For three days over 800 registered extreme mountain runners from 35 countries were in the spotlight at the Südtirol Ultra Skyrace 2018. On Sunday afternoon the renowned sporting event that takes place along the horseshoe shaped Hufeisen tour in the Sarntal Alps, ended with the traditional awards ceremony in Bolzano. 127 athletes made it to the finish on the 121 km long original distance with 7554 meters altitude differential. With 199 athletes at the start, this is a finishing rate of 64 percent. It means that 6 percent more athletes made it to the finish than last year.
This is due to two major factors: For one, there were a few minor thunderstorms this year, but we did not see the torrential rains of the previous years. Also, it has now become an open secret on the trail scene that the Südtirol Ultra Skyrace rightly advertises with the slogan “the most extreme experience in the Alps”. Athletes therefore now prepare extremely well for the event.
Those who reach the finish in this extreme mountain race along the Hufeisen tour in the Sarntal Alps have achieved a herculean feat. Such as 32 year old French runner Benjamin Violot from Paris, who was the last runner to run across the finishing line after 38:03.13, officially closing the Südtirol Ultra Skyrace. Some 20 hours previously, on Saturday afternoon, Alexander Rabensteiner from Chiusa celebrated his fourth victory at the same place. He arrived after 18:33.08 hours. Among the women Anna Pedevilla from Marebbe set a new track record with 20:51.45 hours.
The Sky Trail was a huge success – with a finishing ratio of up to 100 percent
At the Südtirol Skyrace (69 km/3930m altitude differential) Johannes Klein from Germany (7:07.41) and Sarentino runner Regina Spiess (9:00.07) raced to victory. Here, 137 of 148 runners made it to the finish, resulting in a strong finishing ratio of 92.5 percent. At the Südtirol Sky Marathon 217 of 220 runners raced across the finishing line. Here, the percentage of finishers reached a fantastic 98.6 percent. Among the men last year’s winner Daniel Rohringer from Gosau in Austria prevailed (4:14.38), while Edeltraud Thaler from Lana won the women’s race (5:20.31).
The Südtirol Sky Trail (27 km/1063 m altitude differential) was a ground-breaking success with all 135 athletes making it to the finish. The organisers had introduced this shortest distance to tempt more runners to give trail running a try. An experiment that was a complete success for Chair of the Organising Committee Josef Günther Mair and his team. Here, Thomas Holzmann from San Genesio (2:14.22) and French runner Mathilde Vinet (2:42.38) celebrated victory.
The Südtirol Ultra Skyrace 2019 will take place from 26 to 28 July
A contented Chair of the Organising Committee Josef Günther Mair commented at the awards ceremony: “With over 806 registrations from 35 countries, among them athletes from Australia, Canada, Russia and Hong Kong, we had achieved one of our goals before it all started. Now we are just happy that there were no major injuries. I particularly want to praise the race management, the 80 men strong mountain rescue team and the emergency services, who all did a sterling job. They had the situation completely under control. I would also like to thank our 500 volunteers very very much for their efforts. Without them, such an event would not be possible. Nor would it be possible without our strong partners Sportler, La Sportiva, Raiffeisen and countless number of further sponsors. The many words of praise and happy faces of the participants are an incentive to create a perfect event in 2019 too”.
The Südtirol Ultra Skyrace will again take place at the last weekend in July next year, from 26 to 28 July 2019.
Südtirol Ultra Skyrace 2018 – Roll of honour
Südtirol Ultra Skyrace 121K/7554D+
Men:
1. Alexander Rabensteiner ITA/Skinfit-Hoka 18:33.08
2. Walter Manser SUI/Compresssport 18:47.32
3. Matthias Dippacher GER/Team Dynafit 19:13.32Women:
1. Anna Pedevilla ITA/La Sportiva 20:51.45
2. Ildiko Wermescher HUN/Hoka one one 22:30.03
3. Maria Kemenater ITA/ ASC LF Val Sarentino Raiffeisen 24:35.00Südtirol Skyrace 69K/3930D+
Men:
1. Johannes Klein GER/Adidas Terrex 7:07.41
2. Evgenii Pishchalov RUS/Rocket ScienZe 7:15.20
3. Stefan Tschurtschenthaler ITA/Soltnflitzer ASV San Genesio 7:45.44Women:
1. Regina Spiess ITA/ASC LF Val Sarentino Raiffeisen 9:00.07
2. Julia Witt GER/IG Schmerz 9:08.21
3. Kerstin Dusch SUI 9:14.01Südtirol Sky Marathon 42.2 K/2863D+
Men:
1. Daniel Rohringer AUT/DeBettin Sparkasse Skg. Mammut 4:14.38
2. Hansrudi Brugger ITA/Team Treibjagd 4:31.10
3. Domenico Nicolazzo ITA/Sportler Team 4:39.26Women:
1. Edeltraud Thaler ITA/Telmekom Team 5:20.31
2. Kathrin Angerer GER/La Sportiva Mountain Running 5:21.31
3. Birgit Klammer ITA/ASV Gherdeina Runners 5:24.18Südtirol Sky Trail 27K/1067D+
Men:
1. Thomas Holzmann ITA/ASV San Genesio Soltnflitzer 2:14.22
2. Georg Widmann ITA 2:15.11
3. Markus Mey GER/www.hirschenwirt.it 2:16.46Women:
1. Mathilde Vinet FRA/Club AO Charenton 2:42.38
2. Isabel Tribus ITA 2:43.55
3. Angelica Huber ITA/SC Merano 2:50.24.
