With just over 3 weeks to go, nearly 300 teams of runners have already registered for what has become the most widely known multi-stage trail race in Europe. On 29th August 2015, the 11th GORE-TEX® TRANSALPINE-RUN will set off from Oberstdorf, the Northern fringe of the German Alps, with hopes set on the community of Solda, deep in the Italian Alps – the distance in between to be accomplished within a week’s time. Numerous racers of international repute have teamed up at last minute promising a tight contest at the leading end of the field.
The GORE-TEX® TRANSALPINE-RUN, which alternates annually between two courses in the Eastern Alps, is scheduled to revisit its Western trajectory in 2015. The beeline across Europe’s premier mountain range packs four countries into eight race days – a quirk much beloved by participants from afar. Day One provides a taste thereof: Oberstdorf, Germany, marks the start but the first stage ends the day in Lech/Arlberg, Austria. The trail race spends two more days in Austria (St. Anton/Arlberg, Landeck) before heading into Switzerland (Samnaun). Stage Five stays put for a change but is dedicated to a vertical sprint race – as close to a rest day as one can get during the week-long trail running spree. The race posse, a tight-knit community of like-minded athletes, moves on to Scuol, Switzerland, on Day Six. A wirlwind affair, the runners cross into Italy (San Valentino) on the penultimate stage and finish in renowned Solda, a high-elevation resort community surrounded by spectacular ice-clad mountains at the end of Stage Eight.
After all is said and done, racers will have 286 kilometers in their legs and accumulated no less than 16,310 meters of positive vertical. No wonder, the international race elite lines up for an opportunity to outrun the competition and claim the fame that comes with leadership in the GORE-TEX® TRANSALPINE-RUN. One of them is German ultra-racer Anne-Marie Flammersfeld who will partner up with Tim Wortmann in the Mixed category for their first stab at the GORE-TEX® TRANSALPINE-RUN. Flammersfeld attracted attention last year with victories in the Transylvania Trail Traverse, the North Pole Marathon and the SALOMON ZUGSPITZ ULTRATRAIL. She also claims the 2012 title for winning in one year all four competitions of the 4 Deserts Race (1,000 K) which took her through the driest (Atacama), the rockiest (Gobi), die hottest (Sahara) and the coldest desert (Antarktica). Moreover, just a week ago the ‘Desert Queen’ set an impressive sprint record up Kilimanjaro.
However Team Flammersfeld / Wortmann can expect to face stiff competition from Italians Federica Boifava/Mirko Righele. After all, Boifava hails as one of Italy’s strongest trail runners having finished 6th in the Skyrunning World Championships and 9th in the much-reveered Transvulcania in 2014.
Susanne Wings /Samuel Nef complete the threesome that can be expected to set the pace up front within the Mixed category.
The Men’s Category likewise is stacked with Blue Chip teams by now. Last year’s runner-upteam of Alfredo Gil / David Lopez (ESP) seem determined to cinch victory this time around. But there may be a hitch – the Spaniards will not just have to contend with the Italian-Austrian team of Daniel Jung and Ivan Paulmichl (Team GORE RUNNING WEAR®) but also their countrymen Andres Lledo Lopez/Jose Ignacio Delgado Perdomo of Team XBIONIC SPAIN.
Many notables have registered among the Master Men but one racer looms above all – Italian Silvano Fedel, uncontended winner (w/ then teammate Ettore Girardi) of the GORE-TEX® TRANSALPINE-RUN in 2005, 2006 and 2008. Fedel, now 48-years of age, buddies up with Andrea Gottardi in 2015 and can be expected to define the leading edge of the field.
Apart from tried-and-tested ultra-racers, the GORE-TEX® TRANSALPINE-RUN has attracted VIP athletes from other disciplines every year. This year, one of them is Norwegian rallye driver Andreas Mikkelsen, who races for Team Volkswagen in the WRC World Championship. He will be joined by his mates Anders Jæger-Synnevaag and Anders Bidne for at least three of the eight stages – as a cross-training measure in preparation of the impending Rallye Australia. The 26-year-old, who’s used to racing full-bore off-the beaten path will don running shoes instead by the end of the month. „I very much look forward to the GORE-TEX® TRANSALPINE-RUN, which wil be a whole new experience for me. But I’m glad we’ll be running in teams. After all, this measure is a training effort for me more than anything. It’ll be about fun, the spectacular landscapes and improving fitness for the upcoming [motor sports] race series“.
Mikkelsen’s attitude towards the GORE-TEX® TRANSALPINE-RUN provides an apt summary of the expectations of the vast majority of participants in the week-long race event. For them, it’ll be about making it through in one piece and enjoying themselves to the maximum extent possible. The race is pretty much sold out by now but a few teams could still be accommodated at the time of writing – provided they register soon. They and anyone else who’s interested in more detail on the GORE-TEX® TRANSALPINE-RUN should visit www.transalpine-run.com. It’s not too late yet to sign up for one the premier trail running events of 2015.
Some Facts on the GORE-TEX® TRANSALPINE-RUN 2015
- Dates:08. – 05.09.2015
- Stages overnight in: Oberstdorf (GER), Lech/Arlberg (AT), St. Anton/Arlberg (AT), Landeck (AT), Samnaun(SUI, 2x), Scoul (SUI), San Valentino/Passo Resia (IT), Solda (IT)
- Distance: 268 kilometers (V+: 16,310 m; V-: 14,532 m) (Note: subject to change on short notice!)
- Race categories: Women, Men, Mixed, Master Women, Master Men, Master Mixed, Senior Master Women und Senior Master Men (min. of 15 participants)
- Number of teams: limited to 300.
Pics: ©www.wisthaler.com / ©Kelvin Trautman.
