The winners of the 2014 SALOMON 4 TRAILS hail from Greece and Spain, respectively. Dimitrios Theodorakakos proved invulnerable on the last and arguably hardest of the four race stages. Theodorakakos mastered the 45.4 km course to Samnaun, Switzerland, which tallied a total positive vertical of 2,844 m, in just 4:57:06 hours. This time may not have touched the standing stage record but nevertheless was exceptional given the fresh snow at higher elevations which substantially slowed down many racers. The 35-year-old Greek member of Team SALOMON proved dominant throughout the past week by claiming victory on each of the four race days and racking up an overall lead of 20:01 minutes on second-ranked team colleague Iker Karrera of Spain. Mirco Berner, who ran to third place overall posed no threat either to Theodorakakos, a former Olympic rower, who managed to accrue whopping 35:13 minutes on the German surprise athlete.

The overall winner among the Women was Nuria Picas of Spain with a total time of 18:31:12 hours on the mountainous 100-mile course between Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, and Samnaun, Switzerland. A long-held favorite, Picas clearly lived up to repute in this race although she had to cede stage victory on the last of the four race days. An amazing Tina Fischl, who may just have the capacity to shake up the ultra-racing scene, claimed the ultimate stage after 5:55:48 hours on the trail. That time and her lead of a little over 3 minutes in the end were insufficient to dethrone Nuria Picas but landed her squarely in second place overall. Third to arrive at the finish line in Switzerland was Zhanna Vokueva of Russia, who also climbed the podium for her fabulous overall race performance.

The victorious Dimitrios Theodorakakos was the only athlete today to stay under the five-hour mark on the tough last stage of the SALOMON 4 TRAILS. Impressed by the technical, high alpine terrain above 2,500 m asl, the modern-day Hermes found a novel challenge in the snowfields up high. At the finish line the humble athlete laughed it off: “A very impressive finale. We were at elevations above 2,500 m for a long time. I’ve never seen that much snow in Greece before. I broke in up to my knees”. The pros had to hand it to Theodorakakos. “Simply sensational how light-footed [Dimitrios] is on the trail” marveled Philipp Reiter, who won the race in 2012 but wasn’t able to participate this year due to injury.

Nearly at eye level with Theodorakakos’ proved Iker Karrera’s run to Samnaun for which he took an additional ten minutes on today’s 45 km course. The two pros readily shared the limelight with Mirco Berner who proved the real sensation at the 2014 SALOMON 4 TRAILS. They’ll likely keep an eye on the young German, hitherto a trail novice. The Greek winner praised Berner being “a great talent. Mirco is particularly good on the downhills and extremely fast at it. That’s very important in trail-running. On top of that he recovers very well”. Mirco Berner had come to the race with an expectation to claim a position somewhere near or below 5th place. “Never would I have thought to run to 3rd place overall”, a jubilant Mirco Berner shared during the finish line interview.

Berner may have been good for one more surprise had it not been for him missing the trail roughly 10 kilometers into the stage and thereby unnecessarily loosing 5 minutes. After regaining the course Iker Karrera was out of sight he decided to “enjoy the run and the gorgeous landscape out there”. After all, the mountains of the Interior Alps are still a novelty for the 20-year-old trail prodigy who took to trail-running just over two months ago.

The other rising star of the 2014 SALOMON 4 TRAILS was German Tina Fischl of Germany, who readily took advantage of leader Nuria Picas’ surprising weakness late in the day. The latter had suffered greatly the day before in the driving rain on the exposed Venet Range Trail. Picas shared “I still felt the aftermath of yesterday’s cold conditions on the way to Landeck. Beyond Kilometer 35 I was done for today”. Fischl, who had tagged on to Picas until then, passed her at that point to run her own race for the last 10-kilometer descent. Fischl’s strategy panned out and she arrived with a lead of 3:19 minutes ahead of Picas. Apparently it was her concern over Russian Zhanna Vokueva that propelled her on the last downhill. “I knew I had to stick with Nuria for as long as possible because I felt that [Zhanna] was getting stronger and stronger. But I can’t believe I won. It was so brutal but I am very, very happy!” claimed Fischl in high spirits upon passing the finish line in Samnaun.

The leading Senior Master Men were good for high drama as well as they duked it out one last time on this final of four stages. Beat Bieri of Switzerland upset the leadership of Armin Bernard (Germany) in a phenomenal last-ditch effort to claim overall victory. The Swiss’ final overall lead tallied 29:20 minutes by the end of the day. Third place went to Hans Hörmann of Germany who took 1:28:08 hours longer to cover the daunting distance between Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, and Samnaun, Switzerland.

The leaders of the two other categories, namely the Master Men and the Master Women, delivered fabulous athletic performances but didn’t shake up the overall ranking that had perspired over the past few race days. Iwan Schwarz proved dominant among the men of age 40+. Second place and third place went to Beat Lohner and Anton Frommelt (both of Liechtenstein), respectively.

A lightning-fast Eva Färberböck (GER) won the title in the Master Women category hands down without ever facing a realistic threat by her competitors. Uta Jurkschat, another strong racer from Germany claimed second place. Monika Turra (GER) enjoyed the third spot on the podium and the associated limelight of the lively award ceremony on the final night of the event.

The race organizers would like to extend a heart-felt Thank-You to the resort communities of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Ehrwald, Imst, Landeck and Samnaun for their genuine hospitality. Likewise, the 2014 SALOMON 4 TRAILS would not have been such a success without the generous support by its various sponsors, most notably the title sponsor SALOMON as well as SUUNTO, BUFF, HIGH5, SZIOLS, LEKI, ORTHOMOL SPORTS and SPORT CONRAD. The many volunteers will have to go unnamed but, nevertheless, deserve special mention – the 2014 SALOMON 4 TRAILS could not have been pulled off without a single hitch had they not lent a helping hand in form of mountain rescue services, catering or logistical support.

INFO: 2014 SALOMON 4 TRAILS