Christian Stern and Heidi Schwartz win the STUBAI ULTRATRAIL 2022

Last updated on 02.07.2022

A local hero from Stubai and a German – living in Innsbruck – win the titles of the longest distance.

Fantastic running conditions and a spectacular backdrop provided the best conditions for the STUBAI ULTRATRAIL 2022. After the premiere of the STUBAI VERTICAL on Thursday, around 750 athletes* from 28 nations started in 4 competitions on Saturday. The 66 kilometer longest and with 4,700 meters of elevation gain most challenging course with start in Innsbruck and finish on the Stubai Glacier was won by local hero Christian Stern. In the women’s race, Innsbruck-based German Heidi Annemarie Schwartz came out on top ahead of the favored Dutchwoman Ragna Debats.

After heavy rain the day before, the weather calmed down during the night and the runners* of the STUBAI ULTRATRAIL expected best running conditions for one of the most beautiful and toughest Ultratrail events in the Alps. The start was at 1 o’clock in the morning in front of the Landestheater in Innsbruck, the finish was at the Eisgrat at 2,960 meters above sea level in front of the backdrop of the Stubai Glacier.

First victory in three years and longest race

“3,2,1” – is the conclusion of the winner Christian Stern. Because after a third and a second place in previous years, he now succeeded and won the home race in 8:10:25 hours. “A dream comes true. I was already speculating on a victory, but I twisted my ankle in between and had severe pain on the downhills. I am all the happier to have made it. It was tremendous!” Martin Pfeffer of Germany was second, ahead of Austria’s David Wöhrer.

In the women’s race, Heidi Annemarie Schwartz (Skinfit Crew) won in 9:44:37 ahead of Regan Debats (Team Merrell) of the Netherlands. “This was my longest race so far with the most altitude meters. I am all the happier that I was able to save the lead over Ragna to the finish, because she kept catching up mightily on the downhills,” explained the winner. Third place went to her German compatriot Ramona Falk.

Clear and close decisions on shorter distances

The Englishman Robby Simpson (Team adidas Terrex) celebrated a clear favorite victory at the STUBAI K32. He mastered the course from Neustift to the glacier in 3:20:10 hours with a lead of almost 20 minutes. Clear victory also in the women’s race: Lisa Wimmer from Germany won in 4:22:59 hours and outdistanced the competition by 13 minutes.

The STUBAI K20 was a closer race: Czech Tomas Hudec (Team Inov-8) secured the victory in 2:06:11 hours with not even 1 minute ahead of Stubai’s Alexander Hutter from Team Scott Austria. In the women’s race, Sarah Kistner from Germany prevailed.

Victories in all distances

The short distance STUBAI K9 was won by Bianca Tarboton from South Africa, who starts for adidas Terrex, and Philipp Brugger from Austria. Brugger is thus the only runner to have won all competitions in the history of the STUBAI ULTRATRAIL (with the exception of the STUBAI VERTICAL, which was held for the first time this year).

All results at https://www.planb-registration.de/stubaiultratrail2022/ergebnisse