Los Llanos de Aridane, Canary Islands, May 11. Kilian Jornet pulled away from the field on the incredibly long downhill in the later stages of the race to win the Transvulcania Race in record time. Compatriot Luis Alberto Hernando led the race at the top of the mountain at mile 29, and held on to second place. Americans Sage Canaday and Timothy Olson finished third and fourth, while Cameron Clayton was seventh.
Emelie Forsberg, a Swedish native living in Norway, won the women’s race with a late surge on the final 4-mile mostly uphill stretch. Nuria Picas was second after running step for step with Forsberg for the entire race until the last few miles.
Kilian Jornet approaches the finish (photo by Brad Clayton)
The 83.3-km (51.7 miles) race, one of the most hotly contested ultras in the world, starts at sea level, climbs to nearly 8000 feet and then descends all the way back to sea level between miles 36 and 48 before a final 6-km uphill push which gains 1200 feet, finishing in the town of Los Llanos de Aridane.
Men
1. Kilian Jornet, 25, Puigcerdá, Spain, 6:54:09 (course record, old record 6:58:44 by Dakota Jones, 2012)
2. Luis Alberto Hernando, 35, Burgos, Spain, 6:58:31
3. Sage Canaday, 27, Nederland, CO, 7:09:57
4. Timothy Olson, 29, Ashland, OR, 7:11:53
5. Patrick Bringer, 37, Garéoult, France, 7:17:19
Women
1. Emelie Forsberg, 25, Tromsø, Norway, 8:13:22
2. Nuria Picas, 36, Berga, Spain, 8:19:30
3. Uxue Fralle, 39, Guipúzcoa, Spain, 8:44:48
4. Nathalie Mauclair, 42, Le Mans, France, 8:46:14
5. Emelie Lecomte, 33, Thorens-Glières, France, 10:14:05
irunfar.com contributed to this report.
Photo, top left: Kilian Jornet approaches the finish (photo by Brad Clayton)
Above: runners cresting Pico de La Nieve (photo by Ian Corless)
Above: Winners Emelie Forsberg and Kilian Jornet (courtesy International Skyrunning Federation)