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Final Race to Decide Buff Skyrunner Championship

20.09.2007

This Sunday (Sept. 23rd) the seventh and last race of the Buff® Skyrunner® World Series takes place in Zegama, Spain. With double points on offer it is a race that will decide the Championship and there are many possible winners. Kilian Jornat, Raúl García, Tòfol Castanyer and Jesser Hernández are the five favourites to take the men’s title in a race that is expected to have a big entry and to be followed by enthusiastic supporters. Agustí Roc, one of the favourites, will not take part in this final race, so cannot win the title.

The race organization are expecting a great influx of visitors as there have been many initiatives for attracting supporters to Zegama. The Town Council of San Ildefonso and the transport company Segobús (sponsors of the Segovian runner Raúl García) will bring some supporters, Tòfol Castanyer's fans will come from Palma and a television competition by TV3 will also bring people to support the Catalan runners.

Tòfol Castanyer (Team Catalunya) leads with 326 points, followed very closely for the Segovian Raúl García (La Granja-Valsain) with 318, third is Agustí Roc (Catalan) with 314 and fourth is Kilian Jornet (yet another Catalan) with 300 points.

However, Jornet must be favourite as he has won all three races in which he has participated in (Andorra, Malaysia and Japan, and the final championship is scored by choosing the best 4 results (including the compulsory final). As a result his rivals will have to race for victory in Zegama and hope for one bad result from Jornet. Strong runner like Ricardo Mejia, the current champion, the English pairing of Simon Booth and Jim Davis (Team Saab Salomon) or the Italian Fulvio Dapit could help decide the final classification if they win or score well, even if they cannot win the series title.

In female category, there is a similar situation. In this case, the favourites are the Andorran Stéphanie Jímenez (334 points and winner of the last race in Japan), the Catalans Anna Serra and Mònica Ardid (312 points) and the Scot Angela Mudge (Saab Salomon) on 300 points. Mudge is in the best position as she has won all 3 races she has competed in so far (in Berga, Andorra and the Dolomites), winning each comfortably and setting a new record in the Dolomites.

The final race will be held on the two slopes of the Sierra de Aizkorri on a 42.195km route with an accumulated ascent and descent of 5.472m. It will be a very technical and difficulty route and the highest point will be the peak of the Aitxuri (1.551m). The route will climb four of the highest peaks in Euskadi (Aratz, Aizkorri, Aketegi and Aitxuri) using mountain paths of great natural beauty.

We’ll have a report on the final race next week and you can see the current standings at; here.

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