Acantilados Del Norte, on the island of La Palma, successfully opens the 2024 season with new records in the men’s and women’s categories.
The season opener crowned Roberto Delorenzi, SUI, (Brooks Running) and Lide Urrestarazu, ESP, (Euskal Selekzioa) as the winners of the first race of the 2024 season of the Merrell Skyrunner® World Series.
The island of La Palma became a world-class stage, featuring some of the best elite athletes in the sport. The incredible race was broadcasted live to thousands around the world.
350 runners toed the line of Acantilados Del Norte Skyrace. The competition offered an exceptional spectacle among the mountainous landscapes of the north of the island. The challenging circuit of 29 kilometers and 2,200 meters of elevation gain took the runners through the historic trails and cliffs of the north coast of La Palma, offering steep climbs, fast descents and spectacular views of the sea.
MALE AND FEMALE RECORDS SMASHED
With the luxury line-up of elite male and female runners, one could already assume that the records of Manuel Merillas (2 hours 40 minutes 45 seconds) and Ragna Debats (3 hours 27 minutes 21 seconds), would be broken. And this was the case.
Both Delorenzi and Urrestarazu smashed the records of the race. The Swiss crossed the finish line with a final time of 2 hours, 31 minutes and 41 seconds, and the Basque athlete completed the race in 3 hours, 4 minutes and 39 seconds.
Delorenzi led the race from the start, imposing a strong pace (final pace of 5:14 km / hour) and passed through the three checkpoints (Don Pedro, French and Gallego) in first position. Behind, a group of runners separated by a few seconds, formed by the French Frederic Tranchand (Scott Running), Alain Santamaria (Salomon), Dimas Pereira (Asics Running), Alex Garcia (Brooks Running), Alejandro Forcades (NNormal), Daniel Osanz (Adidas Terrex), Manuel Merillas (New Balance) and Aritz Egea (Domusa Teknik-Lana).
In the second part of the race, Merillas, from Leon, climbed positions until he was in third place, very close to Tranchand. In the final stretch he managed to overtake into second position. Daniel Osanz also made a great comeback and placed third ahead of the Frenchman of the Scott Running team.
In the women’s category, youngster, Lide Urrestarazu, took the lead at kilometre 10 ahead of her fellow Basque runner, Ohiana Kortazar, and the Navarrese Naira Irigoyen (A4XKM-Salomon). Urrestarazu maintained the lead all the way to the finish line in Barlovento. Irigoyen was second, less than two minutes behind the winner, and Kortzar took the bronze medal.
THE ENTHUSIASM OF THE WINNERS
After his victory, the 2024 champion, Roberto Delorenzi, commented:
“I am very happy with the final time, I suffered a lot and in the middle of the race I felt the pressure of the pursuers, but I was able to keep my pace. It was my first time on the island of La Palma. I am very happy to be here and I really like the style of the Canary Islands. During the race you have to be concentrated to see where you put your feet, but you can enjoy the beautiful scenery while you are racing and I hope to come back next year”.
Female champion, Lide Urrestarazu, commented:
“I did not expect to win at all, although in training I have been feeling good lately, but it was the first time I competed at an international level and I was up against a very strong female field. In the race from the beginning I felt comfortable and I managed to get into the lead at kilometer 10 and keep it. It was a very beautiful race with spectacular sections – hard and leg-breaking, but beautiful”.
A WILD AND BEAUTIFUL RACE
Acantilados del Norte SkyRace is one of the wildest races that currently exists, especially for the landscapes that can be seen during a route that is well known by hikers on the island of La Palma. Specifically, it is the GR 130 trail (Camino Real de la Costa), located in the northern part of the island.
Acantilados del Norte is a linear race that starts in Santo Domingo de Garafía and ends in Barlovento. The 29 km course runs along the north coast of the island of La Palma, entering and ascending the canyons and coastal cliffs, with a total elevation gain of 2,250 meters.
The race director, Jairo Ponce De Leon, commented:
“we have seen a very good level in the race. The elites have given a great show, with new female and male records that speak for themselves. We are very happy to host the first race of the Merrell Skyrunner® World Series and hope to see it again in 2025.”
The representative of the Merrell Skyrunner® World Series, Andrés Olivera, comments:
“we are very happy for the level we have had, although at the beginning the weather has not accompanied us especially for the initial assembly, but in the end, everything went well and I think people are happy. The elite have given a tremendous show and we hope that all participants leave with a smile on their faces,” he added.
The overall results of Acantilados del Norte SkyRace 2024 can be seen in this link: https://fitters.es/resultados/acantilados-del-norte-by-dynafit-2024/
The next race of the Merrell Skyrunner® World Series will be on Saturday, April 6 with the Calamarro Skyrace that will take place in Benalmádena (Málaga). After that the competition will continue in various destinations in America, Europe and Asia.
You can see the entire 2024 Merrell Skyrunner® World Series calendar of events in this link: https://www.skyrunnerworldseries.com/races/
