Round five of the Skyrunner® World Series heads for Colorado’s Pikes Peak Ascent on Saturday August 20 - a half marathon to the 4,299m summit of “America’s  Mountain”.  Favourites include World Series participants from Spain, Andorra and Italy aiming to chalk up ranking points before the final in Italy on September 18.

Look out for Spaniards from the Catalan Team:  Xavier Martinez, currently ranked 5th in the World Series; Oscar Roig, uphill specialist and a member of the Spanish ski-mountaineering team;   Laia Andreu, ranked 3rd.  Jordi Bes, recovering from pneumonia, has cancelled.
 
Italian skyrunner and accomplished ski-mountaineer, Jean Pellissier, has been racing and in training  - despite a recent micro fracture in a foot and a broken collar bone earlier this year.  Pellissier, with skyrunning legends Bruno Brunod and Fabio Meraldi set a record in 2000 on Mount Aconcagua, 6,962m (4h52’).  In 2012 he is planning a second solitary record attempt on Mount McKinley after being forced to abandon the first attempt in 2008 due to adverse weather conditions. www.jeanpellissier.com

Andorran brothers Marc and Oscar Casal Mir are also aiming high and after a good season in the World Series races in Europe, expect to perform well, summitting among the top runners.

This steep fast race sees stiff competition from seasoned Americans including Ricky Gates (3rd last year) and Max King (fresh from the fourth round of the World Series in Sierre Zinal, Switzerland, where he placed 20th).  

Last year’s surprise Ascent winner was 24 year-old Glenn Randall in 2h09’28”, leaving the long standing record set by Matt Carpenter in 1993, unscathed.  Randall also excelled in the recent Sierre Zinal where he pulled off an excellent 8th competing with skyrunning icons Marco De Gasperi and Kilian Jornet.  Randall will be staying over in Europe to compete and so will last year’s women’s winner, Brandy Erholtz who has been successfully competing in the Skyrunner® World Series.  She is now ranked 13th  after her 3rd place in the Dolomites SkyRace® in Italy and 14th in Sierre Zinal.

Saturday’s outcome will be closely followed on both sides of the pond.    The Series concludes  in Italy on September 18 putting the world’s best to the test with the gruelling Sentiero delle Grigne – 43 km with no less than 3,200 metres vertical climb!

See here for runner’s predicted times: 

 Skyrunner® World Series current ranking