Per il lecchese secondo posto anche nella classifica finale del circuito
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This Saturday, Marató dels Dements hosted the biggest event in the 2024 calendar – the Merrell Skyrunner® World Series Skymasters, where the word’s best went head-to-head for final points of the season.
Eslida, Saturday November 16th 2024 – After 21 races in 13 countries and 4 continents, all would be determined at the final race of the Merrell Skyrunner® World Series, the Skymasters Marató dels Dements.
After an epic fight from the start, Roberto Delorenzi of Switzerland (team Brooks) and Anastasia Rubtsova not only won the race, beating the course record in both categories, but were also crowned the champions of the 2024 season.
The 42-kilometer course with 3,800 meters of elevation gain, started in the town of Eslida in the Castellón municipality in Serra d’Espadà. Great conditions provided excellent views of the surrounding landscape from the ridges above Eslida where a record-breaking number of spectators lined the route to watch their favourite skyrunners.
DELORENZI AND RUBTSOVA WIN ON A DEMANDING COURSE
The Marató dels Dements was an incredible skyrunning battle, full of excitement from start to finish. In the early stages of the men’s race, Japanese athlete, Ruy Ueda (Red Bull) took the lead with a strong pace until Aín (km 21), the halfway point of the race, followed by the Frenchman Frederic Tranchand(Scott Running) and the Swiss Roberto Delorenzi (Brooks), less than two minutes behind. In the final part of the race, Delorenzi, who was leading the overall ranking, managed to pull away and distance himself from the rest. Delorenzi was, however, far from safe as Luca Del Pero of Italy (Scarpa) and Manuel Merillas of Spain (New Balance) went on the hunt, with all three in the running for the top position in the overall ranking.
Although Del Pero came close, Delorenzi was untouchable again, and the Swiss took home his fifth win of the season with a new record time of 04:45:48, followed just one minute behind by Del Peroand Merillas closed the podium, 27 seconds behind. Lorenzo Beltrami of Italy (Scarpa) and Frederic Tranchand of France, completed the top 5.
The women’s race was equally as interesting. Anastasia Rubtsova and Oihana Kortazar of Spain (team Salomon) pulled ahead at first, regularly exchanging the lead, with local athlete Júlia Font(team Brooks) just behind. Just after the halfway point, Rubtsova stepped it up a gear higher than the rest of her rivals. With a new course record time of 5:38:53, Rubtsova took home her sixth win of the 2024 and was crowned the champion of the 2024 season.
Font, pushed hard in the final section of the race and was able to secure her second place in the race and third in the overall ranking. The most exciting moment of the day was no-doubt the sprint finish between Kortazar and Hillary Gerardi of France (Team Scarpa / Black Diamond) for the last podium place. Third went to Kortazar by a split second and Emma Cook-Clarke of Canada closed the final top 5.
THE SATISFACTION OF THE WINNERS
The newly crowned champion of the Merrell Skyrunner® World Series, Roberto Delorenzi commented: “I feel amazing, even though I’m destroyed now!”. The Swiss Brooks athlete added that:“a win here is something I’ve been dreaming about since the beginning of the year. To win today and to win the circuit is unbelievable. The race went the way I wanted it to, and knowing the course beforehand helped a lot, especially at a distance like this.” Finally, Delorenzi added that: “although I haven’t yet organized my schedule, I plan to return to the circuit next year”.
For her part, the final champion, Anastasia Rubtsova, was ecstatic with the victory, commenting: “It was a very long race. I’m very tired. The second part is very technical, with many ups and downs, and now I’m exhausted. I am looking forward to returning to my daughters and my family tomorrow”.
“A SPECTACULAR RESULT”
The race director, Raul Martinez, comments: “The results of today are spectacular, the times have been lowered a lot both the record that Manuel Merillas had in 2019 and the female record. Of course, we see that the boost that the Merrell Skyrunner® World Series circuit can give us is immense. We are very happy to have participated in this season”. He added that: “The runners were surprised to see so many people on the mountain supporting them at all times. It was a day that we will remember for the rest of our lives in Eslida, Aín and throughout the province of Castellón because it is the culmination of many years of work.”
For her part, the Head of Operations of the Merrell Skyrunner® World Series, Seana Forbes, added that: “The race was the perfect way to end the season. It was an incredible final race, with so many spectators on the course and very unpredictable… we even saw a sprint at the finish line, which is what every fan and spectator wants”. The head of the circuit added that: “The organization has been incredible, the athletes are very happy, and we are delighted to be able to crown the deserving champions of this season”. Finally, Forbes pointed out that the 2025 race calendar will be announced next week.
