Andreas Reiterer (Italy) and Hannah Osowski (US) have won the Eiger Ultra Trail E101 in Grindelwald, Switzerland, part of the UTMB World Series. Jeshurun Small and Sophia Laukli (both US) were the strongest on the E51.
Tears, laughs, epic battles, surprising twists, last minute takeovers, the E101 and E51 were pure promotion for women’s trail running, with Laukli and Osowski as big winners.
A show to remember
With all respect for the men’s races, but the true stars of the Eiger Ultra were Sophia Laukli, Holly Page, Kim Schreiber (E51), Hannah Osowski and Eva Maria Sperger (E101). They gave a show that all those who watched along the trail, and on the live stream, will remember forever.
Both races went to the wire, with the E101 having the most dramatic outcome. At first the women’s race looked like a copy of the men’s with one runner being stronger than the rest. That runner was Hannah Osowski. The American Dynafit athlete took the lead from the start and looked on her way to a beautiful victory.
Eva Maria Sperger looked doomed to just following. However, with 38 kilometres to go, it was the German Salomon ultra runner who came into the Wengen aid station first, pumping her fist enthusiastically in the air.
When Osowski followed 8 minutes later, she looked done for. By then the sun was almost at its highest point and Osowski was struggling with the heath: “I don’t perform great when it’s as hot as this. At every aid station I threw a pitcher with cold water over myself, just to cool off.”
Resurrection Osowski
Yet, Osowski found another gear and started trailing Sperger. With 5 kilometres to go, she got sight of the German, who was hardly moving anymore. Osowski: “At some point I heard she was 15 minutes in front of me, but then somebody said the gap was only a couple of minutes and I just threw myself off the mountain. It felt surreal to overtake her so late in the race.”
When she caught up, Sperger had no answer. Osowski sped away, where the German athlete was struggling to get one foot in front of the other. In those last 5 kilometres Sperger lost almost 27 minutes, mostly by staying for a long time at the last aid station of Pfingstegg, with her head buried in her hands.
Last drops of energy
Unaware of this, Osowski sprinted, with the little bit of energy that was left in her, to the finish, where she stopped the clock at 13:09:37. Unable to set one foot anymore in front of the other.
Only after Sperger arrived – more than 25 minutes later – was she able to limp to the microfoon of the announcer and say a few words to the crowd: “I apologise for not directly talking to you. It was a crazy race. Relentless. At mile fifteen I already had the idea I wasn’t going to make it. It was so hot and so hard. The climbs and downhills were just brutal. This race is beautiful, but so intense. I don’t think I can walk tomorrow.”
Sperger crossed the line in 13:36:31, with a sad smile on her face, shaking her head. “I tried to win this race. I took a lot of risks by starting fast. Probably too fast, but I’m happy that I went for the win. It was a big fight with Hannah during the race. When she passed me, I had no chance to stay with her. She just ran an amazing race.”
Behind Sperger Sandra Sevillano Guerra (Spain, 14:45:52) took third place. She also finished strong, by overtaking Daniela Mackner (Swiss) in the last kilometres.
Reiterer ‘world class’
Andreas Reiterer (Italy) won the men’s race (11:05:32). Only in the first kilometres he tolerated Ramon Manetsch (Swiss) by his side. “We ran together, as Ramon knows this area well. After the aid station at Bort I gave some gas. At First, the next aid station, I heard I had a 10 minute lead on him and I didn’t want to let go of that. I’m happy with how things went. I think I ran a very good race.”
Too good for Manetsch, who finished second: “Andreas is a world class runner. I’m an elite. That’s why he wins and I’m second. He’s the best. But I’m happy with this result. Last year I didn’t finish, so I had some bills to pay. The first 5 hours were crazy. I had power for 10 minutes, then the next ten minutes I had no power anymore. After that I found a good rhythm up until Männlichen (70k; jk). From there on I felt a bit dizzy, but I made it to the finish line.”
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Aleix Toda Mas took third place, finishing with a big jump over the line, hitting the cow bell as hard as possible: “I started this race pretty tired, because of all the races I’ve already run last month (50k at Lavaredo Ultra Trail and 100k at Swiss Canyon Trail; jk). That’s why I couldn’t follow Andreas and Ramon. If I would have tried, I wouldn’t have finished. Today I had to run with my mind instead of my legs. Next year I’ll prepare better and come back.”
Epic E51
Jeshurun Small (US) led the men’s E51 race from start to finish. With 4:59:43 the American Adidas Terrex athlete was the only one who stayed under 5 hours. Paul Mathou (France) finished second in 5:07:54. Sindre Buraas (Norway) completed the podium in 5;12:54.
Where the men’s race was clear from the start, the women’s race was an epic battle with Sophia Laukli (US), Holly Page (Great Britain) and Kim Schreiber (Germany) as main characters.
It was the last one, who took the lead from the start. To her own surprise. Schreiber: “It was surreal to run up front. I was wondering where Sophia was. I expected her to lead, but she wasn’t. So I thought: ‘If she’s not here, I will be leading’.”
At First, the second aid station in the race, at kilometre 15, Schreiber’s lead was 45 seconds. Where the German Adidas Terrex athlete took a moment to stock up on water, Laukli was in and out in no time and closed the gap quickly. With Page, taking her time at the aid station, falling behind.
Surprising turn of events
The British team mate of Schreiber made up for that by running the downhills hard. So hard that she found herself back at the front of the race with only 7 kilometers to go, But that race had an unexpected surprise for her; a closed railway crossing. And while Page had to wait, Laukli could catch up. “I lost the mental motivation after that”, Page said after crossing the finish. “Sophia and I have different strengths. I think I was stronger on the downhills, Sophia on the flats. But okay, before the race I was hoping to be in the top 10. I fought for first place. That was fun. I’ve had so many problems in the past. This is the first time in a long time I can run in July and I’m happy with that.”
Laukli acknowledged that she was lucky with the railway line: “That’s why I could catch her. I think I was in the end stronger on the uphills. That’s why I’m happy the finish was uphill. Otherwise I wouldn’t have won.”
Behind Laukli (5:51:39) and Page (5:56:49) Schreiber held on to third place. She finished in 6:01:25.
Archive picture Haugeard Gaetan
