The first race of the Golden Trail World Series (GTWS) is hosting the best trail runners on the planet. May 29th, 2022, Start time is 9:00 am (CET), 42 KM, 2,736 meters of vertical climb.
After a two-year hiatus due to Covid, the legendary Spanish Basque race is kicking off the Golden Trail World Series season. Zegama-Aizkorri is first and foremost an invitation into sumptuous landscapes, and the Basque fever experience that vibrates out across the trails carrying the runners to the summits. For this first race of the GTWS 2022 season on 29th May we will be seeing a male and female dream line-up.
The runners are just waiting for one thing, to rise up through the crowd of spectators that gather along the Sancti Spiritu ascent. Like the Alpes d’Huez climb in the Tour de France, the path opens up into the middle of 15,000 spectators crammed together along this climb, the sound of ringing bells, cheers and encouragements make the runners euphoric, and wanting for more, Zegama is Zegama!
As if to mark the rebirth of the legend after two years away, we can point out the Kenyans’ arrival into the Golden Trail World Series – reputedly the world’s fastest road-running athletes, how will they manage on the world’s toughest trail races, and in the densest circuit on the planet?
Course Records:
Men’s record: 03:45:08 Stian Angermund in 2017
Women’s record: 04:34:27 Maite Maiora in 2017
You can find all the specs of the course route by Suunto in the video below:
Discover the favorites at Zegama, the GTWS 2022 – 1st Stage:
The Women:
The field for the first race of the Golden Trail World Series is nothing short of exceptional, for both the men and the women! The women’s start list shows a duel between the two main protagonists from last season: Maude Mathys (Team Salomon, Switzerland) and the revelation, Nienke Brinkman (Team Nike Trail, Netherlands). In 2021, the Swiss athlete showed she was the toughest by finishing 4th overall at the final in El Hierro. But Nienke was only in her first ever trail running season and since then she has continued to impress. During the winter, the Flying Dutchwoman proved her prowess by beating the Dutch road marathon record in 2h22. Nevertheless, these two women will not be alone trying to claim victory. Courtney Dauwalter (Team Salomon, USA), will she be able to keep the pace in such a short distance as an ultra-runner specialist 7th overall in last year’s UTMB® Sara Alonso (Team Salomon, Spain), a local girl and who finished 9th in the GTWS 2021, will be chomping at the bit to shine on home turf. Other girls to watch closely are Johanna Åström (Team Arc’Teryx, Norway), Teresiah Omosa (Team Run2gether, Kenya), Dominika Stelmach (Team Adidas Terrex, Poland), Marcela Vasinova (Team Salomon, Czech Republic), and Karina Carsolio (Team Salomon, Mexico).
Photo: @GoldenTrailSeries | @Zegama Aizkorri | @JSaragossa
The Men:
Of course, there’s one man that is attracting all the attention! Kilian Jornet (Team NNormal, Spain) has chosen Zegama to kick off his 2022 trail running season. He has nine victories on this legendary Basque race and will be wanting to grab a tenth! For that he needs to outstrip Manuel Merillas (Team Scarpa, Spain), the current European and World Skyrunning Champion. Behind this duo are the usual Golden Trail World Series regulars like orienteering specialist Frédéric Tranchand (Team Scott, France), 6th in the 2021 overall ranking despite a knee injury that severely held him back. The winner of the final at El Hierro in 2021 and 2nd in the overall ranking, Francesco Puppi (Team Nike Trail, Italy), should also be closely watched. Rémi Bonnet (Team Salomon/Red Bull, Switzerland), the uphill specialist, Zegama winner in 2018 and 6th in the GTWS 2021, as well as Thibaut Baronian (Team Salomon, France), 3rd at Zegama in 2019 and 5th in the GTWS 2021, will also be keen to be up front. Then we have guys such as Elhousine Elazzaoui (Team Salomon, Marocco), Jan Margarit (Team La Sportiva, Spain), Nadir Maguet (Team La Sportiva, Italy), Darren Thomas (Team Salomon, USA) winner of the Golden Trail National Series final in the Azores in 2021, and Ruy Ueda (Red Bull, Japan), VK World Champion and 3rd in the Skyrunning World Championship.
One thing’s for sure, we can’t wait to be in Zegama to at last launch the Golden Trail World Series 2022 season!
Follow the stories LIVE during the race on the Golden Trail Series Instagram page, as well as the live stream on the Golden Trail Series Facebook page, on Golden Trail TV or at www.goldentrailseries.com
Photo: @GoldenTrailSeries | @Zegama Aizkorri | @JSaragossa
About:
The Golden Trail World Series stands out as the most stunning trail running show in the world! This circuit takes place on the most beautiful trail races across the world while respecting unique values like parity, equity, transparency, and honesty. The races have been chosen to highlight the most iconic events in this sport today. The Series aims to promote professional trail runners as the world-class athletes that they are, to showcase and protect the awe-inspiring nature and environments where we play and compete, and to acknowledge the amazing, passionate fans as an essential ingredient in the sport. Each of the six races in the Series has been specifically selected because of the scenery, challenges, history, and atmosphere that they offer to both the runners and the public. These are the races that every runner wants to experience and some of the first written on any runner’s bucket list.
