Trails of The Month - February 2018

Arc of Attrition, Great Britain 

MudCrew presented The RaidLight Arc of Attrition, February 9th 2018.

The Arc of Attrition 100 mile race, also named Winter Coastpath Ultra, is a race of 150.6km with 4030m D+. Finishers earned 6 ITRA points.

The Arc is a point-to-point extreme coastal race from Coverack to Porthtowan along stunning and dramatic Cornish coastal paths with competitors running in challenging winter conditions. Runners completed an arc, hence the name, around the entire south west foot of Cornwall. Runners had 35 hours to finish this race. This race is well-known to be quite a beast with biting winter winds, rain and mud forcing participants to push their limits.

To consult results: http://itra.run/page/328/Results.html

Transgrancanaria: Spain

Transgrancanaria has been held on the island of Gran Canaria since October 2003. Transgrancanaria participants must cross the island, going from coast to coast, climbing to the island’s summit to then descending back to sea level. It has six different distances to make the race available for absolutely everyone, even for the youngest with their families.

The 6 races proposed:

• Promo race: 17.20 km with 170m D+.
• Starter race: 29.4 km with 480m D+ = 1 ITRA point.
• Martón race: 41.90 km with 660m D+ = 2 ITRA points.
• Advanced race: 63.80 km with 1.170m D+ = 3 ITRA points
• Trans Gc race: 125 km with 7.500m D+ = 6 ITRA points
• Transcanaria 360° race: 269 km with 12.000m D+ 

Over the weekend of February 24th and 25th, more than 1,400 athletes, walkers, joggers and nature lovers from more than 20 countries decided to take the challenge of crossing the island on foot in less than 30 hours. On this route participants found rain, sun, mud, dust … but above all they enjoyed direct contact with nature.
The Transgrancanaria not intended only to test the elites, but is an event for everyone, which is why runners have 29 hours to complete it. At the beginning the weekend was in doubt when the weather forecast suggested that the race would not be held, but the sun came up despite meteorological warnings.

This year again, finishers were brilliant and the competition was strong.

To view results: http://itra.run/page/328/Results.html

Carrera 4 Refugios, Argentina

The 4 Refugios race took place on February, 25tha trail-running race that connects some of the best-known mountain shelters in Bariloche, in Argentina.

The race of 4 Refugios made it a unique competition that combined crossing native forests of Coihues, Ñires and Lengas with ridge climbs to mountain peaks with outstanding views.. This race passed through the Frey, Jakob, Laguna Negra and Lopez refugees where the runners were assisted and encouraged. This year this race has celebrated its 13th anniversary.

This is adventure trail-running race covered around 44.5 km and 3,580 m of altitude. It brought to the finishers: 3 ITRA points.

3 Refuges is another beautiful and adventure trail-running race that covered 39.6 km and 1,940 m of elevation gain. It brought 2 ITRA points.

Results are coming soon.

The 9 Dragons Ultra – Hong Kong

On February 24th The 9 Dragons Ultra race in Hong-Kong took place.

The name of this race comes from the 9 Dragons’ Legend, which goes that Kowloon (the northern part of Hong Kong) was named in the year 1278 by the boy Emperor Bing, of the Southern Song Dynasty. Noticing the eight hills of Kowloon (Kowloon Peak, Tung Shan, Tate's Cairn, Temple Hill, Unicorn Ridge, Lion Rock, Beacon Hill, Crow's Nest), the Emperor was pleased to name them the “Eight Dragons” - but a quick-witted courtier pointed out that the Emperor was a dragon himself, making it nine dragons, not eight.

The 50 Mile (85.2 km) crosses Kowloon and the New Territories in Hong Kong from West to East. The route uses a variety of trails including the MacLehose and Wilson trails, and has an accumulative vertical gain of 4,060m. This race brought 4 ITRA points!

The route of the 53.6 km race uses a variety of trail including the Wilson and MacLehose among others, and has an accumulative vertical of 3,230m. Runners enjoyed this race and got 3 ITRA points! Congrats to them!

150 runners were at the start of the 50/50 race. This race is for runners who hope to aim to complete both the 50 Miler (85.2 km) and 53.6 km events over the weekend. Strong performances & close battles were played out by runners. Finishers this weekend got 5 ITRA points! Congrats to all!