Luis Alberto Hernando (Adidas) is in incredible form at the moment. Transvulcania La Palma in May was his first ultra and he excelled in what was an incredible field. At the finish line he was second to an in-form Klian Jornet.
Weeks later, he once again pushed Kilian Jornet to the finish line at Zegama. This time it was oh so close…. just twelve seconds!
This weekend he will toe the line at Haria Extreme in Lanzarote. Last year he was triumphant over Tofol Castanyer. His time of 2:24:28 is the current course record and I wouldn’t be surprised on his current form if he may well beat this. He is certainly motivated.
When I asked him about Transvulcania, he replied, “It was my first ultra and all in preparation for my attempt at TNFUTMB in 2014”.
Very exciting to hear that Luis Alberto will move to the 100 mile distance. When I asked him about his next race, he confirmed, “I will race Kilian and very competitive field at Mont Blanc Marathon at the end of June. Kilian is the master but I hope to push him like I did in Zegama”.
Haria Extreme is 35km mountain race on the island of Lanzarote. The race will start at 0800 Local time (same as GMT) and you will be able to follow updates on Twitter and Facebook.
A beautiful race that sums up all that is great about mountain running, the 13th Zegama-Aizkorri Marathon, in which Emelie Forsberg and Kilian Jornet topped the podium.
Trail and mountain running beauty at its best! This is what Skyrunning is all about…
It was close… oh so close! Seconds separated Kilian Jornet and Luis Alberto Hernando at the 2013 Zegama-Aizkorri. Post race in a chat with Kilian, we discussed the race and he was extremely satisfied to be pushed so hard in the latter stages of the race.
“I had relaxed and was running comfortably and then suddenly Luis appeared” Kilian said, “I had a race on my hands, we pushed each other very hard and it was only in the final kilometre that I surged and pulled away”.
Luis Alberto Hernando is the 2011 World Champion and is clearly in great form at the moment. Only a couple of weeks ago he participated in his first ultra, Transvulcania La Palma, and here he placed second again behind Kilian.
Kilian and Marco, Zegama 2013 copyright Ian Corless
Marco De Gasperi, after some deliberation (ankle injury) toed the line and led the race to the 21 km check point with his sparring partner, Kilian Jornet. Kilian and Marco love to race each other and we have witnessed some tremendous battles over the years. However, Zegama would not see a repeat, Marco pulled out to ensure that he did not stress his injury any farther.
Luis Alberto Hernando worked his way through the field and pursued Kilian and finally caught him. What followed was a tremendous game of cat and mouse as the two pushed each other to the limit on the long and final descent.
Kilian pulled away in the final moments of the race to miss Rob Jebb’s 2005 course record by just 20 seconds, his finishing time 3:54:38. Luis Alberto Hernando finished just seconds later and Tadei Pivk produced a stunning run to finish third in 3:59:07.
It was really close…. Zegama 2013
The ladies race had all the makings of a classic. Emelie Forsberg, Nuria Picas, Oihana Kortazar, Silvia Serafini and Stevie Kremer would do battle on this classic mountain course.
World long course mountain running champion, Stevie Kremer pushed hard from the start and lead the race until over halfway but Emelie Forsberg paced herself extremely well. She took over the lead and then slowly pulled away to ultimately dominate the race for a stunning win in 4:48:12.
Emelie Forsberg copyright Ian Corless
The first half of the race was fast and furious, but as time and distance progressed experience came through. In particular, Nuria Picas, the2012 Skyrunner Ultra champion and fresh from her second place at Transvulcaniawho was out of the top five in the first half of the race. She moved through the field, hunted runners down and then passed Stevie Kremer on the descent to be place second.
Nuria Picas copyright Ian Corless
Stevie Kremer (pre race interview here) running her first SkyMarathon performed superbly and without doubt is a star of the future. She openly said, “I need to work on my descending, it is what let me down today”.
Stevie Kremer copyright Ian Corless
As Nuria waved to the crowd she almost lost second place as Stevie burst around the corner of the finishing straight. The time gap shows how close it was at the finish, 4:49:55 for Nuria and 4:49:58 for Stevie. Without doubt we will be seeing Stevie on podium again throughout the 2013 calendar.
A notable mention must also go to Silvia Serafini (pre race interviewhere). Silvia was having a stunning race and was in third place for much of the race, but she twisted her ankle on the final descent. She finally finished within the top ten but the frustration of what might have been was clear to see on her face and she fell to the floor after crossing the finish line.
Silvia Serafini copyright Ian Corless
Zegama-Aizkorri is renowned for the severity of the course, the ability of the runners and the passion of the supporters. It’s a pleasure and a honour to witness the action unfold and the atmosphere is akin to a stage of the Tour de France.
The crowds and the passion, Zegama 2013 copyright Ian Corless
Skyrunning is not just about fast ascents, but even faster descents – a technique that distinguishes the sport. Many strong runners new to the sport, like Germany’s Florian Reichert, Japan’s Toru Miyahara and South African A J Caltiz, who excelled on the uphill, will be honing their skills on the downhill for the next Sky Series challenge in Chamonix on June 30 with theMont-Blanc Marathon.
Episode 35 – It’s all about Transvulcania! We have a special co host, Anna Frost or ‘Frosty’ as she is affectionately known. We have post race interviews with the men’s winner, Kilian Jornet. The ladies winner, Emelie Forsberg. We catch up with 3rd place, Sage Canaday, 4th place, Timothy Olson, 7th place, Cameron Clayton and top 50 runner, Dave James. In addition to all the Transvulcania excitement we have a blog, 15 minutes of fame with Robbie Britton, Talk Training, up and coming races and of course the news.
Show Notes:
00:00:45 Start
00:05:35 News
Transvulcania La Palma – La Palma
Kilian Jornet – 6:54:09 NEW COURSE RECORD*
Luis Alberto Hernando – 6:58:31 (*beat the old course record)
Sage Canaday – 7:09:57
Timothy Olson – 7:11:53
Patrick Bringer – 7:17:19
Emelie Forsberg – 8:13:22
Nuria Picas – 8:19:30
Uxue Fraile – 8:44:48
Nathalie Mauclair – 8:46:14
Emilie Lecomte – 10:14:05
00:10:58 Kilian Jornet & Emelie Forsberg discuss Trnsvulcania 2013 and what is coming up in the future.
00:31:06 Back to news
Ellie Greenwood pulls out of Comrades!
Quad Rock 50
Josh Arthur (Crested Butte, Colo.) pushed his win streak to three. Arthur kicked up and down 12,000 feet of climbing and descent in 7:44, finishing 4 minutes off the course record. Paul Hamilton (Fort Collins, Colo.), racing his second ultra, tagged the line at 7:50 for runner-up honors. Defending champ Ryan Burch (Fort Collins, Colo.) atoned for a disappointing Lake Sonoma finish with a third-place 8:00
Kerrie Bruxvoort pushed the women’s course record way down to 9:24. Becky Wheeler (Casper, Wyo.) was second in 9:42 and Kris Klotzbach third, for the second straight year.
Ice Age 50
Cassie Scallon at Ice Age, she trashed a course record that had stood since 1995 by 17 minutes, finishing the 50-mile race in 6:48. Last month she won the Lake Sonoma 50 in course-record fashion too. Fave for Western States? Denise Bourassa (Bend, Ore.), last year’s Ice Age winner, was second in 7:53, 67 minutes behind Scallon. Lee Conner was third in 8:36.
David Riddle (Cincinnati, Ohio) dominated the men’s race in 5:56, the race’s third-fastest time ever and only 3 minutes off Andy Jones’ record from 1988. Brian Condon (Madison, Wis.), a 2:30 marathoner, had an incredibly successful 50-mile debut with a second-place 6:07. Zach Bitter (Marinette, Wis.), last year’s U.S. 50-mile trail champ, was third in 6:08
Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim
Rob Krar 36-year-old pharmacist blasted across the Grand Canyon and back — 42 miles — in 6:21, shattering Dakota Jones’ former fastest known time by a whopping 32 minutes. Krar’s time is mind-boggling for its gap on everyone else, on a well-tested 42-mile trail. Prior to Krar’s attempt, only three men, DakotaJones, Anton Krupicka, and Dave Mackey have finished in less than 7 hours.
IAU 24 hours – Steenbergen in the Netherlands
Jon Olsen (USA) took top honours in the men’s race. He ran a distance of 269.675km leading the way. John Dennis (USA) finished in 2nd place running a distance of 262.734km followed by Florian Reus (GER) running 259.939km.
In the women’s race, Mami Kudo (JPN) won the gold medal with a distance of 252.205km. Sabrina Little (USA) finished in 2nd place running 244.669km followed by Suzanna Bon (USA) who ran 236.228km.
Malvern Hills Ultra
Two races 85m which only two finished!
Andy Arnold in 26hr 9 min and Tommy Houghton in 26hr 49m
The 52 mile even had more finishers…
Darryl Carter 7:47, Kevin McMillan 8:46 and Toby Courage 8:50
Louise Staples was 1st lady in 10:24
00:42:38 Blog – Dakota Jones has just produced a very funny piece for iRunFar HERE
“I knew before leaving that my Lake Sonoma course record had been broken. Sage Canaday had tattooed my splits onto his arm and run several minutes faster than my time from last year. I called him to congratulate him on the effort, but inside a deep bitterness was brewing that I knew would have to be satisfied someday, most likely violently. So you can imagine my surprise upon learning that both my Grand Canyon double crossing record AND my Transvulcania record had been broken in the span of a week (Rob Krar – 6:21:47 at the GC; K-dog– 6:54:09 at TV). With those records went my few claims to success in the ultrarunning world, and with those claims went my credibility as an athlete. I felt lost. After much thought I realized that my only recourse would be to do what any self-respecting loser would do: deny the point of the records at all and deride the people who put stock in them.”
00:46:10 Talk Training with Marc Laithwaite
01:05:40 The Interviews – Sage Canaday, Timothy Olson, Cameron Clayton & Dave James all discuss Transvulcania and what lies ahead for the future months.
Following on from Transvulcania I have just seen this incredible movie by Christoph Malin
Video link – http://vimeo.com/53845425
In Christoph’s words….
Inhale the fresh air, smell the refreshing scent of the green pine forests glowing above black volcano sands, no sound but the wind in the trees. A deep blue sky matches with the blue atlantic ocean far below. Epic volcanic trails lead trough an unique archaic landscape. Feel the elements. Be yourself, at the “Island in the Sky”.
This short film, a homage to the beautiful Island of La Palma – “Europe’s Hawaii” – was like a never ending project for me. More than one and a half years of work…. photographing, processing, re-processing, selecting and de-selecting footage, some weeks filming…
I had certain pictures in mind – the scenes, locations, and moods. Every interesting place I had spotted during many stays on the Island while Hiking or guiding Bike Groups was considered.
I hiked up Volcanoes, stayed awake all night on stormy ridges, slept like a dead on the beach next morning. Pre-processed nights footage at the Apartment later, to validate what scenes worked, or needed to be repeated. Hurried back up the mountains before sunset for new setups. Finally got some rest and watched the clouds and stars move. Feeling small in the universe. And tired and dizzy, as well.
Night-Timelapse filming is an art, a struggle to live from, tough on your biorhythm – and needs a lot of passion, love and dedication. Passion for the work, love for nature and wilderness, being alone in the night. Back at the office in the timelapse studio it needs dedication and endurance in front of my workstations working trough the image data.
Which is the toughest part for me – I am not the office guy. I hate sitting in front of a Computer screen too much. And that is what you do with Timelapse. Way too much. After cleaning up the project, 906.65 GB and 83846 RAW images and movie-sequences remained for processing. And there is no automatism, each software at the workflow needs to be fed with each sequence separately, to deliver results…
On some key scenes of this film I have even worked over several months, trying different variations on color-reprocessing, iterating them many times. I am still not sure if they are good now. You judge.
Thanks to all who support me, especially my family. Thanks to Babak Tafreshi of Twanight.org for providing the legendary GRANTECAN Intro and MAGIC-from-the-side Footage (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAGIC_(telescope). Props to the Folks at IAC.es and Visitlapalma.es! Horay to the team at TWANight.org for tips and feedback! Awesome to Nikon NPS!
Building on the 2012 Skyrunner® World Series success and the introduction of the Ultras, 2013 prepares for an even bigger star-studded cast.
The line-up of champions is headed by 2012 SWS winners Kilian Jornet, Emelie Forsberg and Nuria Picas, joined by past world champions Emanuela Brizio, Oihana Kortazar, Luis Alberto Hernando and Tofol Castanyer and WMRA champions Marco De Gasperi and Stevie Kremer.
Nuria Picas copyright Ian Corless
Philipp Reiter copyright Ian Corless
Emelie Forsberg copyright Ian Corless
With some of the big American ultra legends crossing the pond last year to get a taste of skyrunning, the word is out! Joining them this year: Anton Krupicka, Dakota Jones, Rickey Gates, Mike Foote, Timothy Olson, Joe Grant….
Kilian and Tony Krupicka copyright Ian Corless
Dakota Jones copyright Ian Corless
It’s full immersion for Kilian Jornet who, with his unique skills, will participate in no less than all threeSeries: Vertical, Sky and Ultra!
Kilian Jornet copyright Ian Corless
Lizzy Hawker will be toeing the start-line at the Series’ first 100-miler while Anna Frost will take part in both the Sky and the Ultra Series. The mix includes Phillip Reiter and Julia Böttger from Germany, top French names: Francois d’Haene, Julien Chorier, Michel Lanne, Yann Curien, Maud Gobert and Stephanie Jimenez,Britons Andy Symonds and Tom Owens, Canada’s Adam Campbell.
Marco de Gasperi – copyright Ian Corless
Anna Frost copyright Ian Corless
Strong team participation is engaged right across the Series headed by the heavy-duty Salomon team as well as hefty, international line-ups from inov-8, La Sportiva, Salomon Agisko and Arc’teryx, The North Face, Haglöfs, Montrail, Scott as well teams from Spain, Italy, Russia, Japan
Take a look at the mix here. Have we got everybody?
You’re still in time to join the throng and remember, if you’re competing in the World Series, there’s always a slot available for you.
Follow us for who goes where as the skyrunning season unfolds.
A highlight of the 2012 race calendar and without doubt a highlight of the 2013 calendar.
Zegama – Aizkorri has opened for pre registrations. Don’t hang around. If you want to race in the mountains on some tough technical terrain with the best in the world, then is is one for you!
The 2012 edition of the race was remembered for many reasons. A stacked field (Transvulcania had happened just 7 days before) that included Max King, Kilian Jornet, Mike Wolfe, Dakota Jones, Nick Clarke, Tom Owens, Joe Grant, Ian Sharman, Luis Alberto Hernando, Nuria Picas, Emelie Forsberg, Zhanna Vokueva, Lauen Jeska, Oihna Kortazar and many more…
The dry and hot volcanic conditions of Tranzvulcania contrasted nicely with the torrential rain, cold temperatures, snow and thick mud of the Zegama-Aizkorri race with tough man of the ultra scene, Nick Clarke saying:
“Now that is a proper mountain race… I wasn’t ready for that!”
42.195 kilometres / 5,472 metres of accumulated height gain.
26th of May, 2013
ZEGAMA [Gipuzkoa]
DESCRIPTION
A medium mountain route over the Aratz massif and the Sierra of Aizkorri which includes the four highest peaks in the Basque Autonomous Region ( Aratz – Aitzkorri –Akategi and Aitxuri ). From the town of Zegama ( 296m) you climb up to the high point of Otzaurte (652m ) and then follow a route along paths and mountain tracks of great natural beauty. It combines forests with steep rocky slopes and high grazing land. It is very technical and with a high level of difficulty.
DATE: 26th of May, 2013
START AND FINISH: Zegama ( Guipúzcoa ) –09:00 Start.
TOTAL LENGTH: 42.195 km.
CONTROL POINTS: 14
REFRESHMENT POINTS: 13
FLYING SPRINT: Aizkorri ( 22.58 km )
ACCUMULATED HEIGHT GAIN: 5.472 metres
MAXIMUM ALTITUDE: 1.551m Aitxurri
MINIMUM ALTITUDE: 296m Zegama.
TECHNICAL PERCENTAGE OF COURSE: 70% approx.
CLIMATE: Medium mountain, possibilities of intense heat, strong winds, fog or rain.
Looking back over the 2012 skyrunning season, it was, to say the least, an intensive year. It was a year of major transition from the past format of main races and trials, to the introduction of the Ultra distance and separate circuits. The transition was complicated and not without difficulties but it paved the way for a completely revised 2013 format.
The season saw triumph and tragedy, great champions, bright young stars, new races and spectacular locations.
At the beginning of the season in May, the introduction of the Ultra Series wrote a new page in skyrunning history. The Transvulcania Ultra Marathon not only perfectly embodied skyrunning’s “sea to sky” concept, but had probably the deepest field of world class runners to date, including American legends likeAnton Krupicka, Geoff Roes, Rickey Gates, Mike Wolfe Joe Grant and 21year-old Dakota Jones who went on to win the race. Dakota, Tony and Joe came back for more…
The more gruelling courses typical of European skyrunning have almost surprisingly gone down well with the American runners, giving us the conviction to keep it “tough and technical“ rather than provide a watered-down version to appeal to a wider public – something to look forward to on the other side of the Atlantic next year together with a selection of the best that Europe has to offer…and our first 100-miler.
The 2012 SkyMarathon® Ultra Series has represented the first and most important encounter among top European and American Ultra runners with a level so high that all the mens’ race records in the Series were broken! Legendary ultra runners competing in the Series (apart from those mentioned above) include: Kilian Jornet, Ikker Karera, Andy Symonds, Dawa Sherpa, Francois D’Haene, Erik Clavery, Seb Chaigneau and among the women: Nuria Picas, Anna Frost, Lizzy Hawker, Maud Gobert, Darcy Africa, and Nikki Kimball.
Kilian Jornet the sport’s top star, yet again gave a command performance taking not only the World Series combined title, but also the Ultra Series title, totalling seven outright victories and two third positions in all three disciplines. 2011 World Series champion Luis Alberto Hernando placed second and Britain’s Tom Owens moved steadily up the ranking to take third position. Ultra Series’ runner-up was Andy Symonds and Germany’s Philipp Reiter placed third.
It’s in the women’s field that the most rapid revolution lies however. Young, talented runners with no skyrunning history debut and rise to glory in just one season and, note, women are finishing in the top ten overall, closing the gender gap. Sweden’s Emelie Forsberg is one of these ladies. Twenty-five years-old, she ran her first skyrunning race just this year and in only one season conquered the World Series combined title in a field stacked with highly competitive Spanish runners like Nuria Picas, Blanca Maria Serrano and Nuria Dominguez.
Nuria Picas has finally shown that talent and determination go a long way by winning some of the toughest races on the Series. She finished second after Forsberg in the World Series combined ranking and won the Ultra Series outright. Anna Frost, after a superb start at the Transvulcania Ultra, was plagued by injury throughout the season but fought tenaciously for a second position in the Ultra ranking where Forsberg placed third.
Alongside Forsberg, another star was born: 23 year-old Italian, Silvia Serafini who, like Forsberg, began skyrunning just this year, testing her skills in all three disciplines to climb to third position in the world ranking.
Two world records highlighted the Vertical Kilometer® Series on the gruelling course in Fully, Switzerland with1,000 metres elevation gain over just 1.9 km distance. The men’s record of 30’42” set by Italian Urban Zemmer is just a short step from climbing at 2,000 metres per hour – upwards! French runner Christel Dewalle set the women’s record in 36’48”. Overall Vertical Kilometer® Series champions were Urban Zemmer and Spain’s Laura Orgué.
In 2012, prize money amounting to €140,000 (including the Series’ final prizes) was awarded to 148 athletes. The figures are still small for the huge effort and incredible performances involved, but as the sport grows, prize money will do like-wise. Complimentary accommodation, travel subsidies and promotion are more ways that a top runner can benefit – and so will the sponsor. Major industry players are now investing in trail running and many brands have top runners and teams participating in the Series. See Team ranking
Media coverage of skyrunning events reached new heights this year from print to websites, blogs and social media, to videos, podcasts and television on a global level. A big thanks goes to all those who followed the skyrunning heroes through thick and thin, in heat and cold and darkness, breaking news in real time and capturing high-flying emotions in images, text and videos.
Look out for the 2013 Skyrunner® World Series calendar to be announced next week. We’ll be focussing on new events and personalities, a worldwide ranking for runners and races, regulations and safety issues as well as the announcement of the 2013 European and 2014 World Championships.
It’s in the women’s field that the most rapid revolution lies however. Young, talented runners with no skyrunning history debut and rise to glory in just one season and, note, women are finishing in the top ten overall, closing the gender gap. Sweden’s Emelie Forsberg is one of these ladies. Twenty-five years-old, she ran her first skyrunning race just this year and in only one season conquered the World Series combined title in a field stacked with highly competitive Spanish runners like Nuria Picas, Blanca Maria Serrano and Nuria Dominguez.
IAN CORLESS 