Marianne Hogan and Miguel Arsénio have won the Swiss Canyon Trail 2024, part of the Gran Canaria World Trail Majors. Arsenio did that in a super fast men’s race with the whole podium – Arsénio, Aleix Toda Mas and Abel Carretero – breaking the course record.

Where the men’s race was a tight one – the numbers one, two and three finished within 8 minutes from each other – the women’s race was a clear victory for Marianne Hogan (Canada, Salomon). From the first aid station it was clear that the places on the podium would be for Hogan, Manon Bohard (France, Hoka) and Audrey Virgilio (Switzerland, Hoka Suisse), who won the Swiss Canyon Trail last year.

No competition for Marianne Hogan

Around kilometre 42, at Chasseron, the highest point of the race, Hogan was already leading Bohard by six minutes. Virgilio passed 10 minutes later in third place. Those gaps never became smaller. On the contrary, when the athletes passed Gorges de Noirveaux, the 76 kilometres timing point, Hogan had extended her lead over Bohard to 22 minutes. The French ultra runner in her turn had widened the gap with Virgilio to 17 minutes.

Hogan kept her pace high, and crossed the finish in 12:25:51; 11 minutes slower than the course record of Camille Bruyas, who ran in 2019 12 hours, 14 minutes and 50. “I’m really happy how the day went. It was a little difficult because I had some pain in my left leg, so I just tried to keep it under control. After 60 kilometres I was told I had a 12 minute lead, and I was feeling pretty good, so I thought I could hold on for the win. I was supported by two team members. It was great to share this experience with them, because in the end trail running is a team effort.”

Behind Hogan, who finished 12th overall, Bohard held on to second place, finishing in 13:08:13. Good for 13th overall. Virgilio, finishing third (and 16th overall), had a strong finish and closed the gap to five minutes; 13:13:06.

Super fast men’s Swiss Canyon Trail 2024

The men’s race lived up to the big expectations. From the start it became a battle between Aleix Toda (Spain, Compressport), Abel Carreterto (Spain, Otso), Miguel Arsénio (Portugal, Sport HG/AML Sport) and Chinese runner Guangfu Meng (Hoka). The first two took off very aggressively, with the second pair trailing them on their heels. Ionel Cristian Manole (Romania, BigK/Joma), who was expected up front as well, decided to run at his own pace.

At Chesseron Retour, kilometre 70, Arsénio was in 4th place, but from there on, he made his way up the field. Five kilometres later, at Gorges de Noirveaux, he was in third place. At Chapeau Napoleon, with just 14 kilometres to go, he was second. In those last 14k he overtook Abel Carretero and finished in a new course record time of 10:24:09. A win he didn’t expect during the race: “The race was out of control all of the time. My strategy was to go behind the guys in the beginning but the race was so fast from the start. I already started to feel bad at 47 kilometres. It was so warm and the humidity was so high. I had to push very hard to close the gap in just 10 kilometres. I had a strong mindset and when I caught them I pushed a lot and arrived here first with a big smile.”

Four men under course record

Only 3 minutes and 15 seconds later Aleix Toda Mas crossed the finish line (10:27:59). Just like Arsénio he took over Carretero in the last kilometres. The Spanish Otso runner, who had been leading from Gorges de Noirveaux at kilometre 75, finished third in 10:32:39. That was still under the course record of 10:59:26 that was set by Martin Kern in 2019. Carretero could live with his third place: “I am satisfied with a podium, if I look at the level of competition. Okay, I lost two places at the end, but a race ends at the finish line. We were very close and it was very demanding. If I purly look at my performance, I’ve done great.”

For Toda Mas his second place came as a surprise: “I never imagined to make the podium with this field. In the first kilometres I felt really good and fresh, maybe I pushed a little too much.”

Guangfu Meng finished fourth in 10:55:32, also below Kern’s record. Making this the fastest Swiss Canyon Trail ever.

Photos: Scott Vuilleumier

All results Swiss Canyon Trail 2024