Owens "happy overall" with his year
Tom at Giir di Mont 2012
Having had a stellar year in 2011, UK mountain man Tom Owens had a difficult start to 2012. The Scots-based Salomon athlete was beset with hamstring issues meaning that his racing plans were scuppered earlier in the year…
Having won the 3 Peaks crown in 2011, 8th place was not the sort of position Tom would have been looking for as he raced around this classic race in the Yorkshire Dales, stating that aerobically he felt great, but simply couldn’t push hard in the event without pain and stiffness in that hamstring area.
So, after some first class treatment from the medical back-up staff at Salomon, his season started to get back on track at the first big Skyrace of the year at Zegama.
Luckily for him the weather was very British, with high winds, cold temperatures and even snow at the higher altitudes. Third place at this classic of classic European mountain races was a satisfying result.
Tom Owens on the Zegama climbs
“I was very pleased with that one, as it sort of kick-started my season. The conditions suited me actually and it was nice and slippy, a bit of a surprise for some of the guys around the world! But that was a great race and great result.
“From then on the season really picked up for me and I seem to have podiumed in most of my races over the rest of the year”, he states.
With a brilliant second place at Giir di Mont, an equally great performance at the super-tough Trofeo Kima and third at the brutal Sentiero del Grigne, Tom’s season was by now in full flow.
Kilian leads Tom Owens at the 2012 Marathon du Mont Blanc
“Grigne was really hard. Everyone there ran very fast times, I was over 18 mins faster than my time of 2008, but I just didn’t quite have enough on the last big climb of the day. The race is truly amazing though, a great experience.
“To be honest that trilogy of Italian races is brilliant, I really do like those events, technical, challenging and full of freedom to explore extreme skyrunning”.
His Skyrunner World Series season, now almost at a close, was topped-off with 4th place at this weekend’s Kinabalu Climbathon, resulting in a superb second-place in the season-long series. After the race he told us:
“Overall I am happy. I have to be having had the health and injury issues early on in the year, and the season turned out to be a lot of fun. I love those Italian races and of course to finish 3rd at Zegama was also a highlight against such a class field from around the world.”
So, as another season passes, Tom Owens remains one of the very best mountain, fell and skyrunners in the UK and is deserved of his place at the top table of the sport – long may it continue!
