Miguel Arsenio and Courtney Dauwalter have won the Gran Canaria World Trail Majors. Dauwalter already knew the victory was hers before the last race of the season; the Ultra Trail Cape Town, 100 kilometres. Arsenio needed to end up on the podium and keep Jean Francois Cauchon behind him.
Before the start of the men’s race, Guangfu Meng was the man to beat. The Chinese ultra runner won this year the Hong Kong 100 and finished fourth in the Swiss Canyon Trail. Those results put him on the top spot of the leaderboard of the World Trail Majors. As Meng had decided not to run Cape Town he could only wait and see what his competitors did.
With only two wins needed for the overall victory Arsenio (Portugal) and Cauchon (Canada) were still in the race. Arsenio was earlier this year the fastest in the Swiss Canyon Trail, whereas Cauchon was the best at the Quebec Mega Trail. So both men knew they had to beat each other and get at least a third place to beat Meng.
Hugo Deck victorious
It was Arsenio who succeeded in that mission. He was no match for Hugo Deck. The Frenchman ran a super strong race and won in 10 hours, 31 minutes and 2 seconds. Yet, Arsenio grabbed second in 10:45:23, and with that the overall victory in the World Trail Majors: “It was a really hard day”, he said in his finish line interview. “It was the most technical 100k race I’ve ever done in my life, but I felt really good. I went out with the leaders, but at some point Hugo Deck came from behind, running really fast. I knew that a top 3 place was good for the overall win, so I let him go to save some energy. To win the World Trail Majors makes me really proud.”
Jazmin Lowther wins
With her seventh place overall Lowther won the women’s race. She finished in 12:04:25. Lushina finished second in 12:50:01. The third place was for Eva Sperger. The German ultra runner clocked 13:07:21.
None of them were contenders for the overall victory in the World Trail Majors. That victory was already in the hands of Dauwalter. The American super star won this year the North Face Transgrancanaria race and Mount Fuji 100. With that she collected the maximum amount of three thousand points. The same amount as Anne Champagne. The Canadian ultra runner won the Quebec Mega Trail and the Grand Raid des Pyrenees. However, when two athletes have the same amount of points the ITRA trail ranking will prevail. On that ranking Dauwalter is the number one,
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