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KILIAN JORNET SECRETS AT ZEGAMA VS. DAVIDE MAGNINI & MANUEL MERILLAS
KILIAN JORNET SECRETS AT ZEGAMA VS. DAVIDE MAGNINI & MANUEL MERILLAS. Our ZEGAMA section analyzes today for all of you the victories of Kilian Jornet, Davide Magnini and Manuel Merillas, their performance, the shoes they used and the data they shared in their strava accounts.
At 09.00 CET on Sunday 29th May, in Zegama, Spain, the start of probably one of the most famous trail running races in the world, took place with 510 athletes, of 23 nationalities, on the starting line, a clear sky. Let’s start with the official Highlights video and then analyze one by one the performance, the shoes and the GPS data.
KILIAN JORNET SECRETS AT ZEGAMA
VS. DAVIDE MAGNINI & MANUEL MERILLAS
Kilian Jornet, Nnormal Team, won last Sunday 29th May his 10th Txapela at Zegama-Aizkorri beating the previous record from 2017 Stian Angermund 3:45, with an incredible time of 3:36:40, 9 minutes below the previous record.
Davide Magnini followed Kilian in the finish line also 6 minutes below the previous record with 3:39:31. Third on the podium was Manuel Merillas 3:45:43 with a very impressive performance in the last kilometers.
Here you can see how we experienced the race LIVE
ZEGAMA MARATHON 2022 KILIAN JORNET (3:36:40)
Kilian arrived to Zegama with a great expectation behind, not only to see if he was able to win his 10th Txapela (traditional Basque hat awarded to Zegama winners) but aso as it was the first time in history of him running with his new own brand: NNormal.
Already in the first meters of the race he took the lead, only after short time that the Kenyans athletes were on the lead, and only left it for a couple of seconds, like for example on the summit of Aizkorri where Davide was “officially” first.
We saw a very solid Kilian who won his 10th Txapela with an incredible performance which we analyze below.
ZEGAMA MARATHON 2022 KILIAN SHOES
As expected, Kilian as some other members of the NNormal Team (Emilie Forsberg, Dakota Jones), run with his new brand shoes, which we do not know the name yet.
In the previous images officially published so far, little else we have been able to advance apart from a sharp design, a high sole, the use of traditional laces instead of the Salomon cable and a Vibram sole. It is not little, but we still lack the specific numbers to be able to tell you more.
We are left with these first official photo and a close up of his feet arriving to the Zegama finish line. We remind you that they cannot be purchased until Autumn-Winter 2022/23.
We do not know yet if the shoes feature any kind of assisted plate of just the normal cushion: EVA or any other kind of foam.
ZEGAMA MARATHON 2022 KILIAN GPS-STRAVA DATA
Kilian published the race data really early after the race, something is becoming very common on him since he left Suunto. And the data are really impressive. Not only we saw him flying on the TV, now we can understand, in context, the speed we “felt” on the screens.
According to the white COROS Apex Pro worn by Kilian, he did 42,33 km on 3 hours 36 min and 02 seconds (moving time) for an official time of 3 hours 36 min 40 seconds. With an elevation gained of 2557M+ on an average pace of 5’06min/km
Kilian won his 10th Txapela doing uphill kilometers on 6.22min/km with 166M+ and a last 5 km with splits between 4.14min/km and 3.10min/km on the last kilometer, being the “slowest” kilometer the 22nd (climbing Aizkorri) on 10.13min/km with 265 meters of elevation gained.
The last 10 km of Kilian are really impressive with a 37:35″ performance.
Kilian’s activity on Strava
ZEGAMA MARATHON 2022 DAVIDE MAGNINI (3:39:31)
What a fantastic perfromance from the young Italian runner, maybe the natural successor of Kilian? Maybe Davide was not in the TOP5 bets of many media, however for those who have followed him in the last years, mainly since the Covid pandemic, we knew that he was a very important contender to be taken into account.
Not only this winter has won many skimo races, but also in the last 2 years has performed some FKT attempts like the Stelvio or the Ortler which has shown the great quality of davide as an athlete and how he is able to keep on pushing.
In fact, in one of the first interviews he gave to our colleagues from carrerasdemontana.com he mentioned that a dream came true by being the first athlete to summit the Aizkorri, which you can see in the picture below, how Kilian is a couple of seconds behind him.
ZEGAMA MARATHON 2022 DAVIDE SHOES
Very little we know of the shoes Davide used. We asked him in a pre-race interview and he was doubting between the NEW Salomon S/Lab Genesis and the ones that he used, the Salomon S/Lab Pulsar SG fully black. We also asked later on and we are awaiting his answer to 100% confirm he was using the Pulsar SG.
The Salomon Pulsar SG come with a price of 200€ , 194 g and a drop of 6 mm and 4.5 mm lugs. The midsole has just the right amount of strategic cushioning which keeps the agility needed for a terrain such as the Aizkorri ridge.
It still has Salomon’s lightest midsole, Energy Surge foam which is a lightweight and responsive foam created by combining EVA and Olefin [OBC] to deliver long-lasting cushion and bouncy energy return.The outsole now boasts 4.5mm lugs and a new, ultra-grippy lug construction to keep you safe on technical terrain.
ZEGAMA MARATHON 2022 DAVIDE GPS-STRAVA DATA
Davide also published the race data in the evening after the race, something is becomming very common and that we really like. And the data are really impressive and except for the distnace similar to the ones from Kilian as they run really together majority of the time.
According to the Suunto 9 Peak worn by Davide, he did 43,18 km on 3 hours 38 min and 37 seconds (moving time) for an official time of 3 hours 39 min 31 seconds. With an elevation gained of 2558M+ on an average pace of 5’06min/km the same as Kilian. Interesting to see how the Suunto measured almost 1 km more but same elevation gained.
Davide has the whole race very similar numbers as Kilian, as they run together almost the entire race. Doing also uphill kilometers on 6-7min/km with 166M+ and a last 5 km with splits between 4.15min/km and 3.22min/km on the last kilometer (already 10 seconds slower than Kilian), being the “slowest” kilometer also the 22nd (climbing Aizkorri) on 9.22min/km with 245 meters of elevation gained measured by his Suunto.
If Kilian did 37 min in his last 10 KM, Davide was also not far with a fantastic 38:57″.
Davide’s activity on Strava
ZEGAMA MARATHON 2022 MANUEL MERILLAS (3:45:43)
Manuel performed a fantastic Zegama race, with a final downhill push, arriving 9th to the Aizkorri summit on km 22, being 5th at the km 34, that made him arrive third to the Basque village.
ZEGAMA MARATHON 2022 MANUEL SHOES
As travel companions for this adventure, Manuel Merillas, chose the SCARPA RIBELLE RUN above the Scarpa Golden Gate Kima, as he explained in an interview to our colleagues as the Ribelle has been designed with a very complex challenge in thinking: mountain shoes that are both very durable and technically accurate.
And the Spanish athlete gave priority to the grip and security that the Ribelle gave him in the technical area from Aizkorri to Aitxuri above the carbon plate that would/might have been only beneficial in the last kilometers.
According to the brand, this Ribelle Run, which arrive with a very light weight of 250 grams, a 4mm drop and a price of 139€ of price, wants to be the ideal choice for training and short-to-medium-distance racing, like this Zegama.
ZEGAMA MARATHON 2022 MANUEL GPS-STRAVA DATA
Manuel also published the race data in the evening after the race, with the data from his COROS Vertix 2 which measured “only” 41,83 km on 3 hours 43 min and 44 seconds (moving time) for an official time of 3 hours 45 min 43 seconds. With an elevation gained of 2574M+ on an average pace of 5’21min/km.
Interesting to see how the COROS Vertix 2 measured 1-2 km less than the GPS watches from Kilian and Davide, but a similar elevation gain.
Manuel did also a really good last 10 Km with 40:58″.
Manuel’s activity on Strava
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