Transvulcania

less cloud MORE SKY

2012 signifies a key moment in time for Skyrunning. Some 20 years ago, Marino Giacometti introduced a series of races to the world. In 1992 the first circuit was introduced. In the Alps on Adamello, Monte Rosa, Mont Blanc (summit) and then to Nepal for a race to Everest base camp at 5,200m altitude.

Over the years many mountains have been raced upon and many records have been broken, currently 23!

In 2008 it became a Federation, the ISF, International Skyrunning Federation. Currently the ISF has some 20 member countries and 3 associate members.

In an effort to continue delivering quality events and meeting the needs and goals of its participants, the industry and the sport, Skyrunning has evolved and that evolution has resulted at this significant moment in time, May 2012.

We are at the Transvulcania La Palma on the island of La Palma in the Canaries. Skyrunning have brought together one of the greatest ultra running fields ever, runners such as Kilian Jornet, Dakota Jones, Geoff Roes, Mike Wolfe, Erik Clavery, Sebastien Chaigneau, Joe Grant, D’Arcy Africa, Nikki Kimball, Anna Frost, Andy Symonds, Iker Karrera and so many more…

Yes, we ant to see a great race over what has been universally agreed as a ‘stunning course’ but Skyrunning also have another objective… With the race over and Dakota Jones crowned men’s champion and Anna Frost crowned ladies champion, a three day conference has been assembled to discuss the future of Skyrunning. It’s a key moment in time as not only is the Federation accepting that they need to move forward but they are also accepting that to move forward they need to listen to and discuss what the athletes, journalists, team managers and sponsors want. It’s refreshing to have such a forward thinking approach.

The conference ‘less cloud MORE SKY’ took place over three afternoons.

Day one showed all participants the history of Skyrunning. How it began, key moments, an introduction to the key athletes, a talk by ‘Sky Doc’ on the physical demands the sport places on its athletes and we also had some great video footage of races and events from the past.
Day two concentrated on media and in particular how social media can dictate how the sports future is made or broken. Athletes and journalists alike openly discussed how social media such as Facebook and Twitter are used to help get a message across to a media hungry public. Next day, a week later or even a month later is no longer acceptable for ‘News’. We want the news NOW and we expect it… It has it’s pros and it has it’s cons!
Day three I guess was the most important day. Although all participants had an opportunity to interact on the previous two days, day three discussed how the sport would progress and how the series would unfold. It was a great debate and all parties really did bring something to the table making Skyrunning look at its series of events, the locations that they use and how they can develop the sport so that European and non European runners have the opportunity to race on a level playing field.

Of course at this stage it was a point of discussion and the ISF now need to go away and discuss and bring together all that has been discussed over the last three days and formulate a plan for the future. It’s no easy task but I feel confident that in the hands of Marino Giacometti and Lauri Van Houten that the future of the sport is in safe hands. They are passionate about what they do, what they offer and they understand that although the sport needs to progress to the demands of the public, the participants and the sponsors they also know that they must not loose the roots of the sport and what makes it great.

With the inclusion of ‘Vertical’ and ‘Ultra’ circuits to the already very successful Skyrunner World Series the sport has exciting times ahead…

It is now important that we as athletes now work hard to ensure that our future in the sport is one of harmony, cohesion and importantly, as Marino and Lauri said, ‘in the spirit of the sport’ so that it’s future is secure.

We will face new challenges, new horizons and we must go to our respective home countries and/or federations and ensure that we remove the cloud so that we can all see MORE SKY!

Notes:

The ISF new formula world series offers a distance for every runner with three stand alone circuits and a combined title. Twenty spectacular races available across the world. Skyrunning offers more titles, more prize money and without a doubt, more kilometres and more altitude.

ISF MEMBER COUNTRIES
Andorra, Brazil, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, France, Great Britain, Greece, Hong Kong, Italy, Malaysia, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Spain, South Africa, Switzerland, USA, and Venezuala.

Skyrunning Contacts
Skyrunning
info@skrunning.com

2012 CALENDAR
SKYRUNNER WORLD SERIES
Spain – Maraton Alpina Zegama-Aizikorri May 20
Italy – Giir Di Mont Skymarathon July 29
Switzerland – Course De Sierre-Zinal Aug 12
USA – Pikes Peak Marathon Aug 19
Malaysia – Mount Kinabulu Climbathon Oct 14

VERTICAL KILOMETER SERIES
Russia – Elbrus May 7
Greece – Gerania June 10
Italy – Dolomites Jul 20
Switzerland – Le KM vertical de Fully, Valais Oct 20
Spain – Puig Campana, Valencia Nov 11

SKYRACE SERIES
Russia – Elbrus May 9
Greece – Goura Coninth May 27
Italy – Dolomites Jul 22
UK – Snowdon Jul 21
France – Marathon Du Montcalm Aug 18

ULTRA SKYMARATHON
Spain – Transvulcania La Palma May 12
USA – Speedgoat 50k, Utah Jul 28
Italy – Trofeo Kima, Sondrio Aug 26
Spain – Cavalls de Vent, Pyrenees Sep 29
France – La Course des Templiers, Millau Oct 28

2012 SKY GAMES
RIBAGORZA ROMANICA, PYRENEES, SPAIN. JUNE 29 to JULY 8

Transvulcania La Palma Race Report

Transvulcania La Palma – International Skyrunning Federation

May 12th 2012

It was billed as the race of the decade and the 2012 Transvulcania La Palma race did not disappoint.

The International Skyrunning Federation had assembled one of the best mens field ever. It was a who’s who of ultra running; Kilian Jornet, Iker Karrera, Andy Symonds, Geoff Roes, Dakota Jones, Rickey Gates, Sebastien Chaigneau, Mike Wolfe, Francoise D’Haene, Casbeth Nemeth and in the women’s race, Anna Frost, Nikki Kimball, Darcy Africa, Corinne Favre and Nuria Picas.

From the perspective of an ultra running fan and a journalist, this was a race to be involved in. The first race held in 2009 had a main objective, to use the hiking paths that linked the island and fulfill the needs of the ever growing demand for long distance events. Starting at the Faro de Fuencaliente (lighthouse) the course follows the GR131/ GR130 route going up the Ruta des los Volcanes in the Cumber Nature Park making a total distance of 83km and a total elevation of 8525m. It borders the Caldera de Taburiente National Park and goes down to Puerto dee Tazacorte before rising up slightly to the finish in Los Llanos de Aridane.

The race literally climbs some 53km fro sea level reaching the highest point on the course at 2426m and then drops down to sea level with a decent that the runners literally explained as ‘crazy’! The terrain is volcanic with black loose ash that moves under the feet, rutted and rocky terrain and of course the heat.

Leaving the start in pitch black at 0600hrs a stream of white headlamps moved towards the lighthouse, turned left and then headed up single track leaving a glow of flashing red lights in its wake. The early morning temperatures already gave us a sign that a hot day lay ahead.

Kilian Jornet, Dakota Jones, Andy Symonds made the initial running pushing up the trail. In the ladies race Anna Frost headed first up the trail and set a pace that showed she meant business.

The course climbed up from sea level to Las Deseadas and then dropped down to Refugio De El Pilar and then slowly climbed its way up to the high point of the course at Roque De Los Muchachos before a drop of some 20km to Tazacorte and the final kick in the tail to Los Llanos.

Kilian and Dakota forged ahead on the trail followed by Andy Symonds. Behind them Francoise D’Haene, Iker Karrera chased but the two guys up front looked strong.

In the women’s race Anna Frost, ‘Frosty’ as she is affectionately known pushed ahead at a pace that was leaving the other women in her wake but also most of the men. She was pursued by Nuria Picas, Nikki Kimball, Darcy Africa and Corinne Favre.

In the mens race, some pre race favourites were not having a great day, Mike Wolfe said after the race that ‘it just wasn’t happening’ but he did hold on for 14th overall . Geoff Roes said that he ‘felt like he was running in marshmallow’ and Sebastien Chaigneau complained of lower back pain and stomach issues. The latter two dropped from the race at Roque de los Muchachos.

 

Ultimately, Frosty dominated the women’s race and broke the course record by an incredible 1hr 45mins to record a time of 8:11:30. Her run and effort also secured her a place of 13th overall ahead of notable names such as Mike Wolfe, Ian Sharman, Gustavo Reyes and Csaba Nemeth. Second and third went to Nuria Picas in 8:51:59 and Nikki Kimball in 9:10:00 respectively. Nikki was stoked by her run saying that it was the first run in 4 years that she had gone without knee pain. The emotion was clear to see in her eyes.

The mens race eventually became a real nail biter. At the highest point of the race we had a perfect long distance view allowing us to see the runners approach from kilometers away. It was incredible to watch as first Kilian appeared and then Dakota locked head to head, foot strike to foot strike in battle. Snaking up and down the trail they approached us, went through the feed and left but then suddenly Andy Symonds from the UK was in sight closing the gap. At the summit he told us ‘I feel good, lets bring it on’. He left with arms outstretched like a plane and jumped gazelle like on to the tough and technical decent to Tazacorte.

Waiting at the finish for the arrival of the runners it was party time. The whole town was out. It was like a stage finish of the The Tour de France or a section of the London Marathon course.

News came in that Andy Symonds had caught both Kilian and Andy on the decent and gone past them… apparently Kilian had followed and Dakota said after the race that he thought that was it and that ‘well, third will be good’.

But in Tazacorte Kilian was in trouble, maybe struggling from the heat, maybe struggling from dehydration or maybe just not on form after months of skiing. Andy was now in battle with Dakota but as he said immediately after the race ‘I just wasn’t strong enough, Dakota pulled away and I couldn’t keep up’. Dakota crossed the line in 6:59:07 smashing the old course record set in 2011 by Miguel Heras of 7:32:12.

Andy arrived just 90 seconds later in 7:00:34 and Kilian arrived in 7:09:53. As he crossed the line his legs went from underneath him and he lay flat with exhaustion. Medics rushed to his aid and the crowd started to chant “Kilian, Kilian, Kilian” it was quite a moment and one that emphasized the importance of Kilian not only to the running community but to Spain alone. He later re emerged to speak to the crowd and assured them he was okay and thanked them for the support. He is a true ambassador.

Was the Transvulcania La Palma the race of the decade? Well from where I was on the course and at the finish, it sure was! However,  I do think it is a start of a new era in ultra running and I can only hope that what I witnessed on the Island of La Palma will be repeated time and time again. It’s a day and a race `I will never forget. Incredible. But in just a few days time we will be in Zegama… lets see what unfolds in the Pyrenees.

Mens Results

  1. Dakota Jones – Montrail – 6:59:07
  2. Andy Symonds – Salomon – 7:00:34
  3. Kilian Jornet – salomon – 7:09:53
  4. Francoise D’Haene – salomon – 7:23:40
  5. Iker Karrera – Salomon – 7:38:58

Women’s Results

  1. Anna Frost – Salomon – 8:11:30
  2. Nuria Picas – Icebug – 8:51:59
  3. Nikki Kimball – The North Face – 9:10:00
  4. Darcy Africa – Pearl Izumi – 9:17:35
  5. Uxue Azpeitia – 9:21:11

Transvulcania La Palma – Day 2

The day has been a whirlwind of media frenzy… just imagine it, a race that has been on the calendar for several years suddenly is transformed by Skyrunning with an invitation to the worlds best ultra runners. The race is literally a who is who of ultra running and funnily enough, even some runners are out in the Canaries and are not racing; Anton Krupicka being one of them!

This morning, Marcus Warner from Ultra168 and myself went out for an hours run. This was after just literally a few hours sleep and long long days of travelling, meetings, press conferences and photo shoots.

At 0900 we returned back to the hotel to meet up for a group run. As planned, the run assembled… Kilian Jornet, Sebastien Chaigneau, Andy Symonds, Anna Frost and the list goes on. What an opportunity. Run with the best and luckily they had an 80k the next day, so, the pace was manageable. Everybody had a camera, film crews everywhere, cars following us and then you had people like myself sprinting up the road to take photos and then sprinting to catch up.

What impresses me is the media personality that is Kilian. So generous of his time, so media savvy and a great ambassador. He is just coming off the ski season and I guess he may well not be run fit but nobody is discussing that. His talent is without question.

But the other impressive thing is the Salomon machine behind him, Greg Vollet team manager is a consummate professional. Understated, quiet, thoughtful but a great tactician. The support that the other Salomon staff bring is also incredible. It makes the other sponsored runners and teams seem almost like amateurs and I don’t mean that in a disrespectful way. Salomon are forging a new direction for the sport and are leading the way. The product development, constant tweaking to equipment and understanding the needs of each runner is inspiring to watch… you see hand grips being adjusted to fit by product development guy, Serge Chapuis. You also see new clothing being distributed to the runners for the race – featherweight windproof jackets that weigh 3oz’s. They get tested on the trail, the runners feedback, it gets tweaked and adjusted and then at some point it hits the shelves.

In comparison I bumped into Anton Krupicka, Geoff Roes, Joe Grant, Mike Wolfe and Dakota Jones in a group outside the press room at 11am. They have all just slept for 12 hours after long travelling days. They are relaxed and casual. On the suggestion of Bryon Powell from iRunFar we hold an impromptu round table with Bryon, Marcus and myself asking questions – you can listen to this here

This group of Americans are the established hierarchy of ultra running and they ‘just want to run’. They are very much free spirits who love each others company, who love running the trail and love running in new places. But they have no backing at the race… they are self sufficient and adapting to new surroundings. They are relaxed and unworried. We press them about the future of running and how it will change. They all acknowledge that change is coming and that the sport is getting bigger. Certainly they can see that Skyrunning are pushing a new frontier… they quite rightly say that although the Transvulcania La Palma is being pushed as the race of the decade, they also say; yep! this is one incredible field but so is Western States this year, then UTMB… however, the Transvulcania has the most stacked field I have seen for some time and the media frenzy reflects this!

A group photo taken at midday posted to Facebook took minutes and minutes to ‘tag’ it had so many ‘names’ in it.

An afternoon of relaxation by the runners was compensated for by the media room being a frantic place of editing, writing, Tweeting and Facebooking. This is the world we live in now. We can get the news and the stories out pretty much immediately, well, almost immediately! The wifi at the hotel is under serious stress and what should take 5 mins can take an hour. It’s frustrating but the patient and determined profit.

I actually managed to edit and put together a last minute podcast to give the listeners and the curious an opportunity to hear what the American contingent had to say pre race. Yes the audio may not be perfect but that isn’t the point… between us, and by us I mean Bryon Powell, Marcus Warner and James Hallett from GoTrail means that we have come together to cover the english speaking segment of the World – Marcus representing Australia, Bryon America, James South Africa and obviously myself for the UK. It’s a great step and one I have loved being involved in.

This collaboration will become even more important for tomorrow, race day! It turns out that it is impossible to cover the whole race as the course is so demanding. Apparently it can take 2-3 hours to reach the high point! Therefore we have split ourselves over the course to bring together our feeds and provide a feed of how the race unfolds.

Finally, in the early evening, Greg Vollet from Salomon assembled his runners and gave them a motivational talk with audio/ video demonstration. From the side lines the American runners looked on with mixed emotions. For them it is just running but I also think they also had some envy of what the Salomon runners received and the attention that they receive. Nikki Kimball certainly wouldn’t mind that level of attention.

I could go on and say how we had a good laugh at how Anton and Geoff took the mickey out of Anna Frost on how heavy her ‘fuel belt’ was… or I could try to explain how Anton gets 10 gels, a space blanket and 500ml bottle in those little shorts that he wears.

Enjoy the race!

 

Transvulcania Press Release

TRANSVULCANIA. ANTICIPATION RUNNING SKY-HIGH
– two days to the race of the century

Transvulcania Ultra Marathon, La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain – May 12, 2012

La Palma, May 10, 2012
The Transvulcania Ultra Marathon nears and months of anticipation will come to an end on May 12 on the Spanish island of La Palma where the world’s ultra running legends will gather for what looks like being the race of thecentury.

Anticipation and speculation, because never before has such a deep élite field lined up at an ultra. On race day, follow the race live on our Facebook page!

The entry list reads like a who’s who of ultra running, with top European and American legends among the favourites. Hotly tipped are Spain’s Iker Karera, (last year’s winner with Miguel Heras) and superstar Kilian Jornet, straight out of a winning ski-mountaineering season and looking stronger than ever. Britain’s Andy Symonds is looking good for the podium and so is Frenchman Sebastien Chaigneau, after winning the Transgrancaria earlier this year.

The strong American contingent is headed by Mike Wolfe, Goeff Roes and Dakota Jones. British “ex pats” living in the US are Joe Grant and Ian Sharman, each offering different qualities: Grant with a mountain background and Sharman blessed with speed….Anton Krupicka’s insistent shin problem and Rickey Gates’ hamstring injury will probably mean they won’t be in racing shape.

The women’s outright favourite is New Zealand’s Anna “Frosty” Frost, who has been on the island training for weeks and is in good shape. Look out too for IAU Trail World Champion Maud Gobert and Corinne Favre, past Skyrunning World Champion, both from France; Americans Darcy Africa, 2011 Hard-Rock 100; Nikki Kimball, 3rd 2011Western States 100 and 2007 TNF Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc®; Kasia Zajac from Poland, Zugspitz Super Trail 2011. Spain’s Monica Aguilera last year’s winner, will be competing again in this super strong women’s field. Her time last year: 10h0’. The men’s time to beat 7h32’ by Miguel Heras.

The mammoth line-up continues with top French runners: François D’Haëne, Thomas Lorblanchet, Yann Curien.; Csaba Németh, Hungary; Florent Troillet, Switzerland; Gustavo Reyes, Argentina; Giuliano Cavallo, Italy; Philipp Reiter, Germany.

The strong international team participation includes major industry players:
Adidas, Arc’teryx, Asics, Montrail, New Balance, Pearl Izumi, Platinum Sigvaris, Salomon, The North Face.

The 500 runners from 22 nations face a daunting 8,525m ascent and descent over the 83 km course which starts at sea level on the Atlantic coast and travels along the island’s backbone to the summit of the volcano at 2,423m before descending back to the sea and finishing in the town of Los Llanos where the streets will be lined with the applause of thousands of spectators.

From sea to sky, the Transvulcania Ultra Marathon perfectly embodies the skyrunning philosophy and unquestionably represents one of the most spectacular of the 20 races on the 2012 Skyrunner® World Series.

Follow the race live on our Facebook page on Saturday! See http://www.skyrunning.com and Twitterr for race report. Race website http://www.transvulcania.com

Transvulcania – Day 1

I suppose really this is day two as I travelled to Birmingham via train on Wednesday for an overnight stop at the airport. Not something I really wanted to do but a 0600 departure didn’t really leave me much choice. A couple of glasses certainly helped with a good five hours sleep and then the early rise.
Travelling to the island of Las Palmas is actually an ultra in itself. Being a small island, not many flights go to and from the island. When you take into account that 500+ people will be making the journey for the weekend of May 12th to take part or watch the ‘showdown’ as I like to call it and you realise that a direct flight just isn’t going to happen. Anything but.
Departing Birmingham at 0600 I arrive in Amsterdam 0800 to then make a quick transfer to a different terminal for a KLM flight to Madrid. Luckily these two flights meant that my luggage would be forwarded on. Always a little nervous of this but I am pleased to say that my baggage popped out on the belts in arrivals at Madrid.
Out of the airport I then had to check in, go through security and pick up an Iberia flight for Tenerife. A real lack of information in Terminal 2 at Madrid meant questions had to be asked and lucky I did… Turns out my next flight was Terminal 4, a bus drive away! I had time but it was added stress. Check in was stress free thank goodness and security was smooth. Took me a while to find my gate, it would appear that Madrid don’t like to sign things too well.
At the gate I was looking out for Marcus Warner from Ultra168 in Australia. He had flown through the night via London and was picking up the same two flights as me to the island. We had tentatively arranged a meet up. Not knowing each what each other look like the potential not to meet up was possible, however, it soon became apparent that we found each other straight away… Marcus was wearing head to toe Salomon gear and a Suunto Ambit on his wrist. I was wearing Hoka’s, an Endurancelife Team t shirt and a pair of sport glasses on my head. We stood out!
The journey now should be pretty straight forward we thought but unfortunately at Tenerife we needed to collect our bags and re check in for the last leg to Las Palma. This shouldn’t have been a problem but sitting on the runway at Madrid for thirty mins didn’t help our cause.
We made the twin prop flight to La Palma with time to spare. As we approached we had a real sense of what this island is like… Pretty small and basically hilly with one serious mountain in the middle.
The journey from the airport to our hotel took some 60 min and was basically driving up for 40 min and driving down for 20 min. Our destination a super hotel complex.
Marcus and myself arrived at 1850 and we had a press conference at 1900. That is the quickest check in, shower and change I have ever had! We had a quick catch up with Anna Frost and then attended the press conference. All plans have been laid out for the next few days.
Tomorrow morning, Marcus, Bryon Powell and myself will meet up with the runners for a pre race jog at 9am. This could be painful… I can’t help but think that Kilian and the rest of the runners going at a nice steady pre race pace may still very well be too quick for me but hey! I will tell you about that tomorrow.

20120510-235444.jpg

20120510-235455.jpg

20120510-235501.jpg

Transvulcania is here!

I have been waiting for this trip to come around… when I was asked to go to the Canaries and report on this race, little did I know at the early stages that this race would be so ‘stacked’. It is easier to say who won’t be at the race!

The course is a brute. It has some 8500m of climbing and ascent over 83km’s on trail and tracks within a volcanic setting. Based on La Palma the race will pretty much take over the whole island.

So who will be toeing the line?

The ultra king and I guess pre race favourite Kilian Jornet heads up the elite field but don’t get me wrong. Nothing will be guaranteed in this race. Previous UTMB winners Iker Karrera and Seb Chaigneau will be next to the Spaniard. From America we have a who’s who of ultra running with Mike Wolfe, Geoff Roes, Anton Krupicka, Dakota Jones and Ricky Gates. From the UK we have Andy Symonds. All these guys excel in the mountains and in addition to this premier list we have the female contingent that includes Anna Frost, Darcy Africa, Kasia Zajac, Nikki Kimball and Maud Gobert.

It really is a stellar field and it is set up to be ‘the race of the year’!

Last years winner, Miguel Heras, set a stunning course record in a shade over 7.5 hours, his time was 7:32:13. With this line up pushing each other, will the CR go?

In addition to the elite field some 500 other runners will line up against the best of the best to do battle over a course that will test each runners legs to the limit. Starting at sea level the high point of the race is 2423m at the Islands Volcano. Covering a total ascent and decent of 8500m the race will finish at sea level in the town of Los Llanos.

This will be a race to watch and follow.

Follow on http://www.skyrunning.com and check out the race website at http://www.transvulcania.com. The Twitter feed may also be a great source of information, go here

Transvulcania Ultra Marathon Race 2012

Breaking news….. I have been asked to go out to the Canaries in May in what is going to be a ‘dream’ 10 days. I will be reporting on the Transvulcania Ultra Marathon and then flying to Spain to report on Zegama.

As an introduction, here is the official press release which has been released today, March 20th

THE RACE OF THE CENTURY

Ultra running legends announced. Transvulcania rolls out the red carpet

Transvulcania Ultra Marathon, La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain – May 12, 2012

Never in the history of endurance sport has such a number of world-class runners gathered together at a single event. After weeks of anticipation, the International Skyrunning Federation announces the final line-up of the Transvulcania Ultra Marathon, valid for the Skyrunner® World Series ranking and first of the five Ultra Series races.

The star-studded entry list reads as follows: the three winners of the 2011 TNF Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc®, Spaniards Kilian Jornet, Iker Karrera and Frenchman Sebastien Chaigneau; Americans Mike Wolfe, 2011 TNF Endurance Challenge 50M Championship and 2nd Western States 100; Geoff Roes, 2010 Western States 100 and 2011 Ultra Race of Champions; Anton Krupicka, 2nd 2010 Western States 100; Dakota Jones, 2nd 2011 Hard Rock 100 Endurance Run and 2nd 2011 TNF Endurance Challenge 50M Championship; Rickey Gates, 2011 Canadian Death Race; France’s Erik Clavery, IAU Trail World Champion; Britain’s Andy Symonds, La Course de Templiers 2011.

The mammoth line-up continues with top French runners: François D’Haëne, Thomas Lorblanchet, Thierry Breuil, Yann Curien. Americans Joe Grant and Ian Sharman; Csaba Németh, Hungary; Florent Troillet, Switzerland; Gustavo Reyes, Argentina; Giuliano Cavallo, Italy; Philipp Reiter, Germany.

The glittering women’s field counts 2011 TNF Endurance Challenge 50M Championship winner, Anna Frost from New Zealand; IAU Trail World Champion Maud Gobert from France; Americans Darcy Africa, 2011 Hard-Rock 100; Nikki Kimball, 3rd 2011Western States 100 and 2007 TNF Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc®; Kasia Zajac from Poland, Zugspitz Super Trail 2011.

With such strong competition, the 7h32’13” race record set last year by Spaniard Miguel Heras could take a beating. The question is, by whom?

The strong international team participation includes major industry players:
Adidas, Arc’teryx, Asics, Montrail, New Balance, Pearl Izumi, Platinium Sigvaris, Salomon, The North Face.

The 500 runners face a daunting 8,525m ascent and descent over the 83 km course which starts at sea level on the Atlantic coast and travels along the island’s backbone to the summit of the volcano at 2,423m before descending back to the sea and finishing in the town of Los Llanos.

From sea to sky, the Transvulcania Ultra Marathon perfectly embodies the skyrunning philosophy and unquestionably represents one of the most spectacular of the 20 races on the 2012 Skyrunner® World Series. Given the VIP entry list, it could be nothing less than the race of the century.

Follow news and updates on http://www.skyrunning.com and on Facebook and Twitter. Race website http://www.transvulcania.com

ULTRA SKYMARATHON®SERIES

*SPAIN:TRANSVULCANIA ULTRA MARATHON, LA PALMA – MAY 12
USA: Speedgoat 50K, Snowbird, Utah – July 28
ITALY: Trofeo Kima UltraSkyMarathon®, Valmasino, Sondrio – August 26
SPAIN: Cavalls del Vent, Cadi-Moixeró Natural Park, Pyrenees – September 29
FRANCE: La Course des Templiers, Millau, Grands Causses – October 28

Ultra SkyMarathon®Series champion titles are awarded to competitors with the highest points based on the sum of the three best results.
Ranking points in the final races will be increased by 20%.
Ranking points breakdown: 100-88-78-72-68-66-64-62-60-58-56-54-52-50-48-46-44-42-40.