The most challenging competition of the 2016 Red Fox Elbrus Race took place Friday, May 6th — the SkyMarathon® or high-speed run to the West Elbrus peak. A total of 165 athletes from 13 countries all over the world participated in the competition: 83 in the Sport race (starting at 2350m) and 82 in the Classic race (starting at 3750m).
And here are the names of leaders! Karl Egloff, from Ecuador, finished the Sport race first, reaching the western summit of Mt. Elbrus in 3 hours 44 min 43 sec! Unfortunately, a lot of fresh snow prevented any of the athletes from setting a new record. However, Karl promised he will try to return for next year’s Red Fox Elbrus Race festival in the quest to set new records of human performance.
Oksana Stefanishina running up Mt. Elbrus in fresh snow.
The next two athletes were less than 10 minutes apart. Pascal Egli (Switzerland) and Miranda Nikolas (Ecuador) ran third (03:56:51) and fourth (04:03:48) respectively.
Vladimir Belyay and Vyacheslav Khoroshavin (both from Belarus) were the fastest in the Classic race (starting from the Barrels, 3750-5642 m) with a time of 03:41:06! Vladimir Belyay won the Classic competition for the third year in a row!
Russian athletes Anton Karpov and Arkady Chernyaev summited Elbrus next with results of 4:02:21 and 4:20:50 respectively.
The first woman summited Elbrus within the Vertical SkyMarathon – Mt Elbrus, 2350-5642 m is Diana Zelenova (Russia)! Her time was 04:43:17.
Catalonian athletes continued to collect medals! Marta Riba (Catalonia) finished second with a time of 04:55:13.
Oksana Stefanishina (Inov-8 Team Russia) finished third in 05:23:00. Last year Oksana set two world records on Mt Elbrus as the fastest skyrunner.
The fastest women in the Classic race were all from Russia. Marina Georgieva (Russia) came in first with a time of 04:10:20. Varvara Prokhorova came in second at 4:23:03 and Anastasiya Toritzyna took third in 5:20:57.
Sport race (Vertical SkyMarathon® – Mt Elbrus, 2350-5642 m) results
Men:
1. Karl Egloff (Ecuador) – 3:44:43
2. Vitaly Shkel (Russia) – 3:51:22
3. Pascal Egli (Switzerland) – 3:56:51
Women:
1. Diana Zelenova (Russia) – 4:43:17
2. Marta Riba (Catalonia) – 4:55:13
3. Oksana Stefanishina (Inov-8 Team Russia) – 5:23:00
Start of the Classic Skyrunning event at The Barrels (3750m) on Mt. Elbrus (5642m). Photo by Aigul Lotfullina.
Classic race (3750-5642 m) results
Men:
1. Vladimir Belyay and Vyacheslav Khoroshavin (Belarus) – 3:41:06
2. Anton Karpov (Russia) – 4:02:21
3. Arkady Chernyaev (Russia) – 4:20:50
Women:
1. Marina Georgieva (Russia) – 4:10:20
2. Varvara Prokhorova (Russia) – 4:23:03
3. Anastasiya Toritzyna (Russia) – 5:20:57
Congratulations to all the skyrunners!
© 2016
