Salomon Zugspitz Ultratrail
Thomas Farbmacher Claims Stunning Victory on 101.6 km course at the 6th SALOMON ZUGSPITZ ULTRA TRAIL!
News Release / 20.06.2016
Stellar racing conditions enabled 2,500 athletes from 50 nations to give it their all at the 2016 ZUGSPITZ ULTRATRAIL. Among the men, Thomas Farbmacher (AT) of Team SALOMON Running Team Austria dominated the Ultratrail course finishing with a crushing lead over the competition in 11:40.09 hours. The top prize for the 81.4 km Super-Trail XL was claimed by Swiss racer Peter van der Zon. Victory was a family affair for siblings Matthias and Markus Baur of Germany (both SALOMON Trailrunning Team), who managed to win the Supertrail (62.8 km) and the Basetrail XL (39.3 km), respectively. And Austrian Daniel Rohringer claimed first place on the Basetrail course (24.9 km).
Among the Women, it was Kristin Berglund of SALOMON Running Team Austria who deservedly claimed the accolades for the 101.6 km Ultratrail distance. Swiss racer Claudia Kahl brought home the honours on the Supertrail XL course while Melanie Albrecht of Germany won over the Supertrail distance. Two German racers claimed victory over the Basetrail distances, with Michelle Meier claiming the longer version and Vroni Brand handily dominating the shorter course.
The ever-growing trail-running community clearly would have had the Zugspitz Range on their radar this weekend. The 6th SALOMON ZUGSPITZ ULTRATRAIL race series had attracted mind-boggling numbers of racers and much publicity from all over the globe this year. To boot, the weather played along nicely on race day with perfect temperatures and only light, intermittent showers. Roughly 2,500 athletes from 50 nations pounded the trails that loop around one of the most iconic mountain ranges in the Northern Alps. The ambiance of the race spurred on sensational athletic achievements – all in all another highly successful race event for athletes, hosts and race organizers. True to tradition at the ZUGSPITZ ULTRATRAIL, each of the five races was good for surprises and the odd record on top.
One wouldn't have guessed that all would work out in the end during opening ceremonies in Grainau, Germany, the night before the race start. Thunderstorms over the towering Zugspitze (2.962 m) and incessant downpours had many of the racers wondering about what they were going to get into. Yet by Saturday morning the storms had passed and trails were drying up allowing racers to focus fully on their race.
Spectators would have noticed right away: spirits were upbeat at all of the five start venues, whether in Grainau (GER), Ehrwald (AT), Leutasch-Weidach (AT), Mittenwald (GER) or Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER). First off were racers in Grainau where the mayor set off the weekend chase with a gun blast at 07:15 am. Nearly 1,000 participants had signed up for the kingpin challenge of a full loop around the mountain massif tallying 101.6 km and 5,412m of vertical climb. Among them: Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen, a Volkswagen Motorsport pro rallyedriver with his co-driver Anders Jager-Synnevaag (both Team SALOMON) in tow. The Scandinavian runners clearly enjoyed the early-morning vibe in Grainau before the start of the Ultratrail saying it was; “Simply fantastic here“.
The two later showed extraordinary endurance on the trail and were met with huge respect by the running community. While the motorsports specialists demonstrated athletic tenacity on the trails, as newbies they would have had little chance to mix up the chase among leading racers.
The elite racers, in turn, had a hayday given favourable temperatures and a full complement of technical trail sections that helped separate them from the mere mortals on the trail. By kilometre 40 the field predictably had stretched out enough to give the leaders room to breathe.
At that point, Swiss Walter Manser led the Men by 14 minutes while Kristin Berglund of Austria (SALOMON Running Team Austria) had already amassed a 45-minute lead over her immediate competition. Yet, with over 60 kilometres to go it would have been ludicrous to call a premature decision by that time. In fact, it was 29-year-old Thomas Farbmacher who would soon provide a major upset among the top racers in the Ultratrail. In his first 100-K race ever, the intrepid Austrian did the unthinkable half way through the race by storming into the lead determined not to cede it again until the end. And his strategy worked!
An incredulous Farbmacher did take the win in 11:40.09,2 hours and couldn't believe at the finish that he had successfully shaken up the race elite: “I'm absolutely speechless, I would have never guessed. It feels like Xmas and my birthday on the same day“. Matthias Dippacher of Germany, a long-time, high-profile trail-runner who had repeatedly challenged Walter Manser's early lead had to concede Farbmacher's superior performance. Dippacher endured a setback at kilometre 54. The German National Team member had to rest at a water stop for five minutes before resuming the chase, still fast enough to earn him second place (11:54.35,3 hrs.). Ben Bublak (12:14.05,7 hrs.) of Berlin, Germany, managed to scoot in as third overall given that Walter Manser was forced to slow down late in the race which relegated him to fourth position.
There's no other way of saying it: Kristin Berglund (SALOMON Running Team Austria) dominated the Ultratrail distance of 101.6 km. Whether it was the distance or the massive vertical climb of 5,412 m along the way – the trail genius simply took it all in her stride and proved untouchable with her time of 13:21.27,7 hours. Her lead amounted to almost two hours by the time the second of the Women, Ildiko Wermescher (GER, 15:19.15,2 hrs.) came into the finish line in Grainau. Dreama Walton (GER) arrived in third place after toughing it out on the trail for 15:35.07,7 hours.
The other four races proved equally riveting. Race results were out first for the shortest of the five courses – the Basetrail that linked Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Grainau (both located in Germany) over a distance of 24.9 km and 1,595 m of positive vertical ascent. Austrian Daniel Rohringer went all out on this course and decided the race for himself after 2:25.00,1 hours on the trail. The 26-year-old smartly played out his technical prowess on the uphill section to the summit station of the Alpspitze Funicular steadily advancing from Rank 6 to ultimately being in first place – a stunning performance given the strong competition which didn't lag behind much. Florian Holzinger of Germany took second place (2:25.15,6 hrs., 1st place Master Men) ahead of Grinius Gediminas of Poland (2:26.38,3 hrs.). The Basetrail race was also good for a surprise victory among the Women. Vroni Brand (GER, 3:07.08,2 hrs) who hadn't been on the radar of top contenders claimed first place with ease, ahead of Eva Offermann (GER, 3:11.24,0 hrs.) and Russian Savostina Liudmila (3:12.37,9 hrs.).
The Basetrail XL led racers from Mittenwald, Germany, to Grainau, Germany over a distance of 39.3 km tallying 1,896 m of cumulative ascent. A strong Marcus Baur of Germany (SALOMON Trailrunning Team) decided the race after only 3:40.47,0 hours on the trail after duking it out with Italian competitor Ivan Paulmichel (3:49.19.9 hrs.) for the longest time. The 27-year-old victorious Baur was jubilant about “finally being at the very top of the podium“. Second-ranked Paulmichel of Northern Italy was satisfied with second place after all: “It just wasn't my day today, the first 20K proved very fast and Marcus ended up being a lot stronger than me“. Third to arrive at the finish was David Wallmann of Austria who put in a stellar race performance with his time of 3:54.37,6 hours but had to concede leadership to the duelling racers from Germany and Italy, resp.
The Basetrail XL race also proved a white-knuckle affair among the Women. Winner Michelle Maier of Germany was able to celebrate a grand victory with her time of 3:55.33,7 hours. She would have been even faster had it not been for a nasty fall on the final descent to Grainau which required immediate trailside medical attention. This mishap almost allowed US-born Stevie Kremer to catch up but in the end the latter was content with second place (3:57.46,0 hrs.). “I knew all along that Michelle was far ahead of me so I decided to enjoy a great run with fabulous views of the mountains“. Polish racer Natalia Tomasiak ran a great race but trailed second-ranked Kremer by almost 33 minutes upon her arrival in Grainau.
Incredible race times also were recorded on the 62.8 km (2,923m V+) Supertrail course that started in Leutasch-Weidach, Austria, and finished in Grainau, Germany. The two German racers Matthias Baur and Lukas Soergel duelled it for about half of the race distance when the latter endured unexpectedly a drop in energy which didn't allow him to keep up the punishing pace. Baur (SALOMON Trailrunning Team), strong on the downhill sections, took off from there and ran to victory without facing another challenge (6:21.26,2 hrs.).
“This is what I dreamt of ever since I saw Philipp Reiter win on this distance four years ago“. Baur shared his joy: “This was so much fun as I was able to run almost all the tough trail sections“. While not presenting much of a threat to Baur for the latter half of the race, Lukas Soergel still managed to claim second place in the Supertrail race. He arrived in Grainau after 6:55.20,0 hours on the trail – still over a quarter of an hour ahead of third-ranked Russian Artem Rostovsev (7:11.45,6 hrs).
The Supertrail proved a tough competition for local racer Melanie Albrecht and Russian Tatiana Mitkina who kept up the suspense until the very last few hundred yards. The two had swapped the lead repeatedly and while the Russian was ahead with only 500 m to the finish line, it was the 20-year-old Albrecht who mustered all her strength for a last sprint which she managed to decide for herself. The locals' favourite Melanie Albrecht finished first in 7:45.10,3 hours ahead of Tatiana Mitkina (7:46.15,0 hrs.). Third to arrive was Magdalena Martini (GER) with a time of 08:04.28,5 hours.
The second-longest race distance in the SALOMON ZUGSPITZ ULTRATRAIL, the Supertrail XL course, likewise was good for a surprise. After all, who would have thought that not one but two Dutch racers would grace the podium on the tough race over 81.4 kilometres with no less than 4,131 m of cumulative vertical climb. Nonetheless, it was no other than 24-year-old Peter von der Zon who claimed victory in 9:54.37,4 hours, thereby qualifying himself for the upcoming Trailrun World Championships in Portugal.
Von der Zon, who resides in Switzerland, shared his straightforward and successful strategy: “I risked it all on the last descent and thereby managed to pass Mathis Bode“. Favourite Mathis Bode of Munich, Germany had to accept defeat late in the race but still claimed second place with a time of 10:00.06,7 hours. Dutch runner Pascal Van Norden (Team SALOMON NIEDERLANDE, 10:05.06,7 hrs.) didn't lag much behind and deservedly raced to third place on the Supertrail XL course.
Among the Supertrail XL Women the race turned out to be a super-close competition. Swiss runner Claudia Kahl (11:02.01,5 hrs.) was able to claim victory but not by much: Gitti Schiebel (11:03.24,4 hrs.) of Germany trailed her by just 1.23 minutes – not much over a distance of 80+ kilometres. Dean Tracy (UK, 11:50.59,2 hrs.) came in third well over an hour ahead of her closest competitor.
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