Transgrancanaria Vertical Kilometre El Gigante
Grueling 5.5km with around 1,130m (3707ft) ascent
Katazyna Solinska and Bart Przedwojeski take first place in the grueling 5.5km with around 1,130m (3707ft) ascent. Canarian runner Yoel de Paz came in second place, just 26 seconds behind the winner, showing how adept to the terrain these athletes are.
More than seventy runners demonstrated incredible form against the rain and cold through the elevation that splits the Agaete neighbourhood of San Pedro with the Tamadaba Natural Park.
Solinska broke away from the other racers within the first few metres, stopping the clock in an incredible 50 minutes and 32 seconds. This was her first time competing in the vertical kilometre and despite the short course, she enjoyed the ‘spectacular scenery’ “The race was incredible, I never got bored of appreciating the landscape, with lots of rocks”.
Solinska, from Poland, will be returning for the marathon course on Friday, which she won in 2019.
Belgian Marie Dessart took second place, just 46 seconds behind the winner, and third place went to Briton Sophie Horrocks, six minutes behind.
There was a battle for the victory in the mens race between Salomon International runner, Przedwokeski, and the Nike Wild Trail Project athlete, De Paz.
De Paz said of the race: he had planned to “save time at the beginning and push at the end”, but as soon as he saw the trail of his competitor “psychologically I was killing myself a little bit”. “It was a nice fight with Bart,” he said.
Winner Bart Przedwojeski stated he was “very happy” for the victory and was grateful for his first time in Transgrancanaria to “compete against great runners from Spain and other countries of the world”.
The two winners will compete again today in the Starter, as ones to watch across the 24km between Tunte and Tejeda. Przedwojeski, also from Poland, stated his performance for todays race will have depended on last nights recovery following a “very tough race”. “I will be very strong from the beginning to the end of the race,” he said.
Find out more about the Trans-Gran Canaria race series here.
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