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SALOMON TRAIL RUNNING ANNUAL RUNNING CAMP: EL HIERRO APRIL 2021.
SALOMON TRAIL RUNNING ANNUAL RUNNING CAMP: EL HIERRO APRIL 2021. The Salomon athletes witll gather together for their annual running camp in El HIerro, Canary Islands, from April 1st until April 9th.
As you know, in 2020, nearly every major trail running race on the sport’s global calendar had to be cancelled due to COVID-19 global pandemic. The lack of races and a ban on travel forced the sports best athletes—and even amateurs—to spend more time simply training. In many cases, professional trail running athletes got creative, attempting FKTs (fastest known times) in their own backyards—sometimes literally, like in the case of Salomon athlete Ryan Sandes of South Africa.
Salomon Athletes, Photo: Martina Valmassoi
Now, as the 2021 running season dawns, there is hope that a sense of normalcy may return to the schedule in the months ahead. To start their preparation for what they hope will be a season full of races both short (marathon distance) and long (ultra-distance), Salomon’s star-studded team of trail running athletes will head to El Hierro, an island in the Canary Islands, for a week of training from April 1-9.
The collection of marathon distance runners headed to the Salomon camp includes Poland’s Bartlomiej Przedwojewski (winner of the Golden Trail Championship last fall), Switzerland’s Rémi Bonnet and Frenchman Thibaut Baronian. Switzerland’s Maude Mathys and Judith Wyder, two of the best women trail marathoners on the planet, will also be at the mountainous island off the coast of northwest Africa to push the men each day. The two Swiss ladies will be joined by Slovenia’s Ana Cufer, a downhill specialist who was the Best Downhiller at the Golden Trail Championship in 2020.
All of the short distance runners will be tuning up for the Golden Trail World Series, which is scheduled to kick off with at the Zegama-Aizkorri Marathon in June.
Salomon will also have several members of its deep and talented roster of ultra-distance runners in the Canary Islands, led by three-time UTMB® winner Francois D’haene of France. D’haene and fellow Frenchman Sebastien Spehler will be able to parler Francais on long runs, along with Camille Bruyas another French ultra-runner who finished 3rd in the women’s CCC race at UTMB® in 2019. The French contingent will be joined by Beth Pascall. A doctor from England’s beautiful Lake District, Pascall stayed close to home to set a new women’s record on the famed Bob Graham Round in 2020.
El Hierro will offer a superb location for the attending team members to build a strong training base and work on developing future Salomon footwear, apparel and gear with Salomon’s product line managers and engineers, who will also join the running camp to test prototypes and get valuable direct feedback from the athletes. A number of other athletes from around the globe will join workshops digitally.
“We are very excited to get these members of our team together for our annual team building, training, marketing workshops, prototype testing and product feedback sessions,” said Greg Vollet, Manager of Salomon’s international trail running team and Community Marketing Manager. “El Hierro is the perfect place for this as the terrain is fairly technical. The athletes will run about 40 kms per day with a lot of vertical, and they will do some cross-training as well. We expect to mix in some road cycling, mountain biking and more fun activities like scuba diving and a boat trip.”
Upon arrival the team will do a 70 km cycling trip from the airport to their hotel. Their baggage will travel separately, of course. They will be lead on their runs by local Salomon Spain team ambassador Cristofer Clemente.
Every person in attendance will undergo a COVID-19 PCR test within 72 hours of arriving in the Canary Islands, then take a second test upon arrival. They will also take another test within 72 hours or returning to their home country. Runners will also wear masks everywhere on the island, with the exception of during runs.
Scheduling conflicts and travel bans will force a handful of runners to miss the gathering in the Canary Islands. Young Italian star Davide Magnini will be busy finishing up his skimo race season, while American ultra-running star Courtney Dauwalter (2019 UTMB® winner), Nepalese legend Mira Rai, and Norwegian climbing sensation and multiple-time trail marathon winner Stian Angermund-Vik will not be able to attend due to quarantine regulations.
Salomon Athletes, Photo: Martina Valmassoi
D’haene and Dauwalter have the Hardrock 100 in Colorado and the UTMB® in Chamonix in their season plans. After a 6th place finish at the Golden Trail Championship in 2020, Bruyas turns her attention to a long distance challenge, the UTMB® race. Unfortunately, Swedish ultra-runner Kristin Berlgund (2nd to Dauwalter at the 2019 UTMB®) will miss the camp, and any events in the foreseeable future, due to a knee injury.
Longtime Salomon trail running stars Emelie Forsberg and Kilian Jornet will miss the running camp for a far more positive reason; the couple is awaiting the birth of their second child in the coming weeks.
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Post by Héctor Rubio for Trailrunningspain
