Italy’s Nadir Maguet and Hillary Gerardi of the USA claimed thrilling victories at the 14th stage of the Merrell Skyrunner® World Series, both setting new course records at one of Italy’s most challenging skyrunning events, the Maga Skymarathon.
Hillary Gerardi (team Scarpa), the American skyrunning star, delivered a commanding performance in the women’s division, cementing her reputation as one of the world’s best in the sport. Navigating the treacherous ridges and steep ascents with her signature precision, Gerardi crossed the finish line in spectacular fashion. After leading from start to finish, Gerardi set a new course record of 5h31’55” for the 39-kilometer course with 3,000 meters of elevation gain. Her triumph at Maga is a continuation of an outstanding season, with three victories so far.
Gerardi comments: “Italy is my favourite place to race. The organisation is great and the skyraces are technical. Maga was a mixture of technical sections but also a lot of fast running and there were people cheering throughout the whole course and that gave me so much energy. It feels great to beat the record which has stood for so many years.”
Madeline Amarirei of Romania (team ASD Pegarun), finished four minutes behind Gerardi in second place followed by Spain’s Oihana Kortazar (team Salomon), 13 minutes behind Gerardi in third.
In the men’s race, Nadir Maguet (team La Sportiva), the Italian skyrunner, crushed the competition after also leading the race from start to finish. Maguet’s flawless performance was sealed with another course record. This is the second win of the series for Maguet.
Maguet comments: “Maga is a very hard and technical race. This is real and pure skyrunning. To win here in Italy and get the race record is extremely emotional. The local people are super involved with the race and their support is impressive. To win two stages of the SWS is very satisfying. Unfortunately, this season I suffered an injury and therefore I can’t compete for the final ranking but for next year we’ll see where my planning will take me!”
It was an all-Italian podium with second place going to Cristian Minoggio (team Kailas / Sport Attitude) and Gianluca Ghiano (team Brooks) pulling off another incredible performance this season, finishing third.
Full results can be found here: https://live.endu.net/maga-skymarathon-skyrace/
The next race of the season is Gorbeia Suzien in the Basque Country, Spain on the 28th of October.
