2016 Skyrunning
| Emelie and Luis Alberto Ultra Champions |
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Today, Emelie Forsberg and Luis Alberto Hernando were crowned Skyrunner® Ultra Series champions in the magnificent Spanish Pyrenees. The indomitable Kilian-Emelie duo took the race win at the Salomon Ultra Pirineu in a star studded line-up where the competition was fierce, especially in the women’s field with the Series title at stake.
As predicted, the 110 km race with 6,800m climb was led by Kilian Jornet who closed in 12h03’27”, a comfortable eight minutes ahead of Zaid Ait Malek and a strong Miguel Heras. Ranking leader Franco Collé was forced to retire due to illness, but managed to hold third position in the final Series’ ranking. Luis Alberto, after his 2nd place at Tromsø and the recent UTMB, dug deep to finish 8th and take home the Ultra Series title awarded on his birthday today. For Emelie, the race and title were hers. Pushed hard by Mira Rai throughout, she came second in the race and the Series’ ranking. It was home ground for Nuria Picas, four-time winner of the event and her finish in third, was met by huge applause by her fans, friends and family. In fact, the atmosphere in the small town of Bagà was electric with loud music, Catalan flags and cheering spectators deep into the night.
It was a great day for the 564 finishers, the last of whom crossed the finish line some 15 hours after the first, having run through all of Saturday, day and night. With everyone safely past the finish line, the prize ceremony took place on Sunday morning to celebrate the race winners, the Skyrunner® National Series winners and the newly crowned Ultra Series Champions, Emelie Forsberg and Luis Alberto Hernando. The Skyrunner® World Series awards a total of $25,000 of which $10,500 were awarded to the top three ranked men and women at today’s Ultra finals.
More prizes were in store from Alpina Watches, Official Watch of the 2015 Skyrunner® World Series. The two Ultra Champions Emelie Forsberg and Luis Alberto Hernando, each received a luxury Horological Smartwatch, the first of its kind on the market. Both Emelie and Luis Alberto proved their worth by adding to their list of achievements which include the 2014 Skyrunning World Champion titles, the 2015 European Champion titles and today’s Skyrunner® World Series Ultra Champion titles. The Skyrunner® World Series still has some way to go with the Lantau 2 Peaks in Hong Kong on October 4 and the Sky and VK finals in Limone, Italy, on October 16 and 17 where the curtain will close the skyrunning season…and prepare for the next.
Race results Men 1. Kilian Jornet (Salomon): 12h03’27” 2. Zaid Ait Malek (Buff): 12h12’23” 3. Miguel Heras (Salomon): 12h20’35” Women 1. Emelie Forsberg (Salomon): 13h39’33” 2. Mira Rai (Salomon): 13h43’49” 3. Nuria Picas (Buff): 14h13’01” Skyrunner® World Series ranking (provisional results) Men 1. Luis Alberto Hernando (ESP) adidas - 365 points 2. Cristofer Clemente (ESP) Race Land – 312 points 3. Franco Collé (ITA) Tecnica – 310 points Women 1. Emelie Forsberg (SWE) Salomon – 420 points 2. Mira Rai (NEP) Salomon – 394 points 3. Anna Comet (ESP) – Dynafit - 333 points |
