Fleury Roux and Moana Lilly Kehres fly on the the Vertical Challenge of Transvulcania by UTMB®
With the sunset in Tazacorte, the headlamps illuminated the kilometre and a half that separates Tazacorte from the Mirador de la Punta, with its 250 metres of positive vertical drop. At 20:30 the Vertical Challenge started, the inaugural race of this thirteenth edition of Transvulcania, the second under the UTMB® seal, with individual starts every 30 seconds, starting first with the popular runners and finishing with the elites.
It took the Frenchman Fleury Roux to reach the finish line in 00:08:36, who "flew", improving the time of Maxim Chane (00:08:45) in the last edition. In second place was Damien Humbert, also French, one of the contenders to win the Ultra next Saturday, May 6, with a time of 00:08:58, while Arezki Habibi completed the podium in 00:09:03.
In the women's category, once again the fastest runner was Moana Lilly Kehres, who took 00:11:04 to climb the El Time cliff. The Canary Islander already won in 2022 and aspires to improve her second place in the Marathon category last year, now Volcanes. Leire Fernández, winner of the Half Marathon in Transvulcania by UTMB®, was the second to cross the finish line, with a time of 00:11:32, and behind her, in 00:12:42, Janine Schott took third place.
Tazacorte brings together the best athletes on the national and international scene
An hour earlier, at 19:30 at the same venue, the official presentation of the event was held, attended by the main candidates for victory on Saturday 6th May.
Dakota Jones, Martina Valmasoi, Meg McKenzie, Andreas Reiterer, Yun Yanqiao, Cristina Santurino, Germain Grangier, Tim Tollefson, Moana L. Kehres, Yoel de Paz, Leire Fernández Abete, Jared Hazen, Saleta Castro, Marc Olle and Damien Humbert were the athletes present in Tazacorte. "It is an honour to be here again. The first time was in 2012 and it was an unforgettable experience. To be able to come back after 11 years is incredible", said Dakota Jones, winner of that edition of Transvulcania.
The event, presented by José Antonio de Pablo "Depa" and Martin Gaffuri, was also attended by Luis Alberto Hernando, three times winner of Transvulcania and commentator next Saturday in the live broadcast of this edition, who was encouraged to participate in the inaugural race of the event.
"It was just 10 years ago that I put on my race bib here on La Palma for the first time. This is a very special year, different, but very special, and as always, with very good memories. I'm very happy to meet up again with the friends we've made throughout this time", said the athlete from Burgos. For her part, the Councillor for Economic Promotion of the Cabildo de La Palma, Raquel Díaz, pointed out that "this race marks the start of the key days of sport on La Palma, with an event that is very popular with participants and residents of La Palma, which combines the winning combination of tourism and sport, and which also gives our island a great economic boost".
Follow Transvulcania by UTMB®
Transvulcania by UTMB® will be broadcasted through live.utmb.world all over the world. On Saturday, from 08:15 hours (Canary Islands time) until approximately 15:30 hours, it will be possible to follow the Ultramarathon, Volcanoes and El Roque in English, French and Spanish. This content will also be broadcast on TV Canaria and TV3 through Esport3, while Outside Interactive, Inc. will broadcast the race in the United States and Canada, and the L'équipe group will broadcast it in France for the second consecutive year.
