The spotlights are for the second weekend in a row on the UTMB World Series, with this weekend, May 17-19, Ultra Trail Australia and Trail Alsace Grand Est.
The Ultra Trail Australia, in the Blue Mountains, is the one kicking off this trail and ultra run weekend. The main event there is the UTA100, the 100 kilometres (4.520m+) race, with start and finish in Katoomba.
Strong women’s field Down Under
The line-up of the women’s field is especially interesting, with defending champion Emily Gilmour-Walsh (Australia), Naomi Brand (South Africa), last year runner-up at Ultra-Trail Cape Town, Beth McKenzie, Stephanie Auston (Australia) and Katie Wright (Great Britain); among others.
McKenzie was earlier this year the runner-up at the 100 kilometres race at Tarawera Ultra-Trail in New-Zealand. This weekend she hopes for a win in her debut at UTA: “I’m feeling relaxed and excited. Since Tarawera in February, aside from a lot of work travel, I’ve had the best build up that I think I could have, and I’m very grateful to my body for allowing me to stack up the training for this. Which at 44 is never a given. So many times, we head to a start line with a string of illnesses or injuries behind us, but this time, for maybe the first time ever, I have no excuses. All that’s left is to get out there, enjoy the day and put one foot in front of the other until I get to that finish line.”
Home advantage Stephanie Auston
The trail isn’t exactly McKenzie’s trail, with all the climbing. It might be Stephanie Auston’s. In 2019 and 2016 she won the 22 kilometres. Last year she finished second in the 50k, so maybe she can make use of her home advantage: “It would be magic to have a win at home. It’s such a tough course and we have some real quality competition in the women’s field. Honestly, I don’t think I have much of a chance but will certainly do everything possible to cover the 100k as quickly as I can. I’m pretty nervous. I raced 100k in the USA in late April at the Canyons. That race didn’t go to plan. I was sick, had a bad fall. I’m looking to redeem myself. I just hope the body holds together enough to let that happen.”
George Murray will defend his crown
George Murray (New-Zealand) is back to defend his title in the men’s race: “I’m feeling a mixture of things, but overall excited. I think training has been consistent enough to come back stronger than last year and I hope the results will reflect that. Coming into the race as defending champion both motivates and adds a bit of pressure. Although that pressure mainly comes from myself.”
Competition will come from Mike Carroll (Australia), the runner-up from last year, who showed his form earlier this year at the Tarawera Ultra-Trail 100 miles race by finishing third. Other competitors are Josef McGrath, and Vladimir Shatrov (both Australia) and Michal Lesniak (Poland), the number 3 of this year’s Amazean Jungle Thailand 147 kilometres race. Murray: “It is a good mixture of runners, I haven’t competed against most of them, but from experience Mike Carroll is a smart runner, he creeps up on you in the later stages of the race; looking fresh and strong. So I’m expecting him to show up to make it burn.”
Trail Alsace Grand Est
At the Trail Alsace Grand Est the main event is the Ultra-Trail des Chevaliers. The highest ranked athlete here is Sébastien Spehler (France). Jonas Russi (Switzerland), Samir Tazi and Clément Desille (both France). The Ultra-Trail des Chevaliers (6.300m+) also means the debut of the Dutch runner Daan Coenen in the 100 miles. Spehler was earlier this year runner-up in the 100 kilometres race at the
Chianti Ultra Trail.
RELATED: Daan Coenen is searching for his limits
The Ìtalian Francesca Canepa is leading the women’s field. She just returned from Thailand, where she finished second in the 147 kilometres (8.880m+) race. She has to deal with Juliane Wibert (France), Jenny Josefsson (Sweden) and Anouk Baars (The Netherlands).
Photo Tim Bardsley-Smith
