Jon Albon and Ruth Croft Win – iRunFar

The Transvulcania Ultramarathon is well-known for bringing in proficient runners worldwide and being a extraordinarily aggressive race. The 2024 model was no completely completely different.

Early on the morning of Saturday, May 11, racers set off on their 72-kilometer (44.7 miles) journey, starting on the southern tip of La Palma island, considered one of many Canary Islands, on the lighthouse of El Faro de Fuencaliente. The race’s finish line is about on the island’s west facet throughout the metropolis of Los Llanos de Aridane. Racers needed to make use of their power as they gathered spherical 14,000 ft (4,350 meters) of obtain.

The course is as beautiful because it’s troublesome. Aside from the seemingly steady climbs to the course’s extreme degree merely after 50k and a 1,000-foot (320-meter) climb from the ocean to the tip, racers ought to in a roundabout way deal with the virtually 8,000-foot (2,400 meters) descent from the extreme degree to the ocean over the course of decrease than 11 miles (18k). Dominated by singletrack, the course tackles troublesome terrain, along with unfastened volcanic pumice and sharp lava rock.

5 years after attempting the Transvulcania Ultramarathon and coming in fourth place, Jon Albon lastly found his means once more to the island of La Palma. He claimed his crown, profitable the 2024 model. On the women’s facet, Ruth Croft moreover found her means once more to the island, in her case eight years had handed. She made up for the misplaced years and by no means solely received right here away with the victory however as well as the women’s course doc.

Study on for further of how the race carried out out.

2024 Transvulcania Ultramarathon Males’s Race

The boys’s race was one which wouldn’t be misplaced early, as not lower than 10 males rolled into the second help station at Deseadas (17k) inside 73 seconds of the lead. There was a particular lead pack with Jeshurun Small and Dakota Jones of the U.S., Tom Evans and Jon Albon of the U.Okay, and Thibaut Baronian of France. Ben Stout (U.S.), Dimity Mityaev (Andorra), Davide Cheraz (Italy), and Antoine Thiriat (France) have been all inside a minute of the lead.

Fourteen kilometers later, at El Reventón (31k), 4 of the 5 primarily remained throughout the lead pack, with solely Jones dropping once more to sixth whereas Stout moved up into fifth at 2.5 and a few minutes off the lead, respectively. Technically, Baronian was 19 seconds off the lead trio of Albon, Small, and Evans. Cheraz, Ionel Manole (Spain), Mityaev, and Tobias Geiser (Italy) rounded out the best 10.

Fast forward to the extreme degree at El Roque de los Muchachos (51k), and we lastly started to see some gaps between the best males, even when that was principally Albon pulling away from the rest of the leaders. Definitely, Albon hit el Roque with a 4.5-minute lead on Small and a 5.5-minute lead on Mityaev, whereas Baronian and Evans sat 6 minutes once more.

From there, gaps quickly grew with Stout at 8.5 minutes, Manole at 18 minutes, and Manuel Anguita (Spain) at 19.5 minutes once more in sixth through eighth because the one completely different runners inside 20 minutes of the lead. Not prolonged after El Reventón, Jones quickly fell behind the lead pack to lastly finish in seventeenth.

The colossal 8,000-foot, 11-mile descent all the way in which all the way down to the seaside metropolis of Tazacorte observed two of the sooner prime 5 runners fall once more, whereas three held their place or moved up. Albon hit the ocean with the equivalent 4.5-minute lead he had an hour and a half earlier extreme atop the island. Ah, nevertheless Evans made up 90 seconds to maneuver into second along with teammate Mityaev over the descent.

On the equivalent time, Small fell into fourth at 8.5 minutes off the lead. From there, there was a substantial gap once more to the next runners with Manole, Stout, Pere Aurell (Spain), and Anguita all beneath 20 minutes off the lead. Baronian deployed his parachute on the descent and ended it in ninth, better than half-hour off the doorway.

Because the lads made their means into city center of Los Llanos de Aridane, Jon Albon held on to win in 7:03:10.

Making up 2 minutes on Albon over the final word 5k climb, teammates Dmitry Mityaev and Tom Evans accomplished hand in hand, tying in 7:05:16.

Although he misplaced some time on the descent, Jeshurun Small ran strong over the final word kilometers to take fourth in 7:10:54. Ionel Manole threw down a furious final sprint to beat out Ben Stout and preserve onto fifth by 11 seconds, with the pair ending in 7:19:21 and 7:19:32, respectively.

2024 Transvulcania Ultramarathon Males’s Outcomes

• 1. Jon Albon (U.Okay., lives in Norway) – 7:03:10
• T-2. Dmitry Mityaev (Andorra) – 7:05:16
• T-2. Tom Evans (U.Okay.) – 7:05:16
• 4. Jeshurun Small (U.S.) – 7:10:54
• 5. Ionel Manole (Spain) – 7:19:21
• 6. Ben Stout (U.S.) – 7:19:32
• 7. Manuel Anguita (Spain) – 7:20:24
• 8. Pere Aurell (Spain) – 7:27:10
• 9. Antoine Thiriat (France) – 7:39:41
• 10. Tobias Geiser (Italy) – 7:39:467

Full outcomes.

2024 Transvulcania Ultramarathon Women’s Race

No matter having a stacked space, the women’s race was dominated already in its early kilometers. By Deseadas (17k), Ruth Croft (New Zealand) had a 2.5-minute lead on Ida Nilsson (Sweden, lives in Norway), nevertheless Nilsson was, in flip, virtually 5 minutes in entrance of the rest of the women’s space.

Proper right here, Azara García (Spain) and Ekaterina Mityaeva (Andorra) ran in third and fourth at 7 minutes off the lead with Marianne Hogan (Canada) and Hannah Allgood (U.S.) decrease than a minute once more. Keely Henninger (U.S.), Sunmaya Budha (Nepal), Emilie Collomb (Italy), and Hillary Allen (U.S.) have been the rest of the best 10 women at 9, 9.5, 10.5, and 13 minutes off the lead.

Croft continued to tug away from the sector en path to El Reventón (31k), the place she constructed a 4.5-minute lead on Nilsson. Budha held strong to maneuver into third place at 12 minutes off the lead whereas the rest of the women’s space continued to fall off Croft’s furious tempo. Hogan and García ran 13 and 14 minutes off the lead in fourth and fifth, respectively. Whereas we don’t have a break up for Mityaeva at El Reventón, she was sixth on the help stations sooner than and after that location.

After which Nilsson dropped the hammer with a tremendous surge to catch Croft sooner than El Roque de los Muchachos at 51k. On the equivalent time, the lead duo continued to assemble time on the rest of the women’s space. Budha continued to run in third on the extreme degree at quarter-hour off the doorway. On the equivalent time, Allgood had run her means up into fourth roughly 24 minutes off the doorway with Hogan holding onto fifth at 28 minutes off the lead.

For perspective on merely how successfully Croft and Nilsson have been working up entrance through 51k, the sixth through ninth women at 50k have been Mityaeva, Katharina Hartmuth (Germany), García, and Henninger, all of whom have world-class ultrarunning resumes and however ran from 32 to 47 minutes off the leaders.

Wow! Of Croft and Nilsson, it was Croft who had the downhill legs on the day. The Kiwi put 8 minutes on the Swede over the 8,000 ft and easily over 90 minutes of descending to the ocean. Budha held her private on the descent, actually gaining a minute on Croft, nevertheless nonetheless sitting in third 14 minutes off the lead. At the moment, the women’s podium appeared set with merely 5k to go.

Nonetheless, solely 6 minutes separated the women in fourth through sixth. Mityaeva had made up flooring on the descent to maneuver into fourth at 34 minutes off the doorway. Allgood and Hogan raced in fifth and sixth, at 2 and 6 minutes behind Mityaeva.

Ruth Croft continued her phenomenal run to the tip, coming all through the street in a women’s course doc time of 8:02:49, lowering Ida Nilsson’s time of 8:04:16 from 2017.

Ida Nilsson rolled into the tip to take second in 8:16:32.

Sunmaya Budha continued to close in on Nilsson, nevertheless lastly accomplished in third in 8:20:31.

Ekaterina Mityaeva held onto fourth in 8:40:59, whereas Hannah Allgood accomplished in fifth in 8:43:23.

2024 Transvulcania Ultramarathon Women’s Outcomes

1. Ruth Croft (New Zealand) – 8:02:49
2. Ida Nilsson (Sweden, lives in Norway) – 8:16:32
3. Sunmaya Budha (Nepal) – 8:20:31
4. Ekaterina Mityaeva (Andorra) – 8:40:59
5. Hannah Allgood (U.S.) – 8:43:23
6. Marianne Hogan (Canada) – 8:51:09
7. Katharina Hartmuth (Germany) – 8:57:34
8. Azara García (Spain) – 9:14:48
9. Marina Cugnetto (Italy) – 9:18:57
10. Keely Henninger (U.S.) – 9:23:44

Full outcomes.