MOZART 100 BY UTMB 2022: VICTORIES FOR AZARA GARCÍA (SPA) & JANOSCH KOWALCZYK (GER)

MOZART 100 BY UTMB 2022: VICTORIES FOR AZARA GARCÍA (SPA) & JANOSCH KOWALCZYK (GER). Our MOUNTAIN RACING CALENDAR 2022 bring us today teh summary of the great trail running weekend in Salzburg, Austria.

More than 2,000 athletes of 60 nationalities have traversed the forests, mountains, slopes, hills and paths of the Salzburg area in Austria to complete any of the 9 different races within the program.

mozart100 start Photo: Jan Hetfleisch

MOZART 100 BY UTMB 2022:
9 RACES, LOTS OF HEAT AND WONDERFUL LANDSCAPES

MOZART 100 | 105KM | +/- 5,000 M GOLD AZARA GARCÍA & JANOSCH KOWALCYZC.

At 5 am, the queen race with more than 700 participants started from the Kapitelplatz Square in Salzburg, at the foot of the Hohensalzburg Fortress, with the heat as the protagonist, waiting for temperatures in the valley from 10:00 a.m. more than 30 degrees.

The varied trails with +/- 5,000 meters in altitude led the runners via Hinterwinkel and along the Fuschlsee, up to the Zwölferhorn, after that via St-Gilgen to the Schafbergalm and from there back via Fuschl am See to Salzburg with the finish line on Kapitelplatz.

In the first kilometers of the race Andreu Simón, the German Janosch Kowalczyk and the Afghan Hekmat Darwishi were drawn the first places.

This is how at 09.00 Andreu Simón passed through St Gilgen

The mozart 100 race was an exciting head-to-head race with several lead changes during the run. In the end, Janosch Kowalczyk (GER) crossed the finish line on the Kapitelplatz in Salzburg as the winner after 9:36.09.

mozart100 Photo: Jan Hetfleisch

After the race he said: “I prepared for the mozart 100 for six months. It was a very demanding race, the heat made running even more challenging, so I divided the race tactically in such a way that I held back a bit at the beginning because I knew that the last few kilometers would be very tough. I really enjoyed the trails, it was a great course with many highlights and I am very happy about my victory.”

Andreu Simon Aymerich (ESP) led the race for a long time and was able to gain a seven-minute lead during the competition. After 9:44.59 he finally finished second. “I definitely wanted to win, but I’ve had a few difficult weeks and I’m initially very happy that I was able to start an ultra trail run again. It was a beautiful course and I’m happy that things are eventually getting better again and I‘m also happy with my second place here at the mozart 100.”

Former Austrian national marathon champion from 2015, Karl Aumayer, finished 21st in his first ultra trail run and drew a very positive balance after his debut: “After the second big climb after the Schafberg, I was able to pick up speed again until Fuschl at 75 km, but then I realized that I was entering an area that I simply didn’t know,so the last kilometers became quite hard. It was a great event, big compliments to everyone involved, everything from the marking of the course to the organization at the aid stations was perfect, and the course is just beautiful anyway. It was hot, but when you can enjoy the view of the Salzkammergut from the peaks, you are happy to accept the temperatures.”

German ultra runner Florian Neuschwander finished 24th in his third ultra trail event. “My goal was not to run too fast at the beginning and then to step on the gas from kilometre 75 on in Fuschl and just to finish, so that I could get the Running Stones for the UTMB® World Series Finals. I managed to do that and I am very satisfied. I definitely see room for improvement, of course I’m taking a rest for now, but I’m planning to run another race in the UTMB® World Series in the fall.”

Florian Neuschwander Photo: Héctor Rubio @hekruca

Ten times 100 km – Reinhold Schager (AUT) was at the starting line of the mozart 100 by UTMB for the tenth time this year. “That was the hottest race I have experienced in all ten years of mozart 100, and also the toughest. But I thought to myself, ‘This is my tenth race, I just have to get to the finish’ and, as in every year, I met great fellow racers on the track, we supported each other and this sense of community is, of course, together with the great nature of the Salzburg region, one reason why I start here every year,” said Schager proudly after crossing the finish line for the tenth time.

For the women, Azara García de los Salmones (ESP) started as the top favourite over the 105 km of the mozart 100 and more than lived up to this role. After 12:00.28 she finished 27th overall, leaving her female competitors behind by over 45 minutes.

Azara mentioned at the finish line:“I am very happy about my victory, the day was like something out of a picture book. It was a wonderful run, it was also very hard, the last 20 kilometres demanded everything from me, but the routes were fantastic and I’m happy that I was able to get everything out of myself and glad to have started here in Salzburg. The race fits perfectly into my running calendar, and shows me that I am well on track for the UTMB World Series Finals in Charmonix in August.”

MOZART ULTRA | 75 KM |+/- 4,000 M | VICTORIES FOR MARTA MOLIST & HARRY JONES

On the second ultra-distance of 75 km, +/- 4,000 meters in altitude, the mozart Ultra, starting in Fuschl am See, the two Brits Harry Jones and George Foster dominated the mens race and fought head-to-head until the end, After 75km Jones won with a time of 7:08.42 and a lead of six minutes over Foster.

After the race, Jones said: “Not only was it really tough for me physically, this time it was mostly mental for me knowing all along that George Foster was breathing down my neck. Before the last climb I knew that if I wanted to win today I had to give it my all. I’m glad I did it and I will remember this race for a long time.”

George Foster said after his run: “The heat made the race very tiring, I was hoping all along that Harry Jones wouldn’t know that I was so close behind him and that I might be able to overtake him in the end.

It was clear to me from the start that Harry was a strong competitor, I’m very happy with my second place and had a great race in front of this beautiful backdrop, which I really enjoyed. At the women’s mozart Ultra race, Marta Molist (ESP), won the race in 8:11.39.

She didn’t give her competitors the slightest chance, only four men were faster than her on the 75 km through the Salzburger Land, and so she finished fifth overall in the mozart Ultra at the Kapitelplatz.

MOZART MARATHON | 41KM | + 1,800M/ -1,900M

The Swiss Tobias Baggenstos, has broken the clock with 3h 06 min and has presented himself at the finish of Salzburg as the winner. Team Brooks, who raced with a Catamount prototype (with a 😉 plate) While in women the victory has been for the Hungarian Iren Tiricz with 3 hours 48 min.

MOZART MHALF MARATHON: VICTORIES FOR ALEJANDRO FORCADES & FLAVIA STUTZ

Team BOA’s Alejando Forcades of Mallorca’s Alejando Forcades took the victory in the short distance here in Salzburg in 1 hour 34 min and 33 seconds.


MOZART 100 BY UTMB 2022: UTMB WORLD SERIES

mozart 100 by UTMB® is part of the UTMB® World Series, which brings together the best races in exceptional locations while surrounding itself by unspoiled nature. A total of 25 events in 16 countries across Asia, Oceania, Europe, and the Americas have been confirmed for the 2022 UTMB World Series®.

This year’s mozart 100 by UTMB® offers exclusive access to the UTMB® World Series Finals 2023, which will take place in the 20 km, 50 km and 100 km categories of the UTMB® Mont-Blanc in Chamonix, France.

All finishers of the UTMB® World Series events receive Running Stones with the amount depending on distance and altitude. One running stone equals one entry in the lottery for the UTMB® World Series Finals.


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