Owens "impossible to beat"
Tom Owens, the dominant racer leading the pack of 160 racers in the first Salomon 4 Trails, seems unstoppable on his mission to claim overall race victory en route to Switzerland…
Full event release
Tom Owens impossible to beat / Gaby Steigmeier withdraws / Anton Philipp claims Master podium / Anna Frost rules Women
Tom Owens
The dominant racer leading the pack of 160 racers in the 1st SALOMON 4 TRAILS seems unstoppable on his mission to claim overall race victory en route to Switzerland. Scotland’s Tom Owens took 3:18:45.9 hours to dash across the imposing Venet Range between Imst and Landeck, Austria – a course no less than 31,10 km long with a cumulative vertical ascent of 1,854 m.
Owens extended his overall lead on second-placing Philipp Reiter (GER, 3:22:03.5) to 25 minutes and, thus, could easily afford to dilly-dally some on the tomorrow’s final stage without threatening his chance for overall victory. Matthias Dippacher (GER) arrived in Landeck in third position today with a time of 3:25:00.4 hours, which also puts him within reach of an overall podium position in the Men’s category.
Tom Owens wins stage 3 at the 4 Trails
While Tom Owens sets the times to beat in the 1st SALOMON 4 TRAILS, he clearly benefited from junior competitor Philipp Reiter today. The latter hung on to Owens, a two-time champion of the Transalpine Run, early on in the race, eventually attacking the leader, getting ahead and pulling the leader along and away from the pack.
Unusual for him, Reiter was running with poles, which allowed him to increase his speed on the long climb. However, the poles eventually proved detrimental. During the long traverse below the Glanderspitze one pole basket got snagged in some brush, causing Philipp Reiter to fall. Arriving at the finish with a bruised shin, Germany’s trail-running “wunderkind” shared: “At first it worked fabulously as I wanted to get Tom today. But after my fall I felt too shaky on the trail.”
Philipp Reiter
A mishap that opened the way for Owens’ third consecutive stage victory, one – by his own admission – he owes in part to Reiter. “Philipp was very strong today which was good for my race. It was a wonderful course and I’m very happy about how it went today”. However, the 29-year-old race pro knows all too well that tomorrow’s stage is likely to feel the hardest. “My feet already hurt. And tomorrow will be a true monster day. It’s going to be really hard”.
Leading female runner forced to call it quits
Gaby Steigmeier, the female racer who had set the times to beat so far, had to withdraw from the race today when she reached the first food stop halfway into the day’s single climb. An asthmatic attack forced the Swiss “über-runner” to give up, after dominating both the Women and Master women categories for two consecutive days.
While this is clearly a blow to the 45-year-old runner, it opened up podium territory for others. In turn, Austrian Katharina Rossi managed to move up to first place with her time of 4:46:16.5 hours. Germans Gabi Eisele (5:05:47.5) and Christine Gehmacher (5:08:13.0) came in second and third position, respectively.
Anna “Frosty” Frost (NZL) ran a blistering pace today and was rewarded with a deserved, second stage victory (4:11:21.1). The 29-year-old Champion of the 2011 Mt. Everest Marathon arrived in Landeck 10 minutes ahead of her most immediate competition, second-placing Julia Böttger (4:22:01.0, GER). This feat extended her overall lead to roughly 25 minutes – a comfortable position to start tomorrow’s final race day from.
Still, the SALOMON 4 TRAILS has left an indelible impression on Frosty who wouldn’t have expected the race course to be as exhausting and steep. “I’ve been tired since Stage One” the overseas racer confided after arriving in Landeck.
Today’s third-placing Stefanie Felgenhauer (GER, 4:38:59.3) will likely run a relaxed pace tomorrow with an occasional glance across her shoulder. While she can hardly threaten Frost’s or Böttger’s position up ahead, there is little threat from behind.
Preview stage 4: Landeck (AUT) – Samnaun (SUI)
Taking the high road to wrap up the SALOMON 4 TRAILS (45.30 km, 2.909 m ASC). The final day of the SALOMON 4 TRAILS arguably represents the most challenging stage totaling more than 45 kilometers in horizontal distance and packing almost 3,000 meters in elevation gain on top of that. As if this feat wasn’t enough, the racers also reach their highest elevation: the Ochsenscharte at 2,787m.
The stage makes up for this physical challenge by offering up easier trails than on the two previous days – relatively speaking! The racers stay mostly above treeline, which should make for a picture-perfect finish to a grueling but rewarding race.
Full results here
