The most challenging competition of the 2016 Red Fox Elbrus Race took place yesterday - the SkyMarathon® or high-speed run to the West Elbrus peak. A total of 165 athletes from 13 countries all over the world participated in the competition: 83 in the Sport race (starting at 2350m) and 82 in the Classic race (starting at 3750m).


Photo: Elena Malysheva

Photo: Aigul Lotfullina

Photo: Aigul Lotfullina

Photo: Elena Malysheva
And here are the names of leaders! Karl Egloff, from Ecuador, finished the Sport race first, reaching the western summit of Mt. Elbrus in 3 hours 44 min 43 sec! Unfortunately, a lot of fresh snow prevented any of the athletes from setting a new record. However, Karl promised he will try to return for next year’s Red Fox Elbrus Race festival in the quest to set new records of human performance.


Photo: Aigul Lotfullina

Photo: Aigul Lotfullina

Photo: Aigul Lotfullina
As an example of how much the snow affected speed, Vitaly Shkel (Russia), who set the record in 2015 as the fastest skyrunner with a time of 03:29:04, finished second this year in 03:51:22 from the Azau Glade to the peak (Vertical SkyMarathon® - Mt Elbrus, 2350-5642 m)!


Photo: Aigul Lotfullina

Photo: Aigul Lotfullina

Photo: Aigul Lotfullina
The next two athletes were less than 10minutes apart. Pascal Egli (Switzerland) and Miranda Nikolas (Ecuador) ran third (03:56:51) and fourth (04:03:48) respectively.


Photo: Aigul Lotfullina

Photo: Aigul Lotfullina
Vladimir Belyay and Vyacheslav Khoroshavin (both from Belarus) were the fastest in the Classic race (starting from the Barrels, 3750-5642 m) with a time of 03:41:06! Vladimir Belyay won the Classic competition for the third year in a row!


Photo: Aigul Lotfullina
Russian athletes Anton Karpov and Arkady Chernyaev summited Elbrus next with results of 4:02:21 and 4:20:50 respectively.

The first woman summited Elbrus within the Vertical SkyMarathon - Mt Elbrus, 2350-5642 m is Diana Zelenova (Russia)! Her time was 04:43:17.

Catalonian athletes continued to collect medals! Marta Riba (Catalonia) finished second with a time of 04:55:13.

Oksana Stefanishina (Inov-8 Team Russia) finished third in 05:23:00. Last year Oksana set two world records on Mt Elbrus as the fastest skyrunner.


Photo: Aigul Lotfullina

Photo: Aigul Lotfullina
The fastest women in the Classic race were all from Russia. Marina Georgieva (Russia) came in first with a time of 04:10:20. Varvara Prokhorova came in second at 4:23:03 and Anastasiya Toritzyna took third in 5:20:57.


Photo: Elena Malysheva

Photo: Elena Malysheva
Preliminary results are the following:

Sport race (Vertical SkyMarathon® - Mt Elbrus, 2350-5642 m)
Men:
1. Karl Egloff (Ecuador) - 3:44:43
2. Vitaly Shkel (Russia) - 3:51:22
3. Pascal Egli (Switzerland) - 3:56:51

Women:
1. Diana Zelenova (Russia) - 4:43:17
2. Marta Riba (Catalonia) - 4:55:13
3. Oksana Stefanishina (Inov-8 Team Russia) - 5:23:00

Classic race (3750-5642 m)
Men:
1. Vladimir Belyay and Vyacheslav Khoroshavin (Belarus) - 3:41:06
2. Anton Karpov (Russia) - 4:02:21
3. Arkady Chernyaev (Russia) - 4:20:50

Women:
1. Marina Georgieva (Russia) - 4:10:20
2. Varvara Prokhorova (Russia) - 4:23:03
3. Anastasiya Toritzyna (Russia) - 5:20:57

Congratulations to all the skyrunners!