October 19

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SHEILA AVILÉS AND RUY UEDA WIN SKYRUNNER WORLD SERIES 2019 AT LIMONE EXTREME. ORIOL CARDONA, SILVER.

Posted by on October 19, 2019 in limone extreme, limone extreme 2019, skyrunner world series, skyrunning, trail running, trail running spain | Leave a comment

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Our SKYRUNNING section celebrates Sheila Aviés and Ruy Ueda as winners of SKYRUNNER WORLD SERIES 2019. The inaugural edition of the SkyMasters, held at Limone Extreme Skyrace today, saw just 60 elite athletes running on the course In the end, Ruy Ueda and Denisa Dragomir made history as the first SkyMasters winners and after six months, Ueda and Avilés are crowned 2019 Migu Run skyrunner World Series overall champions.

Ruy Ueda and Oriol Cardona at finish line (C) Skyrunning

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LIMONE EXTREME RACE REPORT. 

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The World’s first SkyMasters was a race reserved only for the best athletes who qualified throughout the season was run on an exclusive course of 27km and 2,600m vertical climb. Rain forecasted for the afternoon resulted in the start time being moved forwards by five hours. Although almost unheard of for the usually hot and humid Limone, nothing was able to dampen the atmosphere at the epic final event.

The elite field, consisting of 60 of the world’s leading athletes presented an open and intense race won by Ruy Ueda of Japan and Denisa Dragomir of Romania, who will go down in history as the first “SkyMasters”. The big story of the day was the fierce fight in the men’s race between Oriol Cardona of Spain and Ruy Ueda of Japan, who arrived at the SkyMasters with just ten points separating them in the overall ranking. Since Ueda beat Cardona by nine seconds at the first race of the season, Mt. Awa Skyrace in Japan, the world has watched these two athletes go head-to-head and today was the best show yet.

Ueda, who took the lead from early, on looked strong throughout until Cardona flew from ninth to second place and, incredibly, stole the lead for a few minutes in the final descent. With just three kilometres to go before the finish line, Ueda dug deep to give one final push leaving Cardona behind and crossing the finish line in 3h03’15”, a win that sees him take home both titles. Third place went to Christian Mathys of Switzerland who finished with a time of 3h08’12”, followed 30 seconds after by Great Britain’s Jonathan Albon in fourth and Jan Margarit of Spain in fifth with a time of 3h11’05”.

Ruy Ueda: “I never imagined that I could win the overall ranking. My season started strong with a couple of wins at Mt. Awa and Livigno but there were also a few bad moments where I didn’t perform as well as I expected. Thanks to the skyrunning community and the high level of athletes who I have competed against, especially Oriol, I was able to stay strong and continue pushing. Today has been the best day of my career and I am thankful to have had this opportunity.” said Ueda, unable to fight back his tears of joy.

Oriol Cardona: “The best part of the race today was when I passed Ruy and the worst was when he passed me again. We’ve had a really intense season and I knew he was the one to beat today. I caught him and we ran side by side before I managed to get ahead. There were only 4 kilometers left until the end so I knew this would be the decider. Ruy was too strong today though and I couldn’t keep the lead. I’m pleased with my season and even though I didn’t win, this has been a great experience. Well done to Ruy and everyone who made it here today.” said Cardona, who finished just twelve seconds behind in second place.

RESULTS: SkyMasters 2019 men 1. Ruy Ueda – JPN (Team Columbia Montrail) – 3h03’15”; 2. Oriol Cardona – ESP (Team Dynafit) – 3h03’27”; 3. Christian Mathys – SUI – 3h08’12”; 4. Jonathan Albon – GBR (Team GORE / VJ Shoes) – 3h08’41”; 5. Jan Margarit – ESP (Team Salomon) – 3h11’05”

Photo Maurizio Torri.

The female race: Female winner, Denisa Dragomir of Romania triumphed over the skyrunning queen, Sheila Avilés, for the second time this season to take home the title. The ZacUp Skyrace champion took control in the second uphill and kept her lead until the finish line. The new 2019 overall champion, Avilés, followed in second place, just four minutes behind.In third position was 2019 Skyrunner Austria Series winner, Marcela Vasinova. With just nine minutes separating her and Avilés, the Czech athlete has proven that her second-place finish at Pirin Ultra, earlier in the season, was not a one-off and we can expect big things from her in the future. Russia’s Elena Rukhlyada, winner of Skyrace des Matheysins, was the fourth woman to cross the finish line with a time of 3h52’07” after a strong performance from the start. The Netherland’s Ragna Debats followed 39 seconds after in fifth place.

Sheila Aviles: “I have worked hard this year. I have been focused on one goal and that is the Migu Run Skyrunner World Series. I wanted to win. I knew today would be hard and if the SkyMasters didn’t go to plan, I could lose everything. It’s like the Olympics, you can train for four year, but if you have one bad day, it’s over. I’m thankful for a good season and today was a new and different experience racing with only the best skyrunning girls. Denisa performed well as I knew she would but I’m satisfied with my race and I ran it with my heart. I’m excited for my future and for the future of skyrunning.”

Denisa Dragomir: “It was a very tough course and the weather conditions made it even more difficult. I knew Sheila would come prepared and I know how strong she is in the downhill. I pushed hard in the second uphill to widen the gap enough so she wouldn’t catch me going down and it worked. I can’t believe the result today. I came into this race simply honoured to be here competing against the best women at such an iconic event. To win is an indescribable feeling and one that will stay with me forever. I look forward to the 2020 season and to competing in the circuit.” 

Vasinova: “I can’t believe it! This is my first time competing in the season so to come here and race the SkyMasters against big names such as Ragna Debats and Sheila Avilés has been incredible. From the atmosphere to even the weather, today has exceeded my expectations. I’ve enjoyed every minute and I am now fully focused on being here again next year.” 

RESULTS SkyMasters 2019 women: 1. Denisa Dragomir – ROM (Team Serim) – 3h36’55”; 2. Sheila Avilés – ESP (Team Adidas Terrex) – 3h42’13” ; 3. Marcela Vasinova – CZE (Team Dynafit) – 3h51’35”; 4. Elena Rukhlyada – RUS (Team Inov8 Russia) – 3h52’07”; 5. Ragna Debats – NDL (Team Merrell) – 3h52’46”

Photo Maurizio Torri

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SKYRUNNER WORLD SERIES 2019 RESULTS. 

The goal of the 2019 Migu Run Skyrunne® World Series was to determine the best Skyrunners in the world.The overall ranking took into account the best four results of the season, of which a maximum of two can be Supersky races, plus the SkyMasters. The top 20 athletes of the season will be awarded with an end of season all-time-high bonus pool amounting to 75,000€, split equally amongst men and women.

After incredible performances today and over the past six months, Ueda and Avilés proved they are the fastest, strongest and most technically talented runners, by winning the overall ranking. With three wins and a second-place, Avilés has 780 points, the most of any athlete this season. Second was Debats with 655 points and third was Elisa Desco of Italy with 600 points. Ueda, finishes his season with 740 points overall followed by Cardona with 700 points. With 600 points, Albon, who aimed for a top-10 position has described his third-place finish overall as “the most prestigious achievement of my skyrunning career.”

2019 Skyrunner World Series Overall Ranking

Women:
1. Sheila Avilés – ESP (Team Adidas Terrex) – 780 pts
2. Ragna Debats – NDL (Team Merrell) – 655 pts
3. Elisa Desco – ITA (Team Scarpa / Compressport) – 600 pts
4. Johanna Åström – SWE (Team Dynafit) – 508 pts
5. Denisa Dragomir – ROU (Team Serim) – 490 pts

Men:
1. Ruy Ueda – JPN (Team Columbia Montrail) – 740 pts
2. Oriol Cardona – ESP (Team Dynadit) – 700 pts
3. Jonathan Albon – GBR (Team GORE / VJ Shoes) – 600 pts
4. Zaid Ait Malek – ESP (Team Jimbee) – 565 pts
5. Daniel Antonioli – ITA (Team La Sportiva) – 472 pts

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MORE ON TRAIL RUNNING GEAR AND MOUNTAIN RACING IN SPAIN 2015.

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Info edited by Mayayo Oxígeno for Trailrunningspain