridge (going up and down) and then descend back to lake level and finish under the banner after running 26.5kms and climbing/ descending 2000m. Easy huh? Well, no. But you knew than answer to that one didn’t you.

Petro Mamo from Eritrea (2012 WMRA champion) produced the race of his life to beat the king of the mountains, Kilian Jornet. Kilian on the finish line said that he had very sore legs after putting his efforts into the previous nights Vertical Kilometre. However, one can understand why. His victory in the VK confirmed another Skyrunner® World Series title and he is now world champion in VK, SKY and ULTRA all in the same year! A first and in all honesty, I personally don’t ever see anyone have the versatility and ability to win a series of events that are so diverse.

David Schneider excelled on the first half of the course in 2013 but faded on the technical downhill. This year bolstered after a great performance at Sierre-Zinal produced an incredible race to finish 3^rd ahead of Skyrunning legend, Marco De Gasperi.

On a hot and muggy day, many runners talked about the difficult conditions. Humidity was high and after the previous nights heavy rain, certain sections of the course were very slippery.

Leading the ladies early on, VK specialist Laura Orgue pushed hard with a small lead over Stevie Kremer. Christel Dewalle was showing great powers of recovery running in 3^rd after winning the previous nights VK and the ever present, Maite Maiora looked strong in 4^th.

As the race progressed, Maite with fresh legs made a move and took the lead grasping the race by the horns. Stevie Kremer pursued but couldn’t catch the La Sportiva runner as she pushed hard knowing that victory would mean she would finish the series 2^nd overall.

Elisa Desco battling the tough conditions fought hard, catching Dewalle and Orgue and finished 3^rd securing her overall place on the podium of the Skyrunner® World Series.

2014 has been an incredible year. We have see the confirmation of Kilian Jornet and Stevie Kremer as the King and Queen of SKY and in the process we have witnessed the growth of new stars such as Maite Maiora, Elisa Desco, Manuel Merillas, Ionut Zinca and Zaid Ait Malek.

Skyrunning is on the up. NO DOUBT!

Tough, technical and vertical is all the rage. The support of key brands: Salomon, inov-8, Compressport, Scott and Arc’teryx combined with the vision of Lauri van Houten and Marino Giacometti confirms that we are at a pivotal point in the sport. A new year, a new World Series is just around the corner… are you going to be part of the 2015 Skyrunner® World Series? I for one know that I will.

We draw passion from the mountains but it’s in the sky that we can live our dreams.

Less cloud, more sky!

Limone Extreme SKY results: