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Fischer Sets Uphill Sprint Record

09.09.2009

By design, the uphill sprint to Motta Naluns above Scuol, Switzerland, is meant to serve as a 'restful' interlude halfway through one of the toughest trail-running races out there. In comparison with any other stage this week, the course indeed is relatively benign maintaining a steady gradient and ascending 'only' 936 m over a distance of 6.19 kilometers. Yet, the racers tend to give it all on this occasion and hope to make up for lost time - in a hurry.

Michael Fischer of Northern Italy grabbed the opportunity at hand and was rewarded with first place in today's ranking of individual runners for his record-busting time of 00:39:55.9 hours. As if this wasn't enough the 29-year-old managed yet another upset with his teammate Roland Osele (00:42:33.8 hours): 'Telmekom Team Südtirol' was able to displace the hitherto unbeatable British team 'Saab Salomon Outdoor' from the top of the podium. Their cumulative team time of 01:22:29.7 hours provided them with a narrow but decisive lead of 10 seconds over Andrew Symonds and Tom Owens (01:22:40.0 hours) who had to be content with an unfamiliar second place in today's team ranking.

Spaniards Fabian Roncero Dominguez and Jose Antonio De Pablo Mozo of 'Runnersworld/GORE-TEX Spain' also set a blistering pace today which earned a first podium position in this race as the third best team time of 01:28:40.9 hours.
In the ranking of individual runners, Tom Owens (GBR) trailed Stephan Tassani-Prell (GER, 00:41:07.0 hours) by just three seconds which earned the former second place and the latter the remaining podium position.

<b>Grand Overture for Fischer</b>

Michael Fischer's record time of less than 40 minutes on the uphill sprint came as a surprise given the soaring midday temperatures in Scuol. Second-placing Stephan Tassani-Prell of 'Tassani-Team-Salomon' started late in the morning as temperatures soared on the south-facing slopes of the course. Upon arriving at Motta Naluns, the 39-year-old commented that "it was already pretty hard and exhausting for me. Any runners yet to start or still on the trail will face increasingly more difficult conditions"'. Little did Tassani-Prell know that his exceptional sprint would only serve as motivation to Michael Fischer, the day's fastest, record-busting racer.

"We had heard about the time to beat when we got to the start. I took this as the yardstick to run by and came all out attacking. But I would have never guessed to come in under 40 minutes" Fischer joyfully saidafter his sensational sprint to Motta Naluns (2,136m). His already spectacular success became even more exhilarating as teammate Roland Osele ran in step boosting their cumulative efforts to the position at the very top of the podium. As opposed to some other teams, the Italians had not considered today's sprint race as the time to let their guards down: "We're here at the Transalpine Run

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