Salomon 4 Trails

Stiff Competition Expected At 2014 Salomon 4 Trails

News Release / 04.07.2014

Predictions aren't Philipp Reiter's thing - especially with a lineup of elite racers as strong as at the 2014 SALOMON 4 TRAILS. One of the top-ranked favorites in this year's race, 22-year-old Reiter is merely realistic that if “you were to take one awkward step during any of the four days, a top ranking would be all but history”. Thus, it's anyone's bet as to the outcome of the race given that Reiter faces stiff competition by an international posse of top-notch ultra runners. Among them are Dimitris Theodorakakos (Greece), the two Spaniards Miguel Caballero and Iker Karrera as well as fellow countryman Andreas Allwang. Katharina Zisper from Austria is the odds-on favorite among the women but can be expected to keep an eye on her back at all times. 

Philipp Reiter may have one significant advantage over his competition. He successfully raced the SALOMON 4 TRAILS twice before (1st in 2012, 2nd in 2011) and knows the course intimately. Add to that an almost legendary constancy, which he is at odds to explain: “I haven't really had day where I would have lost so much time as to call it a  total write-off”. But the competition still looms in the back of his head regardless how amicable that bunch may be. Trail runners are a pretty cordial species with a strong sense of community and elite racers find themselves as often racing against one another as they do in a team. Reiter prefers the latter: “I generally enjoy running in a group more so than on my own. We're on the trail four hours every day and while the competition is one thing, the shared experience is another”. 

As such, Reiter may not be rattled too much by the surprising last-minute registration of trail-running legend Iker Karrera (39) of Spain. The two competitors are well familiar with one another. They teamed up in 2012 for the GORE-TEX TRANSALPINE RUN. Reiter and Karrera proved so compatible back then that together they managed to claim 7 stage victories and upended two previous stage records. Karrera has since upped the ante with winning the 336-km Tor de Géants in Italy's Aosta region, a race that currently may represent the pinnacle in European ultra racing. His participation in the SALOMON 4 TRAILS would seem to indicate that the international elite attributes some significance to the relatively short 4-day course.

Reiter is well prepared for the course and the strong competition. His successful participation in Costa Rica's Coastal Challenge, the Geres Trail Adventure in Portugal, the D-Day Trail in Normandie, France, and the Skyrunning World Championships Ultra in Chamonix, France, this year alone provide an idea of the athlete's top-form condition. Half-way into 2014, Reiter has not endured any injuries and manages to pump 10,000 m of positive vertical a week. His current status as a student at teacher's college has allowed him to cross-train on a road bike lots, which he swaps for touring skis in the dead of winter. “Both [activities]are fairly restful for the joints and you get used to the tedium of long distances”.

Training sessions of up to 5 hours of continuous exertion may seem extensive to the ambitious amateur but not to his peer group of elite athletes. It's the kind of preparation that is imperative if your sights are set on victory at a race like the SALOMON 4 TRAILS. “Given the relative short duration of four days, the race demands going full bore at all times. Often you're on your own because individual temperament precludes a group from forming” Reiter explains. His mind is certainly already going through each and every stage but his focus will be on that the last gruesome stage into Switzerland. “The last 8 km really hurt but are decisive. The climb up to the Ochsenscharte [Pass] is key. To win you can't afford to walk on the steep uphill, you have to run”. To the elite caving in clearly is not an option that far into the race.

The SALOMON 4 TRAILS will start in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on 08th July 2014. It passes through Tyrol, Austria, on the two following days and finishes in Samnaun, Switzerland, on 12th July 2014.

­