The third edition of the ECOTRAIL Funchal took place this past weekend on the stunning island of Madeira.
Portugal and Madeira has in recent years seen a real boom in trail and mountain running and the ECOTRAIL is quite unique in it’s approach of combining trail and city in one. The Funchal edition of the race is now one of six Ecotrail events, the other five – Brussels, Madrid, Paris, Oslo and Stockholm.
Four events, hundreds of runners and the community of Funchal united make the ECOTRAIL Funchal a real highlight in what is a very busy year for this island paradise that attracts tourists year round due to it’s excellent climate.
Episode 122 of Talk Ultra and we have a 1 hour interview with Pete Kostelnick all about his amazing, record breaking run across the USA. Ryan Sandes talks Raid de la Reunion and Casey Morgan talks about Madeira’s EcoTrail Funchal and the Everest Trail Race. The show is co-hosted by my good buddy from the Twin Cities, Kurt Decker.
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I pledge to honor myself, competitors, sponsors, sport and society by choosing to stay clean of performance enhancing drugs. Choosing to not play by the rules steals from hard working athletes who choose to do the right thing and challenges the health and integrity of sport. I will be a positive example in the community as an advocate and ambassador for clean sport. I pledge that I have and will always train clean, compete clean and live clean.
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We are human, and we all make mistakes. Together with our partners, we provide a safe place for those who have doped or spoke out against those that have.
IAU TRAIL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Luis Alberto Hernando 8:20
Nicolas Martin 8:30
Benoit Cori 8:30
Caroline Chaverot 9:39 – for me, THE ultra runner of the year!
Azara Garcia 9:44
Ragna Debats 9:47
VK FULLY
Nadir Maguet 30:17
Urban Zemmer 30:28
Marco Moletto 30:28 and Kilian Jornet 30:33
Christel Dewalle 35:57
Beatrice Delflorian 38:42
Serena Vittori 39:04
TEMPLIERS 76K
Miguel Heras (Spain). Now 41 years old, Heras turned back the clock with his second-straight win, adding to September victory at Ultra Pirineu. Here, Heras overtook Jared Hazen (U.S.) with some 6k to go to win in 6:45. Hazen used a mid-race surge to break things open and then held on for second in 6:49. Cedric Fleureton (France) was third in 6:56.
Jasmin Nunige (Switzerland) won Ultravasan for the second time, and went on to run 8:00 here for the win, improving on last year’s finish by four minutes. Yngvild Kaspersen (Norway) stepped up in distance and ran strong for a second-place 8:13. I Núria Picas (Spain), who had seesawed with Kaspersen throughout, was third in 8:22.
IAU 24 HOUR
Dan Lawson from the UK took out the win (Dan has placed 3rd at Badwater and 2nd at Spartathlon) with 162 miles – ouch! Ondrej Velicka 2nd with 160 miles.
Maria Jansson set a new European record 155.74 miles – ouch! Patricia Bereznowska was 2nd with 150 miles.
RAID DE LA REUNION
Francois d’Haene 23:44 that is 3 victories in 4 years
Antoine Guillon 24:15
Javi Dominguez 24:36 – who has had an incredible and consistent year
Andrea Huser 28:00
Juliette Blanchet 29:26
Emma Roca 30:10
00:50:00 INTERVIEW with RYAN SANDES
JAVELINA JUNDRED
Zach Bitter 13:30 beating Hal Koerner’s benchmark 13:47
Brett Sanborn 15:15
Ryan Kaiser 16:40
Dana Anderson 21:03
Adela Salt 21:32
Amy Rasor 22:17
Heather Anish Anderson sets new FKT for the 800 mile Arizona Trail – 19 days, 17 hours and 9 minutes
ECOTRAIL FUNCHAL MADEIRA
In the 80km race,Julien Chorier lead from the front and had a stunning day on the trails of Madeira. He arrived in Funchal looking strong.Casey Morgan placed 2nd just 6-minutes behind the Frenchman andJavi Bodaswas 3rd, 19-minutes later. For the ladies,Wasmes Wasmestook a conniving victory 14-minutes ahed ofNadia MeroniandSylvie Benechwas 3rd, 1-hour after 2nd place.
01:28:07 INTERVIEW with CASEY MORGAN
DAVE MACKEY – an amazing and inspiring story unfolds
On Monday, October 24, Pete Kostelnick broke the longstanding record for running across the U.S. Kostelnick linked the San Francisco and New York City Halls in 42 days, 6 hours, bettering a 1980 46-day, 8-hour record set by Frank Giannino, Jr. Other than a lone zero-mile day early in the run, Kostelnick knocked out 70-plus miles day after day.
HEADS UP – I will be in Nepal for the next two weeks so, I won’t be putting out a ‘normal’ show. However, I have something special lined up. As many of you will know, Adam Campbell had a near fatal climbing accident just 9 weeks ago. I am pleased to say the recovery and healing process is going well. I caught up with Adam and I discussed the whole process and what lessons we can all learn from this in a 1-hour special. Episode 123 of Talk Ultra will be published automatically on Friday October 18th with a simple introduction and close.
The second edition of the ECOTRAIL Funchal took place this past weekend on the stunning island of Madeira.
Portugal and Madeira has in recent years seen a real boom in trail and mountain running and the ECOTRAIL is quite unique in it’s approach of combining trail and city in one. The Funchal edition of the race is now one of six Ecotrail events, the other five – Brussels, Madrid, Paris, Oslo and Stockholm.
Four events, hundreds of runners and the community of Funchal united make the ECOTRAIL Funchal a real highlight in what is a very busy year for this island paradise that attracts tourists year round due to it’s excellent climate.
Jordi Saragossa traveled to Madeira to cover the race for iancorless.com
Starting in the early hours of the day, the 80km main event has a whopping 5400m of elevation gain that climbs up and down the technical trails within the Funchal region. Last year, the race was won by Arnaud Lejeune. Under the illumination of head lamps 100’s of runners set out for a tough day on the trails – Julien Chorier and Casey Morgan headed up a very strong field. Chorier moving up from the 40km distance which he won in 2015.
A weekend of racing, the 80km event is followed by the 40km event (171 runners) with 2500m of elevation gain, the 25km event (263 runners) and the 15km event (301 runners).
Madeira is known for it’s great all year climate but race day proved to be a mix of glorious sunshine, cloud and light rain. However, the conditions for runners were perfect enabling the majority to run in conditions that were neither to hot or cold.
Although Chorier and Morgan dominated the 80km event, the ECOTRAIL Funchal is much more than elite names racing and setting records. The race is all about motivation and inspiration. This was reflected in the 15km event which was by far the most popular event of the weekend, where local people arrived in their hundreds to take part and support.
80km Results
In the 80km race, Julien Chorier lead from the front and had a stunning day on the trails of Madeira. He arrived in Funchal looking strong. Casey Morgan placed 2nd just 6-minutes behind the Frenchman and Javi Bodas was 3rd, 19-minutes later. For the ladies, Wasmes Wasmed took a conniving victory 14-minutes ahed of Nadia Meroni and Sylvie Benech was 3rd, 1-hour after 2nd place.
“The race itself was great, I felt really strong all day. Julien put in a big attack on the second major climb and I had to let him go otherwise I was going to explode but I was pulling him back close to the summit but unfortunately missed a turn and added an extra km or so and never saw him again all day! A beautiful course with a lot of variety. Some really steep technical terrain but also some pretty smooth and fast sections. The weather was just as varied, wet and windy up high but sunny and very hot back in Funchal. A great weekend all round.” – Casey Morgan
In the 40km race, Gence Bertrand was 6-minutes clear of Olivier Morin with Francois Laurent placing 3rd – ‘very tough challenging and technical!’ Fanny Borgstrom was in her own race for the ladies’ finishing over 1-hour clear of Alice Sousa and Leau Sophie placing 3rd.
It was a close 1,2,3 for the men as they all finished within 7-minutes. Manuel Jesus took the tape first ahead of Nuno Pereira and Carlos Pereira finishing just 2-minutes later. Carla Leite was a conniving winner for the ladies’ with a 20-minute margin over Lulia Fuiorea and Susana Azevedo 3rd.
The 15km race was all about fun and in many scenarios it provided a first race opportunity for many locals. No doubt, they will be inspired to look ahead to 2017 and maybe move up to the 25 or 40km distances?
The race started by following the main streets of the town heading east and then up to Curral dos Rameiros and Monte. Following trails, technical at times they head to the 1800m summit at Pico do Arieiro and then drop like stones to Allegria (this is the 40km start).
Navigating through suburban streets a brutal uphill follows and then a descent to Ribeira Grande, Santo Antonio. At Levada Negra another steep climb awaits, unfortunately this is the nature of Madeira trails; they go up and down! From Pico de Buxo they drop downhill towards the sea and stunning views of Funchal. Following trails and paths they navigate to the finish in Funchal with a final stretch running along the coast and the finish in Avenida do Infante.
25km
Starts in the highlands of Santo Antonio and takes in the final sections of the 80km and 40km events to finish on the Avenida do Infante in Funchal. The race has 900m+.
15km
The shortest race of the Ecotrail Funchal – Madeira 2016, will start at Pico dos Barcelos, at 355 meters, the athletes will take a route mostly downhill, going past Levada do Curral, Levada do Castelejo and Levada dos Piornais.
The first edition of the ECOTRAIL Funchal took place today on the stunning island of Madeira.
For those who know, they will say, Madeira? wow, that is a hilly island for a race. I agree! It’s a very hilly island for a race.
Three events, 600+ people and community united are the key statistics from this inaugural edition.
Starting at 0600m the main event of the day, the 80km race (5400m of elevation gain) departed the centre of the town and under the illumination of head lamps the runners set out for what was without doubt a tough day and for many, night, on the trails of Funchal.
At 0900 the 40km event with 2500m of elevation gain departed from Algeria (Alegria) and finally at 1100, the 17km event with just 250m of vertical gain departed from Bico (PICO) de Barcelos.
Madeira is known for it’s great all year climate but race day proved to be a mix of glorious sunshine, cloud and light rain. However, the conditions for runners were perfect enabling the majority to run in conditions that were neither to hot or cold.
First edition races seldom have high quality fields but here in Madeira three world-class French runners toed the line:
Arnaud Lejeune – recent 2nd place at the Ultra Trail Mt Fuji
Julien Chorier – Champion of the Madeira Island Ultra Trail in 2014 and 6th at Western States in 2015.
Fabien Antolinos – 6th at UTMB 2015
Although Lejeune and Antolinus dominated the 80km event and Chorier won the 40km race, the ECOTRAIL Funchal is much more than elite names racing and setting records. The race is all about motivation and inspiration. This was reflected in the 17km event where local people arrived in their hundreds to take part and support
The race, the people and the island rely on tourism and without doubt, the ECOTRAIL race adds a great boost.
The 80km and 40km races
The race started by following the main streets of the town heading east and then up to Curral dos Rameiros and Monte. Following trails, technical at times they head to the 1800m summit at Pico do Arieiro and then drop like stones to Allegria (this is the 40km start). Navigating through suburban streets a brutal uphill follows and then a descent to Ribeira Grande, Santo Antonio. At Levada Negra another steep climb awaits, unfortunately this is the nature of Madeira trails; they go up and down! From Pico de Buxo they drop downhill towards the sea and stunning views of Funchal. Following trails and paths they navigate to the finish in Funchal with a final stretch running along the coast and the finish in Avenida do Infante.
17km
Starts from Pico de Barelo and takes in the final sections of the 80km and 40km events to finish on the Avenida do Infante in Funchal.
Race Results
In the 80km race, Arnaud Lejeune lead from the front and had a stunning day on the trails of Madeira. Despite a fall, he arrived in Funchal looking strong. Fabien Antoninus played the bridesmaid and as the latter stages of the race unfolded he obviously decided to take his foot of the gas and save some energy.
In the 40km race, Julien Chorier raced in 2nd place for most of the day behind Marco Silva but at around 34km, he pulled away and took a strong victory on a course that he said was, ‘very tough challenging and technical!’
The 17km race was all about fun and in many scenarios it provided a first race opportunity for many locals. No doubt, they will be inspired to look ahead to 2016 and maybe move up to the 40km distance.
At the time of writing results are slowly but surely coming in as all races have not finished. We will update this post with information as and when available.
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