I’m on vacation this week, even if it is just a trip to my native Buckeye state. May our ‘This Week in Running’ column and its coverage of the Limone Extreme Skyrace and other adventures make for a similarly relaxed start to your week.
Limone Extreme Skyrace – Limone, Italy
After 22 races, this year’s Skyrunner World Series concluded at the 29k Limone Extreme Skyrace. Specifically the race was part of the Sky Classic division, though its points totaled to a runner’s overhaul total in the combined Classic, Ultra, and Extreme chase. That is, there was a fourth Overall rank that pooled runners across divisions.
Each of the Classic, Extreme, and Overall division series paid out 5,000 Euro to their winners. The payday to the Ultra series winner was 4,000 Euro.
Men
Jan Margarit (Spain) had gotten the better of Marco de Gasperi (Italy) on three different occasions this year. De Gasperi reversed that trend here, though, and crushed the final technical descent to gain the win. Margarit, who took a tumble at this critical point, trailed the victor by 26 seconds. Both finished in 3:07. iRunFar correspondent Ian Campbell said, “The Italian crowds saved their loudest cheers for De Gasperi, the home favorite.”
Third-place Stefan Knopf (Germany) ran 3:10. Deeper results included:
- Hector Haines (U.K.) – 8th, 3:19
- Kiril Nikolov (Bulgaria) – 9th, 3:20
- Stian Angermund (Norway) – 11th, 3:22
- Aritz Egea (Spain) – 15th, 3:28
The points gained here allowed De Gasperi to overtake Egea for the Sky Classic series win.
Although Limone, too, counted toward the Skyrunner World Series Overall rank, the top ranks went unchanged with Jon Albon (U.K.) finishing first.
Marco De Gasperi, 2017 Limone Extreme champion. Photo: Ian Campbell
Women
Tove Alexandersson (Sweden), welcome to iRunFar! She is a four-time world orienteering champion, and an eight-time world ski-orienteering champion. What is ski orienteering? It is a type of cross-country skiing. The orienteering ace surprised some of the world’s best runners and won in Limone. She finished in 3:31, an improbable 12 minutes better than anyone else. iRunFar correspondent Ian Campbell said of her, “She literally ran herself to the ground, crossing the finish line and collapsing having cuts on both knees, arms and hands that required medical attention.”
Tove Alexandersson, 2017 Limone Extreme champion. Photo: Ian Campbell
Michelle Maier (Germany) was second in 3:43 and Ragna Debats (Netherlands) was third in 3:45.
In the the Sky Classic series, Sheila Avilés (Spain) used a fifth-place Limone finish to jump in front of Laura Orgué (Spain). Just third entering this, the series finale, Avilés captured the series title in part thanks to Orgué’s off-day 11th-place Limone finish.
Limone also settled the SkyRunner World Series Overall title, a combo of points from the Sky Classic, Sky Ultra, and Sky Extreme races. Maite Maiora (Spain) clung to a scant 6.4-point lead over Debats entering Limone. And after an eighth-place Limone run, Maiora’s lead was cut to just 0.8 points. Regardless of the margin, though, Maiora was the Overall series champion, and collected the prize money because of it.
Debats’s big Skyrunning season finished with a fourth-place Sky Classic rank, a win in the Sky Ultra division, a second-place finish in the Sky Extreme series, and a second-place rank in the Overall series.
Full Limone results. Final 2017 Skyrunner World Series rankings.
Other Races and Runs
John Muir Trail Supported FKT Attempt
François D’haene is on his way as of 10 a.m. local time on Saturday morning, October 14. Racing the clock on the 223-mile John Muir Trail of California in pursuit of Leor Pantilat‘s three day, seven hour, and 36 minute best from 2014. A Tuesday morning update, a little bit ago, François finished and set a new FKT in 2 days, 19 hours, and 26 minutes, taking the supported JMT FKT mark well below the three-day mark. Just weeks ago, Darcy Piceu set the women’s supported FKT at three days, seven hours, and 57 minutes.
WC-50 Ultra Trail Marathon
A 50k or 50 miler? We’re not sure which, but according to this social media, Karl Meltzer won his 59th ultra at the WC-50 Ultra Trail Marathon in North Carolina, which hosted both distances. Monday afternoon update, the results are up and they show that Meltzer won the 50k in 5:08. First woman was Sarah Broadwell in 5:48. It looks like Jonathan Faryadi and Natalie Daniel won the 50 miler in 9:27 and 11:21, respectively. Full results.
Soulstice Mountain Trail Run
Chris and Alicia Vargo won the Flagstaff, Arizona Soulstice Mountain Trail Run 6 miler in 40:31 and 47:03. Alicia was also second overall. In the 11-mile race, David Sinclair and Emily Torrence won in 1:07 and 1:19. Full results (the results for both races are, confusingly, in one list).
Elk-Kings 50k and 25k
Max King and Jennifer Love topped the technical singletrack Elk-Kings 25k in 2:12 and 2:55, respectively. In the double out-and-back 50k, Timothy Reed and Hannah Bright were race’s fastest in 4:05 and 5:07. Full results.
The Runner’s Flat 50k
In Iowa, after a one-year gap, Phil Young returned to the winner’s position, and it took a new course record to get there. Young was pushed by Cory Logsdon to a 3:10 finish at the fourth-annual race. Logsdon was just 37 seconds back, and also under the previous course best. Jessica Hruska won the women’s race in 3:59, 34 seconds under the four-hour mark. Full results.
Oil Creek 100 Mile
Make it two years in a row and three of the last four for Daven Oskvig at Pennsylvania’s Oil Creek 100 Mile. First in 18:10, this year’s run bettered his 2016 and 2014 wins by seven and eight minutes. Alexandra Garner (Canada) won the women’s race in 21:30. Full results.
Moab 200 Mile
Wow, the Moab 200 Mile, whose name was recently changed to the Moab 240 Mile, is actually 238 miles! Courtney Dauwalter is the overall winner, having covered the inaugural race’s course in 57 hours and 52 minutes. At the time of this writing, on Sunday night and hours after Courtney’s finish, no other runners were within 20 miles of the finish line. A Monday morning update, Sean Nakamura won the men’s race, though we don’t know this official finish time. Live tracking.
The North Face Endurance Challenge – Chile
Five events ranging in distance from 158k down to 9k and held outside of Santiago. In the 158k, Gustavo Reyes and Tania Diez won in 23:12 and 29:40, respectively. Full results.
No Business 100 Mile
Held in Kentucky, the inaugural No Business 100 Mile also saw a woman as the overall winner. Alondra Bradley Moody brought home the bacon with a 20:30 finish. Winning man was Kyle Jacobson in 21:50. Full results.
Alondra Bradley Moody on her way to winning the 2017 No Business 100 Mile. Photo: Misty Wong
Next Weekend – Diagonale des Fous and other Ultra-Trail World Tour Events – Around the World
Just as the 22-race Skyrunner World Series concluded, the 22-race Ultra-Trail World Tour is fast approaching its December 2 year end. Three UTWT races are on the docket for next weekend–the 165k (102-mile) Diagonale des Fous, the 111k (69-mile) Trail de Bourbon, both on Réunion Island, France, and the 114k (71-mile) Cappadocia Ultra-Trail race in Turkey.
Diagonale des Fous will be the most competitive race of this group. Now in its 25th edition, the wild south-to-north island traverse is so rugged that it includes a 66-hour cutoff, partly thanks to its 9,700 meters (32,000 feet) of elevation gain.
Diagonale des Fous Men’s Preview
- Stephane Brogniart (France)
- Ludovic Camus (France)
- Sebastien Camus (France)
- Maxime Casajous (France)
- Julien Chorier (France)
- Anthony Gay (France)
- Miguel Heras (Spain)
- Diego Pazos (Switzerland)
- Ludovic Pommeret (France)
- Sangé Sherpa(Nepal but lives in France)
- Seth Swanson (USA)
Xavier Thévenard (France)- Freddy Thevenin (La Réunion)
- Jim Walmsley (USA)
Diagonale des Fous Women’s Preview
- Christine Benard (La Réunion)
- Maud Gobert (France)
- Liza Howard (USA)
- Andrea Huser (Switzerland)
- Emilie Lecomte (France)
- Fernanda Maciel (Brazil but lives in Spain)
- Elisabet Margeirsdottir (Iceland)
- Beth Pascall (Great Britain)
- Marcelle Puy (La Réunion)
François D’haene currently leads the UTWT, but holds a slim lead over Pau Capell (Spain), Thomas Evans (U.K.), and others. Núria Picas (Spain) is the women’s leader, with an even smaller lead over Andrea Huser (Switzerland).
Full entrants lists for the Diagonale des Fous, Trail du Bourbon, and Cappadocia Ultra-Trail.
Next Weekend – Les Templiers – Millau, France
Les Templiers is one of France’s premier trail races, and iRunFar will be there with live coverage! We’ve separately previewed the biggest of the event’s 11 races—the 76k (47-mile) Grand Trail des Templiers race. Top entrants include Jared Hazen (USA), Nico Martin (France), and Marc Lauenstein (Switzerland). The women’s race is headlined by Caroline Chaverot (France), Adeline Roche (France), Ida Nilsson (Sweden), and Emelie Forsberg (Sweden but living in Norway), though both the men’s and women’s races include exceptionally deep competitive groups.
Other Ultra News – 2019 Skyrunner World Series
Sky Classic, Sky Ultra, and Sky Extreme, oh my! Was that confusing? It’ll get better, but not until 2019.
In 2018, 18 races will be split between a Sky Classic and Sky Extra series, with the latter essentially being the accumulation of what was Sky Ultra and Sky Extreme.
And then in 2019, the Skyrunner World Series is dropping those categorizations as the brand focuses on shorter race courses, concentrating competition, and demanding performance versatility from its participants. That is, in two years, all races–22k to 66k in distance–will count toward a single ranking. The series will include 15 to 20 races, with four of those races being SuperSky races with four times as many points as the others, and with even more prize money for those four races.
A grand finale Sky Masters event will close the series, and be limited to only qualified runners.
A 100,000 Euro end-of-season prize purse will then be shared among the top-10 men and women, with 15,000 Euro to each of the men’s and women’s winners alone.
The 2018 Skyrunner World Series calendar and 2019 Skyrunner World Series vision.
Call for Comments
- Fill it up! The comments field, that is. Leave a comment to add details to results we have listed or to add results not yet covered.
- How about next weekend’s events, got any intel on who is primed for a good race? Leave a comment to share.
[Editor’s Note: Columnist Justin Mock and editor Meghan Hicks spend many hours per week compiling this article, and often doing so well ahead of races posting their results online–that is, by combing social media. We simply cannot cover all the trail and ultra races that take place each week, so we do our best to provide results of the most competitive races as well as a spectrum of additional events from around the world. Please feel absolutely welcome to leave comments with the results of races not covered in this article, and to leave additional information about the races from which we have shared results. Thank you for your understanding.]
