Santos Gabriel Rueda and Katarzyna Dombrowska win the 163 km Val d'Aran by UTMB
Rueda ran 21:32:05 through 10,000 m of Pyrenean climbing after a Friday afternoon start in Vielha; Dombrowska led the women from start to finish in 27:33:14.
Photograph: The finish line in Vielha at the 2024 Val d'Aran by UTMB, by Anthospace, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsThe Torn dera Val d'Aran, the 163 km race at the Val d'Aran by UTMB in the Spanish Pyrenees, started at four o'clock on Friday afternoon in Vielha with 724 runners and, for the first time in four years, on its original route: 10,000 m of climbing in a loop around the valley.
Santos Gabriel Rueda of Argentina, running it for the third time, was back in Vielha at about half past one on Saturday, 4 July, in 21:32:05. He called it "very tough, but beautiful". Théo Soriano of France was second in 22:23:51 and Delbi Villa Gongora of French Polynesia third in 22:47:53, after setting out hoping for a top ten. Thomas Duvivier and Pau Rius followed in 23:11:09 and 23:13:32.
Katarzyna Dombrowska of Poland led the women's race from the start and finished in 27:33:14, 17th overall. Aroa Sio of Spain was second in 29:13:12 and Salomé Grihon of France third in 30:15:49. Dombrowska had won the 100 km at Ultra-Trail Australia in May and is entered for UTMB in Chamonix in August.
The event is one of the UTMB World Series majors. Over the week the 110 km went to Gautier Bonnecarrere, 12:08:55, and Miao Yao of China, 13:04:34 and eighth overall; the 55 km to Luca Del Pero, 5:23:25, and Sara Alonso, 6:20:12. The organisers counted nearly 7,000 runners from 91 countries.
A Friday afternoon start means the hard part is the first night. Rueda ran through it and came home before Saturday lunch.
Sources: Val d'Aran by UTMB; UTMB Index; Finishers.com; iRunFar.
