Salomon 4 Trails

Theodorakakos & Fischl Claim Victory on Stage One

News Release / 09.07.2014

The first stage of the 2014 SALOMON 4 TRAILS started off on cool weather and rain – seemingly adverse conditions to anyone but the elite of trail running.

Dimitris Theodorakakos of Greece appeared to thrive in the solemn weather as he managed to finish the course from Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER) to Ehrwald (AT) in 3:35:19 h - besting last year's stage record by 15 minutes. His Spanish team colleague Iker Karrera (3:38:26) arrived in second place yielding only three minutes to the winner on the 36.3 km course which packed 2,410 m of positive vertical.

Twenty-year-old Mirco Berner (GER) proved to be a bit of a sensation of the day as he ran to third-podium position with a mere four-minute delay on Karrera. Philip Reiter of Germany, a regular shoo-in for a top position, faced some tough luck. A protracted heel injury unexpectedly precluded the winner of the 2012 SALOMON 4-TRAILS from starting in the morning relegating him to welcome his team associates at the finish. “I would have loved to race today and it was a melancholic sight to watch the boys arrive”.  

The trio on today's podium stands a pretty good chance to claim overall victory upon arrival in Samnaun (SUI) given today's demonstration of dominance over the remaining field of male racers.   

Among the women, it was Tina Fischl (GER) who caused a raising of eyebrows as she arrived in 11th place overall with a time of 4:15:06 hours and proving the fastest of her peers. Raving about today's weather conditions, Fischl was clearly thrilled: “Although the trails proved a little slippery, the temperatures weren't too cold – overall a great kickoff to the competition”. Stage victor Theodorakakos was hesitant to provide a prognosis of any kind that early in the race: “Let's see what comes our way these next couple of days. Nothing is decided yet”.      

Telling by the forecast, the SALOMON 4 -TRAILS will likely face some weather in 2014 – at least in comparison to other years. Yet, the times set today would indicate that enduring rain, coolish temperatures and low clouds may not be too much of an impediment to great athletic performances. The 424 racers of 29 nations may not have enjoyed the enduring rain (which turned solid above 2,000 m asl) at the start but it certainly didn't slow them down en route to today's highest elevation of 1,616 m in Garmisch-Partenkirchen ski resort.

Alexander Lubina, a former 10 K athlete of repute, shared some straight-forward advice on how to make it through a stage without fall or other mishap: “Try to stay warm at any time but particularly before the start”. An assessment which Dimitris Theodorakakos would be expected to agree on – at least he stretched and flexed until seconds before the starter gun went off. Whether it was this extra morning prep or just outright trail prowess, the 35-year-old Greek managed to shake off and stay clear of his most immediate competition before the second water/food stop running a lonely race after that. Still, the competition tried to stay on Theodorakakos' heels and particularly Mirco Berner did a stellar job of that.

The 20-year-old of Southern Germany took up training in the mountains just two months ago which would prove some extraordinary talent given his third-place placement today. Berner readily admits to his greatest liability - his inexperience and technical deficits on the descents. So far, he seems to make up for that with lightning speed on all climbs but tomorrow's mammoth descents will certainly prove challenging.

Still, Berner has some leeway as he'll start tomorrow's stage with a 17-minute lead on Austrian Andreas Rois. The latter was easy about admitting defeat to the leading trio “There was nothing I could have done. The leaders simply set too fast a pace for me”.  A fall on a section of  treacherous singletrack within earshot of the finish line didn't help either, but Rois claimed that the bloodied knee he suffered from the incident “looked much worse than it actually felt”.   

Tina Fischl of Germany was good for a real surprise today. While she was clearly a favorite already ahead of the start, nobody would have expected her to finish the day on an almost 10-minute lead over a strong field of runners. Despite running formidable times themselves neither Nuria Picas (2nd place) of Spain nor Katharina Zipser (3rd) of Austria were able reign in the leader on the last third. Fischl seemed surprised: “At some point Nuria Picas and Mercedes [Zafra] Arcos passed me because I have tremendous deficiencies on the downhills. At least it's going super well on the climbs. But a ten-minute lead could be gone in no time on the technical trail sections that lie ahead of us these next few days”.    

Among the Master Men, Swiss Iwan Schwarz led the posse. Armin Bernard of Germany claimed victory in the Senior Master Men category, whereas well-known Eva Färberböck once again dominated the Master Women. The fastest competitor on the “Teaser-Trail”, a competition among racers just wanting to try out the first stage, was Jürgen Kurapkat - himself a well-known figure in the trail-running industry.

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