Zugspitz Ultratrail
Top Athletes at the Salomon Zugspitz Ultratrail 2014
News Release / 05.06.2014
Germany’s most important trail run, the SALOMON ZUGSPITZ ULTRATRAIL, obviously attracts the crème-de-la-crème of this up-and-coming sport like magic. So far, 1900 athletes from 45 different countries are set to tackle the fourth edition of what has already become a legendary run with 100 km around the Zugspitze massif and the Wetterstein range from June 21 to 22, 2014.
All eyes are on world-class athletes like the Moroccan, Mohamad, Ahansal, or Michael Wardian from the USA, who are taking on this challenge for the first time. However, we should be careful not to underestimate the reserved young athlete on the SALOMON Germany team, Stephan Hugenschmidt from Radolfzell. He won the SALOMON ZUGSPITZ BASETRAIL last year. And then went on to take overall second place in the SALOMON 4 TRAILS.
Mohamad Ahansal, the long-distance runner and ultra-trail runner from Morocco, can run through the desert like no other. The question, though, is whether he can apply his skills in the mountains as well? June 21st will show. Because the figures of the Ultratrail course are impressive: 100 km, 5420 m total uphill, 5420 m total downhill, maximum altitude over 2200 meters, plus snow fields and hair-raising climbs. Like the one up to the top of the Alpspitze lift. Just the right thing for Mohamad Ahansal, who lives in Morocco but travels all over the world. Ahansal holds the Guinness world record for the fastest desert crossing and won the Marathon des Sables (MdS) all of three times.
Michael Wardian from Arlington, Virginia in the USA is known to be at least as extreme and strong as Mohamad Ahansal and have at least as much endurance. The 40-year-old has been running through the world for at least 16 years. His track record is unbelievable. Since his premiere, he has taken part in more than 170 marathons, 20 triathlons, including the Iron Man Lake Placid, and more than 70 ultra-marathons on four continents and at the North Pole. His best time for marathons is currently 2:17:49 hours, which catapults him into the small league of potential winners for the SALOMON ZUGSPITZ ULTRATRAIL almost automatically. Snowfields should be a piece of cake for this three-time participant in the Olympic games. In 2014, he was the first American to win the “UVU North Pole Marathon”.
Wardian was a member of the successful US team in the 100 km world championships for five years in a row and won silver and gold in 2011. And he is one of the few athletes worldwide to have run two marathons in one day! In the morning, Wardian triumphed in the 42.195 km run in San Antonio and then took tenth place in the Las Vegas marathon in the afternoon. To him it’s one and the same: whether at the North Pole or in Death Valley, Wardian seems to feel at home everywhere.
Last year, also Stephan Hugenschmidt from Radolfzell took a giant leap up the ladder to success. He won the SALOMON ZUGSPITZ BASETRAIL hands down and then achieved a brilliant overall second place in the SALOMON 4 TRAILS only a few weeks later. In the fall, Hugenschmidt from Lake Constance demonstrated staying power plus alpine expertise, taking third place in the Swissalpine K78 and first in the two 80 km trail runs in Bad Ragaz and at Lago d'Orta.
Nevertheless: With a list of top runners like this one, it is virtually impossible to make ironclad predictions about the SALOMON ZUGSPITZ ULTRATRAIL. Who can challenge Mohamad Ahansal, Michael Wardian or Stephan Hugenschmidt and become Philipp Reiter’s successor? We need only cast a glance at the list of starters: It is filled with many other exceptional athletes like Rudi Döhnert who, after all, came in sixth last year, or Andreas Selle from Munich.
The young athlete on the LG Oberland team, 18-year-old Lukas Sörgel may, may play an important role in the 35.6 km BASETRAIL, whereas Martin Schedler (Eppelborn) and Mathias Baur from the city of Aalen are frequently mentioned as potential winners for the 60.7 km SUPERTRAIL.
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