Successful defense of titles on the Stubai Glacier!
Last updated on 01.07.2019
Kristin Berglund (SWE) and Cristofer Clemente (ESP) both won the STUBAI ULTRATRAIL for the second time. They managed to defend their titles and are the old and the new winners on the Stubai Glacier!
The STUBAI ULTRATRAIL is becoming more and more the ultimate challenge in Trailrunning. It doesn’t get more spectacular, tougher and more beautiful than the third edition of this race. Ranging up to 65,6 km long and 6,027 vertical meters, the finish line is placed at a height above 3,150 m on top of the Stubai Mountain Glacier covered with ice and snow in Tyrol, starting at midnight in the Olympic city of Innsbruck. Plowing through these extreme challenges as well as high temperatures, Cristofer Clemente of Spain (Team Salomon) was unstoppable and celebrated his triumph as he did last year with formidable solo-performance in 9:01:08 hours. Coming in second and third place, running under marvelous conditions and high-summer temperatures were Austr David Wallmann from Salzburg (9:20:12 hours, Salomon Running Team) and local hero Christian Stern (9:38:00), just like they did in 2018. In the women’s event, the reigning defending champion Kristin Berglund of Sweden (Salomon Running Team Austria) came in First with 10:48:08 hours followed by Switzerland’s Denise Zimmermann (12:12:30 hours) and Austrian Sophie Schnabel (13:13:39 hours). A total of 700 athletes entered in the race at the Stubai Glacier. A positive verdict after the third edition of the STUBAI ULTRATRAIL was the added route section with the supply station at the new Regensburger hut, which upgraded the Trailrun-Event.
“To win in front of this magnificent scenery is simply great. I really enjoyed every minute of it, even if the final ascent to the finish line demanded everything from me. But I was better prepared and trained more than last year, which was good because the height and snow were challenging”, explained Clemente at the finish line, where he was joyfully embraced by his family, “Of course now I want to get the triple win in 2020”. One could not see the strain and effort a couple of moments after the Spaniard, weighing only 58 kilograms, passing David Wallman, who came in second place, 19:04 minutes after Clemente. “I got the most out of my run and am incredible happy about this second place, because it wasn’t clear a couple of days ago that I could even start the race”, commented the Salzburg athlete on his surprisingly strong performance. Even though it didn’t seem like this for a long time up until the checkpoint 6 at the new Regensburger hut, Wallmann was ranging Third – trailing behind local hero Christrian Stern. But also he looked a bit battered entering the race and was also satisfied with his third place. “I brutally fought, perhaps I was a little too fast the first half of the run. I ran out of energy as I reached the Regensburger hut. But it still was a wonderful run, especially with the challenging, new route section”, said Stern, who ran for SV Raibai Stubai.
Sweden’s Kristin Berglund couldn’t agree more. Only after four weeks after her rib fracture and a previous announced cancellation at the “ZUT”, she presented herself in top form. “It was a wonderful run, but it also was really challenging. I had some problems halfway through the run – that was a new experience for me”, admitted the 35-year old Tyrolean-of-choice, “but after two Gels everything was good again.” Berglund, who felt her broken rib going downhill, managed her twelfth-best total time and had over an hour lead ahead of Denise Zimmerman of Switzerland, who was completely thrilled: “This track is simply brilliant.” During the Trailrun, Berglund didn’t perceive that the end would be so clear-cut: “I just kept running in my rhythm – without looking to the competition.” One could see how challenging the track was through the early withdrawals of the race of favorites like Simona Morbelli of Italy and Poland’s Magda Laczak. The early dropout of the ZUT winner Laczak was especially surprising.
For the first time this year, there were three other options to participate next to the STUBAI ULTRATRAIL, which was the supreme discipline. New was the STUBAI 19K – 18,6 Kilometers long and 1,998 elevation meters high with its start line in the Klaus Äuele. Ideal for the triathlete für Johannes Hinterseer. The winner of last year’s 35 kilometer-distance won under 2:28:15 hours as confident as he did in the previous year. The Brit Andrew Syme came in Second (2:36:14 hours) followed by Dennis Soish (2:39:40 hours, Runskills.de). The women’s competition was equally narrowly won. Melanie Meyer (Uhldingen-Mühlhofen) won with 1:54:53 hours in front of Austrian Madeleine Schwarz (2:01:35 hours) and Klára Jakesová of the Czech Republic (2:03:17 hours).
The STUBAI 35K with a length of 35,1 kilometers and 3,808 elevation meters with a start in Neustift was an exciting competition to see in the women’s event. For a long time the triathlete Silvia Felt (Salomon) was in the leading, but was then passed by Marie Mühlhuber and Susi Lell (both Salomon Running Team). At the 30th kilometer at the Dresdner hut, the experienced triathlete Felt was in the lead again. She defended her lead up to the finish line, which she reached at 6:30:33 hours. Mühlhuber fought tough to reach second place (6:35:41 hours) in front of the Allgäu athlete Susi Lell (6:42:49). The athletes in the Men’s competition delivered an Austrian triple victory. Philipp Brugger, the winner of the first STUBAI ULTRATRAIL two years ago preferred the shorter distance route this time around came in at 5:26:12 hours followed by Marian Staller (5:57:10 hours) and Volker Sauerzopf (6:16:12 hours). Brugger naturally had to answer the question why he chose not to run the Ultra-Distance. The answer was easy. “I just came back last week from an expedition to Pakistan and I didn’t want to overdo it“, said the 27-year old Innsbruck athlete.
The STUBAI 8K is a challenge for all mountain experts. After the start at the Valley Station in Mutterberg, the track went up without a single flat meter for eight kilometers through ice, snow and rocks. In this short distance 1,394 elevation meters have to be climbed. The men’s competition was won by Italy’s Philpp Plunger in 1:21:09 hours. Germany”s Bastian Reichart finished in Second with 1:25:57 hours and his compatriot Markus Bergler grabbed Third in 1:31:23 hours. The results of the women’s competition were also clear. Katharina Schneider of Germany managed the track in 1:52:38 hours and a huge lead ahead of Franca Kohl (Rottach-Egern, 1:56:48) and Marina Bergler (Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz, 2:07:09 hours), who grabbed second and third place.
All results are here: https://www.planb-registration.de/stubaiultratrail2019/ergebnisse
The date for 2020 is already set: For the fourth time on 3. – 4. July 2020 it will be time for the “urban 2 glacier“ in the Stubaital
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