The third annual Eiger Ultra Trail took place today in the shadow of Switzerland’s famed Eiger. In its 101-kilometer (63-mile) headline race, which boasts 6,700 meters (almost 22,000 feet) of climb, another stop on the Ultra-Trail World Tour, France’s Caroline Chaverot and Switzerland’s Urs Jenzer took home the wins. Read on for the full story on the women’s and men’s races.
As usual, we’ll be updating this article with additional results as well as links to Eiger-related articles, photo galleries, and race reports. Check back!
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2015 Eiger Ultra Trail Men’s Race
If you’re Swiss, you surely know who Urs Jenzer is. In addition to a plethora of great longer-distance mountain running results in his home country, he’s participated in each of the three editions of the Eiger Ultra Trail. In 2013, he finished second to winner Iker Karrera. In 2014, he won. And now this year he successfully defended last year’s win. Urs ran powerfully and in the lead almost all day, after letting the early movement among men’s runners shake out. By 33 kilometers in, Urs assumed the lead, led the pace of the men’s race and fended off all the men behind him.
Urs Jenzer, 2015 Eiger Ultra Trail champion. Photo: Alexis Berg/UTWT
American Jason Schlarb was Urs’s all-day lurker. At each checkpoint after the earliest, he was just right there, a couple minutes behind. It seemed that the pair accordion-ed with each other some, with the time separating the two growing and shrinking as they each worked through personal highs and lows and terrain that suited one or the other. However, in the end, Jason came up about 6.5 minutes shy of the win, arrived to the finish line looking like he’d given his all, and had set himself nearly 40 minutes ahead of the rest of the men’s field.
Jason Schlarb on his way to second place. Photo: Alexis Berg/UTWT
Portugal’s David Quelhas ran most of the race in his final podium position, though he also spent a bit of time in fourth place. While he was almost 45 minutes back from the win, his strong running kept the rest of the men behind him at bay, and he took home third place.
David Quelhas, 2015 Eiger Ultra Trail third place. Photo: Alexis Berg/UTWT
Sangé Sherpa took fourth, Csaba Nemeth fifth, Shunsuke Okunomiya sixth, Christophe Le Saux seventh, David Jeker eighth, Ramon Casanovas ninth, and Robin Houghton 10th.
2015 Eiger Ultra Trail Men’s Race Results
- Urs Jenzer — 11:44:30
- Jason Schlarb (Altra) — 11:50:58
- David Quelhas — 12:27:36
- Sangé Sherpa — 12:34:21
- Csaba Nemeth (Mammut) — 12:35:38
- Shunsuke Okunomiya — 12:50:54
- Christophe Le Saux (WAA) — 12:54:03
- David Jeker — 13:03:01
- Ramon Casanovas — 13:16:48
- Robin Houghton — 13:20:10
2015 Eiger Ultra Trail Women’s Race
France’s Caroline Chaverot is suddenly winning everything, everywhere, and, in doing so, threatening many of the top men, too. Really, there was no other woman who challenged Caroline all day. She started off the front and stayed that way, and she soon worked her way well into the top-10 men as well. Her women’s win was also good for sixth place in the overall race. Talk about a woman who has emerged as world-level dominator in longer-distance mountain ultras.
Caroline Chaverot on her way to winning the 2015 Eiger Ultra Trail. Photo: Alexis Berg/UTWT
Andrea Huser really brought it to this course through her home country. Much like the men’s race where Urs and Jason set themselves apart from the rest of the men’s field, there was a big break from Caroline and Andrea to the third-place woman and beyond. After a little early-race shuffling around, Andrea settled into second place and stayed there until the end, finishing seven minutes off the win.
Andrea Huser, 2015 Eiger Ultra Trail second place. Photo: Alexis Berg/UTWT
Italy’s Francesca Canepa has raced all three editions of Eiger Ultra Trail, winning the 2013 and 2014 races without challenge from other women. Today she ran her fastest time by about 18 minutes, but the increased level of women’s competition meant she would finish third. Her race was strong and steady, and she held her third position basically all day. Though she was about 28 minutes off the lead, she was also the same amount of time ahead of any other woman.
Francesca Canepa takes third at the 2015 Eiger Ultra Trail. Photo: UTWT
Fourth place was Uxue Fraile, fifth place was Denise Zimmermann, sixth was Helen Ogi, seventh was Emilie Lecomte, eighth was Sylvie Quittot, ninth was Kristin Berglund, and 10th was Marion Braun.
2015 Eiger Ultra Trail Women’s Results
- Caroline Chaverot (Hoka One One) — 12:45:41
- Andrea Huser — 12:52:43
- Francesca Canepa — 13:13:47
- Uxue Fraile (Vibram) — 13:37:41
- Denise Zimmermann — 14:14:21
- Helene Ogi — 14:31:31
- Emilie Lecomte — 14:33:23
- Sylvie Quittot (Renault) — 15:45:32
- Kristin Berglund — 16:10:46
- Marion Braun — 16:46:03
2015 Eiger Ultra Trail Articles, Race Reports, and More
Race Reports
David Jeker, eighth man[broken link removed]
