August 19

MATTERHORN ULTRAKS 2022 GOES TO FINLAY WILD AND NAIARA IRIGOYEN

Posted by mayayo oxigeno on August 19, 2022 in matterhon ultraks, matterhorn ultraks 2022, skyrunner world series 2022, swiss alps, trail running spain, zermatt switzerland | 1 Comment

MATTERHORN ULTRAKS 2022 GOES TO FINLAY WILD AND NAIARA IRIGOYE Tough conditions in Zermatt threatened the 10^th race of the 2022 Skyrunner^® World Series, but the << EXTREME >> pulled through and the show well and truly went on.

Photo Mayayo

Photo Mayayo

MATTERHORN ULTRAKS 2022

GOES TO FINLAY WILD AND NAIARA IRIGOYEN

Due to rain and poor visibility, the local mountain safety team made the necessary decision to postpone the start time by one hour and implement the B-Course to ensure the safety of the runners. Staying true to the name
<< EXTREME >> the B-course, with 21 km and 2,250 meters of elevation gain, was only four kilometers and 500 meters less than the original route and still featured many technical elements, minus the famous couloir and glacier crossing.

The race kick off was lucky enough to be held with no rain…yet it came back with a vengeance soon after, once runners were on their way up to the colder ridges.

FINLAY WILD WINS THE MEN´S RACE

Whilst most of the elite field were thrown off by the wet and cold weather, for today’s male champion, Scotsman Finlay Wild, it was nothing different to an average day in the Scottish Highlands. The doctor who resides in Fort William at the foot of Ben Nevis, Britain’s highest mountain, is no stranger to wet weather.

Wild (team Mountain Equipment) who previously took part in the series in 2018, was challenged in the uphill by Ruy Ueda from Japan (team Red Bull) and Canadian Karl Augsten, but kept his place in the top three. It wasn’t until the final downhill that Wild pulled ahead of Ueda and increased his lead from 40 seconds at the final checkpoint at Trift, to 99 seconds by the time he crossed the finish line in first place after 2h34’10”.

“Coming from Scotland, these were definitely my conditions”, said Wild, “It was a tough race with Ruy and Karl, who were both really strong in the uphill but I was able to take advantage of my downhill running skills in the wet and managed to get ahead. This was my only international race of the year so far as I have mainly been focusing on UK events. I’ve been in Zermatt for a couple of weeks checking out the course and doing some climbing so although I’m disappointed that it wasn’t the full course, I know how beautiful the trails are here. I would like to come back and do it again and hopefully next time get to experience all the technical parts of the route.”

Ueda, the 2019 overall Skyrunner^® World Series champion, crossed the finish line in second place followed by Spain’s Nico Molina (team La Sportiva) in third, three minutes behind Wild.

Top five men:

Finlay Wild (GBR) Team Mountain Equipment – 2h34’10”
Ruy Ueda (JPN) Team Red Bull – 2h35’39”
Nico Molina (ESP) Team La Sportiva – 2h37’21”
Johann Baujard (FRA) Team Salomon – 2h38’38”
Karl Augsten (CAN) – 2h39’30”

NAIARA IRIGOYEN WINS THE WOMEN´S RACE

The women’s race came down to an exciting sprint finish between Naiara Irigoyen of the Basque Country and Iris Pessey of France (team Scott Running). Pessey went out hard from the start and led for the majority of the race. Irigoyen caught up on the final descent and the two ran together until the final meters before the finish line where Irigoyen was able to make one final push. The Basque athlete crossed the finish line after 3h08’53”, just five seconds ahead of Pessey.

“I have been so close to the win so many times this season”, commented Pessey who collapsed at the finish line, “I started off too fast and made up for it later on. I had nothing left when Naiara passed me at the finish line. Last year I came third here, this year second, maybe next year will be my year.”

In third place was Martina Cumerlato of Italy (team La Sportiva). Cumerlato impressively gained three places in the final descent, finishing three minutes behind Irigoyen in first.

Top five women:

Naiara Irigoyen (ESP) Team Eusksal Selekzioa – 3h08’53”
Iris Pessey (FRA) Team Scott Running – 3h08’58”
Martina Cumerlato (ITA) Team La Sportiva – 3h12’14”
Amelie Bertschy (SUI) Team On Running – 3h13’35”
Onditz Iturbe Arginzoniz (ESP) Team Eusksal Selekzioa – 3h15’39”

The top 20 men and women from today’s race have won maximum points towards the overall ranking with the top 10 qualifying for the 2022 SkyMasters hosted by Gorbeia Suzien in the Basque Country, Spain on the 8th of October.

The next stop on the circuit will be the Tier Two race, Louzanskyrace in Portugal on the 4th September.