The Skyrunner® World Series heads for the rugged Montana mountains for a trio of events this weekend. Some of the world’s top runners will be participating in the VK, Sky and Ultra races.
The Run the Rut events were tailor-made to fit skyrunning parameters back in 2013 by world-class ultra runners Mike Foote and Mike Wolfe. The spectacular location, the World Series rankings and the successful race recipe entice top runners from home and abroad to this relatively remote area.
Located in the aptly named Big Sky ski resort, the battle will take place on Lone Peak, the high point of all three races at 3,403m altitude.
Friday’s Lone Peak Vertical Kilometer® does just what it says and climbs 1,000 vertical metres on a steep gnarly course just under 5 km long to the summit of Lone Peak. The standing records are: Men 45’47”. Women 52’20”.
A favourite in the men’s field is Ferran Teixido from Andorra, current VK ranking leader and third here last year. Watch out for 18-year old rising talent, Jan Margarit from Spain. He took a gold at the recent Youth Skyrunning World Championships for his category and is fifth on the VK and tenth on the Sky rankings. He will be joined by Ondrei Fejfar from the Czech Republic and American Luke Nelson competing in the Series. The three will participate in both the Vertical and the 28K races.
Taking on the doubles in the women’s field are Spain’s Laura Orgué winner of the 2015 VK here. In 2015 she won both the VK and Sky Series, a silver at the recent Skyrunning World Championships and is currently second on the Vertical and fourth on the Sky rankings. Salomon team-mate Yngvild Kaspersen from Norway will also participate in both races. Kaspersen came third in last year’s VK race and fourth in the Sky. At the age of 21, she pocketed Zegama earlier this year, a sure sign of her potential.
Saturday’s 28K is a new course with an extra 3 km with respect to last year. It counts 2,375m of vertical climb which includes all the steep technical sections of The Rut 50K.
Star of the Sky distance is America’s own Megan Kimmel. She won the 25K here last year, came second in the 2015 Sky Series and currently leads the 2016 ranking with two straight wins in Yading, China, and Matterhorn Ultraks in Zermatt.
Ragna Debats from the Netherlands, ranked second and Spaniard Aitziber Ibarbia, seventh, will all be racing the Sky for precious points.
Hassan Ait Chaou, currently ranked second, will be seriously challenged by Switzerland’s Marc Lauenstein. Lauenstein placed second after Kilian Jornet in Zegama and won the recent Matterhorn Ultraks. He will be joined by fellow countryman Micha Steiner.
Dakota Jones is a name we associate with Transvulcania and ultra distances. After a year of injury, the American is back on his feet and, after a recent 50K win in Canada, he’ll make for some hot competition and a welcome come-back.
The events conclude with Sunday’s The Rut 50K – demanding, steep and technical, it counts 3,200m vertical climb traversing exposed ridge lines and harrowing descents in true skyrunning style. The standing race records are: Men 5h09’31”. Women 6h25’44″.
The women’s field boasts six in the Ultra Series top ten ranking. Here they are:
Anne-Lise Rousset (2nd) from France; Americans Hillary Allen (3rd) second in last year’s race and Kristina Pattison (6th); Spain’s Anna Comet (4th) and Ida Nilsson, Transvulcania winner from Sweden (7th). Add Italian Martina Valmassoi who placed third here last year and we have an electrifying women’s race coming up.
The men’s 50K has Spaniards Cristofer Clemente, 2nd on the Ultra ranking and second here last year competing with Roger Vinas, ranked 3rd . They will be pushing the pace up front. American Matt Shyrock was an excellent third in 2015 last year and Sunday will be back for more.
Alpina Watches, Official Watch of the 2016 Skyrunner® World Series will award two Alpina Horological Smartwatches to the winners of the Alpina Smart Time Prize. The formula is based on the time at the highest point of the 28K (3,403m) and applies a bonus based on age, putting everyone on the same level, irrespective of the final race results.
The weekend’s events, which include an 11K, count a record-breaking 2,046 participants from 16 countries.
