2012 Transvulcania Ultramarathon Results

Results from the 2012 Transvulcania ultramarathon.

By on May 12, 2012 | Comments

TransvulcaniaThe 2012 Transvulcania Ultramarathon, the first in the Ultra SkyMarathon Series, is now complete! Below you’ll find results from Saturday’s 83.3-kilometer jaunt over and around the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, as well as the island’s notorious volcano.

In the men’s race, practically the whole field led at the first checkpoint, the little village of Los Canarios on the southern end of La Palma. In reality, Dakota Jones came first through that initial checkpoint, setting the stage for what would be a world-class performance. In the rest of the race, Dakota was either the leader or within spitting distance of him. By 60 kilometers, it was a race of three men: Dakota Jones (post-race interview, race report), Andy Symonds, and Kilian Jornet. Over a 20-kilometer, 2,400-meter descent, Dakota and Andy put two minutes on Kilian, which they continued to increase over the remainder of the 83.3-kilometer course. In the end, Dakota bested Andy by just over a minute, with Kilian crossing and collapsing into the finish line and medical care about nine minutes later. All’s well that ends well, though, because Kilian now says he’s just fine.

Dakota Jones on his way to winning the 2012 Transvulcania Ultramarathon (Ian Corless/Talk Ultra photo credit)

Andy Symonds on the Transvulcania course (Ian Corless/Talk Ultra photo credit)

Kilian turns to a cheering crowd at the Transvulcania finish line (Meghan Hicks/iRunFar.com photo credit)

In the women’s race, it wasn’t a race for first place. Young and eager gunner Anna Frost (post-race video interview) led the race from line to line, running in her quintessential aggressive style. At each checkpoint, Anna slowly, surely, and commandingly grew that lead so that, when she crossed the finish line, she broke the previous course record by more than 1 hour and 45 minutes! Mid-race reports indicated that Anna had her own, personal ups and downs. If the verticality of La Palma and its volcano are any indication, that’s probably the nature of the Transvulcania Ultramarathon beast. Nuria Picas also ran strong throughout the day. By the 26.8-kilometer checkpoint, she slipped into second place, a position she’d hold without contention to the finish. Third place Nikki Kimball started her day conservatively, then moved steadily through the field. When she passed through the 77-kilometer checkpoint, she had sprouted an eight-minute lead over any other challenger.

Nuria Picas, Anna Frost, and Nikki Kimball make the women’s podium (Salomon Running photo credit)

The top three ladies know how to celebrate (Marcus Warner/Ultra168 photo credit)

2012 Transvulcania Men’s Results

  1. Dakota Jones (Montrail) – 6:59:07 (Course Record – Old Course Record: 7:32:12, Miguel Heras, 2011) (post-race interview, race report)
  2. Andy Symonds (Salomon) – 7:00:34 (race report – English, French)
  3. Kilian Jornet (Salomon) – 7:09:53 (post-race video interview)
  4. Francois D’Haene (Salomon) – 7:23:40
  5. Iker Karrera (Salomon) – 7:38:58
  6. Erik Clavery (Asics) – 7:46:51
  7. Jordi Ginesta – 7:48:28
  8. Thomas Lorblanchet (Salomon) – 8:02:27
  9. Giuliano Cavallo – 8:03:36
  10. Rickey Gates (Salomon) – 8:04:24 (race report) [article removed]

Other notables:

12. Joe Grant (Arc’teryx) – 8:10:25
14. Mike Wolfe (The North Face) – 8:14:59
16. Ian Sharman (The North Face) – 8:20:54 (race report)
17. Gustavo Reyes (Salomon) – 8:21:52
46. Csaba Nemeth – 9:33:24
DNS. Anton Krupicka (New Balance)
DNS. Miguel Heras (Salomon)
DNF. Geoff Roes (Montrail)
DNF. Sebastien Chaigneau (The North Face)

Full results

2012 Transvulcania Women’s Results

  1. Anna Frost (Salomon) – 8:11:30 (Course Record – Old Course Record: 10:00:03, Mónica Aguilera, 2011) (post-race video interview, race report)
  2. Nuria Picas – 8:51:59
  3. Nikki Kimball (The North Face) – 9:10:00
  4. Darcy Africa (Pearl Izumi) – 9:17:35
  5. Uxue Azpeitia – 9:21:11
  6. Maud Gobert (Adidas) – 9:54:40
  7. Leire Iruretagoyena – 10:05:45
  8. Judit Alvarez – 10:11:17
  9. Teresa Perez – 10:17:05
  10. Andrea Calmbach (Salomon) – 10:37:03

Other notables:

DNF. Julia Bottger (Salomon)
DNF. Kasia Zajac (Salomon)
DNF. Corrine Favre (Salomon)
DNF. Regine Enenkel (Salomon)
DNF. Monica Aguilera (Salomon)

Full results

Additional Resources

Meghan Hicks

Meghan Hicks is the Editor-in-Chief of iRunFar. She’s been running since she was 13 years old, and writing and editing about the sport for around 15 years. She served as iRunFar’s Managing Editor from 2013 through mid-2023, when she stepped into the role of Editor-in-Chief. Aside from iRunFar, Meghan has worked in communications and education in several of America’s national parks, was a contributing editor for Trail Runner magazine, and served as a columnist at Marathon & Beyond. She’s the co-author of Where the Road Ends: A Guide to Trail Running with Bryon Powell. She won the 2013 Marathon des Sables, finished on the podium of the Hardrock 100 Mile in 2021, and has previously set fastest known times on the Nolan’s 14 mountain running route in 2016 and 2020. Based part-time in Moab, Utah and Silverton, Colorado, Meghan also enjoys reading, biking, backpacking, and watching sunsets.