Vamanos! Let’s go to Spain for the Transvulcania Ultramarathon and Penyagolosa Trails. Other highlights in this week’s big, star-filled column include the UROC 100k, the Quad Rock 50 Mile, and the Quicksilver 100k. Summer is a coming, oh yeah.
Transvulcania Ultramarathon – La Palma, Canary Islands
Women
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Ida Nilsson (Sweden) stepped to the starting line as the race favorite, thanks to two-straight wins on the 74-kilometer (46-mile) Transvulcania Ultramarathon course, and then went on to do exactly as expected. Nilsson delivered a wire-to-wire victory, finishing the point-to-point island traverse in 8:40. Although this year’s race did perhaps suffer some talent drain with competing races on the same weekend, three consecutive wins at an internationally competitive race like Transvulcania certainly is a rarity and cause for celebration.
Nilsson’s victory wasn’t without uncertainty though. She was challenged throughout and second-place Mònica Comas (Spain) finished just six minutes back in 8:46. Up-and-comer Kelly Wolf (USA) was third, another three minutes behind Comas.
Other notable results included:
- Brittany Peterson (USA) – 4th, 8:59
- Ekaterina Mityaeva (Russia) – 5th, 9:13
- Anna Mae Flynn (USA) – 6th, 9:22
- Emilie Lecomte (France) – 12th, 10:25
- Cassie Scallon (USA) – 13th, 10:49
- Ildikó Wermescher (Hungary) – 16th, 11:02
Ida Nilsson, 2018 Transvulcania Ultramarathon champion, her third-straight win of the race. Photo: Skyrunner World Series
Men
If Nilsson’s win was to be expected, then Pere Aurell (Spain) finishing on top was just as much a surprise. He gained the lead at the race’s high point, and then withstood a strong challenge from a fast-descending Dmitry Mityaev (Russia). Aurell finished in 7:37, 56 seconds in front of runner-up Mityaev. While Aurell has been on the Skyrunning as well as the trail-ultra scene for a few years, a win at Transvulcania is a definite peak.
Thibaut Garrivier (France) was third in 7:42.
Other notable finishers included:
- Marco De Gasperi (Italy) – 4th, 7:44
- Xavier Thévenard (France) – 5th, 7:46
- Daniel Jung (Italy) – 7th, 7:51
- Morgan Elliott (USA) – 9th, 7:54
- Michel Lanne (France) – 11th, 8:05
- Cole Watson (USA) – 12th, 8:07
- Cody Reed (USA) – 13th, 8:14
The race was the year’s second Skyrunner World Series contest, and the next is the May 27 Zegama-Aizkorri Marathon, also in Spain.
Pere Aurell, 2018 Transvulcania champion. Photo: Skyrunner World Series
Transvulcania Alternate Distances – La Palma, Canary Islands
The big island festival included several other race distances too, and though of lesser recognition, these races too were dotted with other world-class runners.
Women
Maria Zorroza (Spain) led the women’s marathon race in 4:51, and Laura Orgué (Spain) won the half marathon in 2:45. Orgué was also second in the day prior’s Vertical K, trailing Christel Dewalle (France) in that one. Dewalle, it must be noted, served a four-month doping suspension in 2017.
Men
In the men’s marathon, Danilson Silva (Cape Verde) won in 4:05, and perhaps made history with the first-ever iRunFar Cape Verde reference. Stian Angermund-Vik (Norway) won the half marathon, but like Orgué, was similarly relegated to second in the Vertical K. Pascal Egli (Switzerland) won the men’s VK.
UROC 100k – Skylark, Virginia
Women
Amanda Basham made it two in a row at the UROC 100k. Her 10:40 bettered last year’s time by 29 minutes and for her win, she’s due $5,000! Even more impressively, Basham finished third overall, barely four minutes back of the men’s runner-up.
Second- and third-place Sarah Keyes and Samantha Creath finished inside the overall top 10 too. Keyes ran 11:55, and Creath 12:36. Those runs were worth $2,000 and $1,500 each.
Among other notable entrants, Bethany Patterson was fifth in 12:53, and Amy Rusiecki was among the drops.
Men
While Basham finished better than her time from a year ago, the lead men were over an hour back of the 2017 times. Tyler Sigl was the men’s best, thanks to a 10:08 finish. Jeff Colt and Brock Butler were second and third in 10:40 and 10:48, respectively.
Key drops included Brian Rusiecki, Anthony Kunkel, Stefano Ruzzo, and Marco Sturm.
Penyagolosa Trails – Castellón de la Plana, Spain
Penyagolosa Trails included three big races. The 108k (67-mile) race, called the CSP, was an Ultra-Trail World Tour (UTWT) event, the standalone 85k (53-mile) race was the Trail World Championships, and the 60k (37-mile) race was the MIM. Penyagolosa Trails put on its 20th edition this past weekend, and though its longer races might garner more international attention these days, they started out with the shortest distance, the MIM, back in 1999.
Women
The 108k CSP ran its seventh edition on Saturday and again went point to point while gaining 5,600 meters (18,375 feet) of elevation. Despite that history and the UTWT inclusion, both the men’s and women’s fields were largely competitive only because of Spanish runners. For the women, Fernanda Maciel (Brazil, but living in Spain) outran Emma Roca (Spain) and Leire Martinez (Spain). The trio finished in 14:47, 14:57, and 15:17, respectively.
Dominique Van Mechgelen (Belgium) won the 60k MIM in 6:48.
Men
Similarly, Spanish corredors took each of the top-three positions in the men’s race too. Dani Aguirre finished in front of Javi Dominguez and Jose David Lutzardo. The group officially clocked 12:15, 12:32, and 12:43 results.
Hayden Hawks (USA) would’ve been a better fit into the 85k race, but instead won the undercard 60k in 5:25 as he comes back to racing from injury.
The next Ultra-Trail World Tour race is next week! The Ultra-Trail Australia 100k race happens on Saturday, May 18.
Hayden Hawks, 2018 Penyagolosa Trails MIM champion. Photo: Penyagolosa Trails
Trail World Championships – Castellón de la Plana, Spain
iRunFar was there, covering the 85k (53-mile) Trail World Championships. Separate coverage recounts the day’s excitement in greater depth.
Women
Ragna Debats (Netherlands) raced everywhere last year, and that superior strength and fitness is still there. She led the women’s race throughout and won with relative lack of drama in 9:55. Laia Cañes (Spain) was up next and was the first of three Spanish runners in the top five, which made Spain an easy shoo-in for team gold. Individually Cañes finished in 10:11. Claire Mougel (France) earned individual bronze thanks to her 10:15 finish.
Ragna Debats, 2018 Trail World Champion. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Men
Never bet against the champ. Luis Alberto Hernando (Spain), age 40, won this race for an improbable third-straight time in 8:38. With teammate Cristofer Clemente immediately behind in second at 8:46, Spain easily captured the team gold too. Tom Evans (U.K.) was third in 8:49.
The next IAU world-championships event is the September 8 IAU 100k World Championships in Croatia.
Luis Alberto Hernando on his way to the Trail World Championships win at the halfway point. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Quad Rock 50 Mile – Fort Collins, Colorado
Quad Rock 50 Mile conditions were wildly different than a year ago. This year’s race was overcast and muddy. 2017’s race was exceptionally hot.
Women
Two-time U.S. Mountain Running Champion Addie Bracy continued her build to the Leadville 100 Mile and the Run Rabbit Run 100 Mile. This was already her third ultra of the year. Bracy ran 8:51, a time that ranks fourth best-ever here.
Michele Yates was a close second in 9:04, and Esther Erbe was third in 10:22.
In the accompanying 25-mile race, Abby Levene and Ginna Ellis dueled to 4:05 finishes with Levene in front by 58 seconds.
Abby Levene on her way to winning the 2018 Quad Rock 25 Mile in muddy conditions. Photo: Gnar Runners
Men
A few splashes in the rain somehow didn’t slow Jimmy Elam. First in 7:40, he’s now third best on the race’s all-time chart. Frank Pipp and Oliver Knauer were the second- and third-place finishers in 8:07 and 8:29.
The men’s 25-mile race matched the women’s with an equally close finish. Both Jackson Brill and Chris Mocko went under Mike Aish’s former course record. The wild-haired Brill ran 3:13 to Mocko’s 3:15.
Quicksilver 100k – San Jose, California
Women
Eyes on the prize. Readers know what Cat Bradley is training for. She took another step forward in her own 100-mile fitness with a 11:15 win at the San Francisco Bay Area Quicksilver 100k.
Wendy Stalnaker was second in 12:11, and Ken Huang was third in 12:35.
Rhea Black won the 50k contest with a 5:03 effort.
Men
Race local Ben Eysenbach led throughout and finished first in 9:53. And then Jean Pommier and Ian Driver ran onto the podium with 10:22 and 10:54 efforts.
In the 50k race, Rob Krar got away from Coree Woltering to win in 4:01. Woltering followed four minutes later.
Other Races
Whoos in El Moro 50k
Sally McRae and Jesse Haynes won the southern California Whoos in El Moro 50k with 4:36 and 3:50 winning times. Full results.
Smith Rock Ascent 50k
Maria Dalzot and Jesse Lang triumphed at Oregon’s Smith Rock Ascent 50k with 4:22 and 3:53 results. Renee Metivier and Max King won the simultaneous 15-mile race in 2:00 and 1:42. Full results.
Maria Dalzot, 2018 Smith Rock Ascent 50k champion. Photo: Tad Davis
Copenhagen Marathon
The Boston Marathon weather a few weeks ago wasn’t good, and Sage Canaday went to Plan B. Unfortunately after the Copenhagen Marathon, he’s still chasing an Olympic Trials Marathon qualifying mark. Canaday finished this one in 2:23. Full results.
Call for Comments
- The Ultra-Trail World Tour, the Skyrunner World Series, and the Trail World Championships are generally among the world’s most competitive events. What other races happened though that could be commented upon in the field below?
[Editor’s Note: We spend hours weekly creating this column, often ahead of races publishing results–by combing social media. We can’t cover all trail/ultra races taking place each week, so we try to provide results of the most competitive and a spectrum of other events from around the world. Feel welcome to leave comments with additional race results or more information about the races we did cover. Thank you!]
Hey, you have a mistake regarding the Vertical race on La Palma, where Pascal Egli came out on top, beating Stian who finished second.
Darn memory! Fixed, thanks.
Just one more thing – he is Swiss, not Spanish.
“Dewalle, it must be noted, served a four-month doping suspension in 2017.”
Nice. She got a slap on the wrist and is already back winning in a sport that rarely tests anyway. Looks like she was the 2016 Sky Running “World Champion” and tripped an in-race positive. People competing for thousands of dollars in prize money, sponsorship, international travel perks and “fame” should have to pay more of a price for using PEDs (IMO). Taking Heptaminol at that level to win a VK or mountain race is flat out cheating and stealing from the sport. There should be more emphasis on much longer bans/penalty…better yet make them lifetime bans. It would be nice to see this sport promote honest hard work, integrity and honesty still. #cleansport .
Riverlands 100 (Solo, Relay), Turner, ME – results not up on UltraSignUp yet – but here is the Google spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Cl4R7kocyOkLsmFhgtNRdez3B6qwwH3nQZ04A06jp1o/edit#gid=0
Way to go wild-haired Jackson Brill!
Results from the Red Bull 400 at Copper Peak: http://www.racetecresults.com/Results.aspx?CId=16541&RId=333&EId=2
The 3rd annual Thunderbunny 50K, 25K++, 12K in Athens, Ohio took place this past weekend. 350 runners toed the line between the three race distances. The race sold out over a month before, and over 45 runners joined the waitlist.
This was the “Year of the Heat” as temperatures reached 88 degrees for the 50K runners, with standard Southern Ohio humidity thrown in the mix. This led to a lot of attrition with 17 DNF’s in the 50K alone.
On the men’s side last years winner Travis Zipfel pressed hard from the gun going after David Riddle’s course record. He suffered hard at mile 24 and that opened up the door for veteran Mike Cooper to get the win, with a 10 minute improvement on his 2017 time with a 4:08:50. Cooper has finished 3rd, 2nd, and 1st in this three years at the Thunderbunny 50K. Zipfel rebounded and finished 2nd place in 4:21:14. Ryan Horner was very close on Zipfel’s heels with a 4:21:56 after overtaking Zipfel for a few miles later in the race.
Women’s side it was an all-day batel between 2016 champion Crystal Shinosky and Floridian Jennifer McElroy. After McElroy set the pace most of the day Shinosky overtook her late in the race and finished hard for her second win of the Thunderbunny 50K with a 5:57:54, just barely 2 minutes ahead of McElroy who finished with 6:00:14. Erin Flannery rounded out the top 3 in 6:25:25.
Full results to 50K, 25K++, and 12K can be found here: http://ultrasignup.com/results_event.aspx?did=50247
Dawn to Dusk to Dawn (aka D3 / D2D2D) outside Philadelphia has in recent years become an east coast Spring version of Desert Solstice. The race’s motto “for runners by runners” comes thru in every aspect of the event. Amid humidity, some storms, and warm weather, there were several notable drops (Maggie Guterl, Tara Langdon among them) and lower overall mileage than usual.
Padraig Mullins, a name familiar to those in the Northeast though aiming for a spot on the Irish 24hr team, was just a few miles shy of qualifying, while winning the race with 132.7 miles. Emily Collins won for the women with 113.3 miles. In spite of the difficult weather, 10 runners still broke 100 miles, the slowest among them reached that milestone in 20 hours.
Complete results with splits here along with results from the concurrent 12hr and 50K races:
http://my6.raceresult.com/96848/results?lang=en
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Of note at the race was 70 year old ultrarunner Gene Dykes – or as he says, marathoner who runs ultras for run.
From race timer Mike Melton:
“Gene Dykes set four M70-74 national records – the 50K track, 50-Mile track, 100K track, and 12-Hour track record. The track distinction is important, because the records for road are different. For example, 73-year-old Joe Burgasser out of St Petersburg FL has the M70-74 50K road record with a 4:16:03 at the Tallahassee Ultra Distance Classic race (I ran in that same race, but in the 50M).
For me, what’s more amazing is that the weekend before D3, Gene ran a 1:03:xx in the Broad Street 10-Mile race in Philly, and in the prior month, Gene ran a 2:57:xx marathon in Rotterdam (a world age record – Ed Whitlock owns the M70-74 WR with 2:54), followed up by a 3:15 Boston Marathon finish, and then a 39-minute 10K in there somewhere. Gene’s an incredible runner!
Co-RDs for Dawn to Dusk to Dawn Bill Schultz and Josh Irvin have a USATF official at the race for the duration of the event, and the official and I completed the paperwork for Gene’s records Saturday night after the 12-Hour race ended.”
I have wondered why UROC 100k has been attracting a relatively weak field, especially on the men side, in the last 3-4 years. “Weak” might not be the best word but I would definitely expect a much stronger and deeper elite field for a race that has over $20k in prize money. It really puzzles me why somebody like Cat Bradley would choose to run Quicksilver rather then UROC. As a defending WSER champion she should have no problems winning it, right? In the last few years we had guys losing to a top female and still pocketing $1k for a 4th place, etc. Just seems weird, that’s all.
John, I will explain “why” the field is not that strong at UROC, and other races with decent prize money.
It’s because 95% of sponsored elite runners would rather go train in Europe, or go to some other prestigious race. Even though the prize money is not even enough to support the travel at those races. Look at UTMB compared to Run Rabbit Run. RRR has $65,000 in prize money and pays 7 deep, and most of the strong US guys and girls would rather race for a cowbell at UTMB. UTMB has zero prize money….zero. Apparently racing for money is not worth the “prestige” of coming in 15th place in some “big” race. I’d be willing to bet, Cat would love to be handed a 5k check for winning a race. But hey, Quicksilver maybe gives a medal. It’s wierd, Even Speedgoat we had 20k as a purse, and some built in bonuses where the max you could win was 6500. Noone cares, so now we offer less money.
In our materialistic, hash tagged, liked, followed, decals on your arm world, it is actually refreshing that prize money is not the primary motivation for our sport of running around in nature. That said, I also understand athletes making a living on the sport, so I have no problem with prize money being given.
but that is also the motivation of sponsors to sell product and the runner is the ad. I’ve been very lucky being able to run what race I choose. I really have no idea if sponsors require any of their athletes to run certain things, but I would just like to see a bunch of fast ultrarunners, men and women have a go at the Rabbit Cup where the prize purse is $165,000. In that race in September, if it were to all pan out, the ultimate “winner” Men/women of the race has the potential to go home with over 30k. That’s alot of money to win for an ultrarunner. Unfortunately, I don’t think the fastest guys realize how nice a big check is….yet. Camille does, when she won Comrades. Ask her. Ask her if the 25k ish that she won was worth running a race in Europe and “finishing” it. Just my two cents, worth about a penny….
I’ll also add, that I do realize how large prize purses can bring corruption, so I fully understand how not having it, is a good thing for all. Thought I’d throw that in there too, cuz’ it’s the truth. :-)
I guess I don’t get the obsession with prize money. Of course I did not make ultra running my career, so that probably has a lot to do with it. I think athletes are clearly motivated by competition more than prize money. That might be hard for some people (like John) to understand, but I think that stems from a misunderstanding of why most runners run. The FKT movement shows how little many top runners care about the money. They want to test their limits. Period. Again, as you point out, even though “big” “prestigious” races don’t offer prize money, they still attract top talent. Sometimes you just can’t buy “prestige” or convince people who would wait years to run a Hardrock that a paycheck is sufficient motivation. I think this is a good discussion to have since it goes to the heart of our sport and how it may evolve over time.
Dear John,
“Losing to a top female” completely disregards the talent and effort Amanda Basham puts forth (she ran the fastest second half of the race out of anyone and on a particularly hot and humid year, ran faster than she did in 2017). This is a sport where the playing field is relatively level and women outright win races.
Also Ice Age 50 mile/50k this past weekend
Hey Amanda, it was a busy weekend. If you were at Ice Age (a classic!), please share how it went!
Per the Ice Age Facebook page: (mens & womens winners)
50 Mile
Jeff Friedman 6:47:09
Jessa Hackman 7:29:31
50K
Patrick Jenkins 3:32:57
Jessica Hruska 4:25:53
Half Marathon
Sean Buck & Graham Frank (tie) 1:29:06
Elaina Biechler 1:36:50
Results aren’t posted for the event yet so would have been difficult to have put Ice Age into your results round-up for the week. Thanks for putting this together – I read it every week!
And thanks for adding the results, Seth! Our weekly invitation for folks to share additional information is genuine and we always appreciate when people like you make TWIR even better!
Last week was also the running of the 23rd Annual McDonald Forest 50k in Corvallis Oregon. Ryan Kaiser won the men’s race in 4:08:24 and Karen Dewolfe won for the women in 5:34:50. The Mac50k course changes a bit every year. This year’s course was one of the harder versions with a distance of 32ish miles and 6800+ of gain/loss. Full results: https://ultrasignup.com/results_event.aspx?did=51184#id135838