Katti Jackson and Gavin Prior (both USA) have won the 100 miles (6.250m+) Grindstone Ultra in the United States of America. Giovanna Martins (Brazil) was the strongest at the Paraty UTSB 107k (4,829m+) in her own country. In the men’s race Rogerio Silvestrin and Celio Augusto Rosa (both Brazil) crossed the finish line side by side in first place.
Giovanna Martins was in a class of her own. The Brazilian On ultra runner, who tried her hand on the UTMB this year but didn’t finish, moved halfway the race – at the checkpoint in Serraria – up in the top 10 overall. Just in the last 10 kilometres, between Cachoeira 7 Quedas and Paraty she slipped out of it. Yet, she still finished as number eleven overall and as first woman. She needed 14 hours, 26 minutes and 43 seconds to complete the 107 kilometres of running and 4.593 metres of climbing.
Hand-in-hand victory
Isadora de Albuquerque Rosso finished almost half an hour later als number two; 14:55:04. Two hours behind Martins Johanna Simmer (Austria) took third place in 16:25:15.
Rogerio Silvestrin and Celio Augusto Rosa shared the win in the men’s race. Both Brazilians clocked 11:52:44. The third place was for Remigio Huaman Quispe (Peru) in 12:02:08.
Prior wins his dream UTMB ticket
Gavin Prior won Grindstone thanks to a strong finish. The American has set his eyes on the UTMB and hoped for a top three finish. Well, he got more than he hoped for, with the win. From the start he ran in third position, but after the checkpoint at Dowells Draft, 116 kilometres into the race (4.675m+) he moved up in second. With less than 20 kilometres to go, at North River Gap, he took over the lead from Anton Krupicka, who didn’t see him back until the finish. Prior stopped the clock at 21:23:47.
RELATED: A guide to UTMB Running Stones
Krupicka had been in the lead since Reddish Knob, 33 kilometres (1.410m+), but saw Prior pass him in the final kilometres. However, he held on to second place and finished in 21:52:04. Alex Proctor completed the podium. He finished in 22:17:30.
Jackson triumphs
Katti Jackson won the women’s race in 23:31:16. She was 23 minutes faster than Jill Dennes (USA), who took second in 23:54:09. The third place was for Tatiana Rypinski; 24:51:28. Jackson: “It was an adventure. I started off early in the pits, I think I first saw Jill, the second female, she was at Dallas Draft, the second round. So it was really nice to have her pushing me because I was hurting because my legs were just shot. I was behind on fueling and it was pretty rough.”
Archive photo: UTMB
You can find all the results of Paraty Brazil here. You can find all the results of Grindstone here.
