Trail du Saint-Jacques, Tenerife Bluetrail, Trail 100 Andorra, Lavaredo Ultra Trail, Western States Endurance Run, Swiss Canyon Trail, South Downs Way 100 and the Marathon du Mont Blanc; the month of June is packed with big, famous ultra and trail races, that are part of the big competitions. Yet, June starts with a quiet weekend. With only the UTMB Mozart 100 in Salzburg, Austria.
That race will be a bit different than planned. The weather forecast shows strong winds, cold temperatures and rain, so the organisers have decided to reroute part of the trails to keep runners, volunteers and staff safe.
Favorites Mozart 100
The 104 kilometres race, with 5.200 metres of elevation, is the longest race Mozart 100 has to offer. There are some interesting runners on the starting line, like Jack Chamberlain. The British runner, with an UTMB Index of 758 finished last year as third. He will have to beat Paweł Czerniak (Poland, UTMB 822), who was the number 13 of the Lavaredo Ultra Trail (100 miles) last year.
Talking about Italy, or better Italian runners, Carlo Salvetti (UTMB 821) is racing in Austria as well. He finished this year second at the 110 kilometres long Ultra Trail Vipava Valley in Slovenia and won last year the 102 kilometres long Tuscany Crossing in Italy.
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Dylan Bowman
A very interesting runner to look at, is Dylan Bowman. The American, with a UTMB Index of 856, has stood on the podium of 100 miles races like Hardrock 100 and Transgrancanaria.
The women’s race also has a mixed field, with Maite Maiora (Spain, UTMB 756), Fiona Pascall (Great Britain, UTMB 755), Maryline Nakache (France, UTMB 733) as highest ranked athletes. An outsider is Claudia Chmielowska (Poland, UTMB 656), who showed her good form at the Ultra Trail Snowdonia, earlier this year, where she finished fourth in the 55 kilometres race.
Maiora won last year the Trail Alsace Grand Est, finished 5th at the UTMB and started this year with a fourth place at the
Chianti Ultra Trail 73k and a 3th place at the Madeira Island Ultra-Trail.
Archive photo: Dievole Alessandro Moretti
