Anticipation mounts for the third leg of the Skyrunner® World Series at the Dolomites SkyRace® on July 24th.  The very strong line-up includes not only the two reigning world champions but teams and athletes from fifteen countries competing in this all-time skyrunning favourite.  

Tofol Castañer and Emanuela Brizio, 2010 skyrunning champions lead the field, challenged by Italians, Mikhail Mamleev, current men’s ranking leader, Paolo Larger, last year’s winner and Michele Tavernaro, Fulvio Dapit and Nicola Golinelli.  A strong Spanish squad from Catalonia and the Basque Country counts Luis Hernando (ranked 3rd), Jokin Lizeaga (6th) Miguel Caballero(12th). Russia is also strongly represented with an eight-man strong team and  new entry Malaysia has entered Safrey Sumping, one of the top runners in the Mount Kinabalu International Climbathon.

The women’s field is confidently headed by 42 year-old reigning world champion and ranking leader, Italian Emanuela Brizio who faces some strong competition from Spain’s Mireia Mirò, world skimountaineering champion and twenty years younger, and from Oihana Kortazar, ranked 3rd, fresh from her European SkyRace® title.  Making for an exciting contest are also Corinne Favre (6th), a past world champion and Stephanie Jimenez (5th) both from France.  From further afield, New Zealander Anna Frost, ranked second in the 2010  World Series and Americans Catlin Smith, Megan Kimmel and Brandy Erholtz all make for an unforgettable women’s field.

July 23 also marks Britain’s only World Series Trial:  the Snowdon International Race , one of the country’s foremost race venues:  sixteen kilometres  long with 1,025m elevation gain.  More than 500 runners are entered. 

Days before the race start, a record has already been broken with  700 entries!  Entry is now closed however to guarantee runners maximum safety on the course which is also a UNESCO World Heritage site.  The 22 km course starts and finishes in the centre of Canazei and climbs very steeply to the summit of the Piz Boè,at 3,152m, often snow-covered.  The equally steep descent back to the town is fast and technical with the men’s record to beat is 2h04’5” and the women’s 2h30’17”.  

Not only world class athletes migrate to Canazei for the race but delegates from some of the ISF’s 21 nations will attend the annual general assembly here on July 23.  Members and  race organizers will also take part in the first English language International Referee course on July 22 and 23, with the object of training and certifying members and organisers and to create a bank of these professionals to oversee ISF races worldwide.

For info: www.dolomiteskyrace.com