The Skyrunner® World Series has announced an all-star elite lineup for this Saturday’s Schlegeis 3000 Skyrace, the eighth race of the 2023 circuit.
The Premier Skyrace, which already attracted a world-class field of elite runners in 2022, proves to be a big hit once again as Austria gears up to welcome top athletes of 24 nationalities to Zillertal, in the heart of the Austrian Alps.
The 34 km course with 2,400 metres of elevation gain is amongst the most beautiful and technical routes of the series. The race begins on the Schlegeis Reservoir and crosses the Austrian-Italian border, with a short stretch of the course running on the Italian side of the Zillertal Alps before climbing to the highest point of the route at 2,930 meters and back down to the Damn.
Seana Forbes, Skyrunner® World Series Head of Operations comments:
“Last year Schlegeis 3000 was a Tier Two Skyrace, therefore offering less points and less SkyMasters qualification places, however, we noticed that many top athletes were drawn to the beauty of the location and the technicality of the course. This year, it’s the same again and we can expect to see perhaps the best lineup of the season so far. Lindsay Webster, the defending champion, will return and Frederic Tranchand will also be there along with many other big names. We’re all looking forward to an epic event this Saturday.”
Lindsay Webster of Canada will indeed have an extremely hard job defending her title this year. The 2022 champion is up against the 2023 trail running world champion Clementine Geoffray of France (team Evadict); Mexico’s Karina Carsolio (team Black Diamond); the 2022 SkyMasters champion Noemie Vachon of France (team Brooks); the 2023 Minotaur winner, Marcela Vasinova of the Czech Republic; and the queen of technical and brand-new Mont Blanc female record-holder Hillary Gerardi of the USA (team Black Diamond / Scarpa).
Webster comments:
“Schlegeis was one of my favourite courses last year, and I also loved Austria as a country. I said to myself that if there was one race I would travel back to Europe for and repeat again, it would be Schlegeis. I found the race directors really passionate, the people friendly and stoked, and I loved the technical course! The timing has worked out well for me to go, and the highly competitive field will be fun to race in. There will be so many fast females there this year, who I think are faster runners than me, but the technical terrain suits my abilities. I think I can crack into the top five if I have a good day!”
And the men’s field is equally as impressive as the women’s. Big names include the 2022 skyrunning world champion Roberto Delorenzi of Switzerland (team Brooks); 2022 Skyrace des Matheysins winner, Frederic Tranchand of France (team Scott Running); the 2023 Zegama winner, Manuel Merillas of Spain (team Scarpa / Land Trail); and the winner of the previous SWS race, Skyrace du Mercantour, Damien Humbert of France.
The race starts this Saturday, 22nd of July at 07:00 am local time.
Prize money shall also be awarded equally to the top 10 males and females.
The top 10 will also qualify for the 2023 SkyMasters, the final race of the season. This is only as long as they complete a further 2 races of the season and the SkyMasters. More information on the rules can be found on the Skyrunner® World Series website.
