Ahead of the Olympic Games in Paris, the European Off-Road Running Championships will host France’s first big athletics competition of the summer.
The best trail and mountain runners on the continent come together for ten events throughout the three days of the event, which is held in the charming town of Annecy beneath the breathtaking French Alps. The championships are in their second iteration; the first one was held in El Paso, La Palma, Spain, two years ago.
The trail races, which take place on Saturday, June 1, offer runners an exhilarating show and taxing test of endurance. The course will be 57.64 km long with a total elevation gain of 3509 meters and a fall of 3571 meters.
The track will loop from the beginning in Faverges through Sambuy to the host city of Annecy, with some technically difficult terrain with notable altitude variations. At the beginning of the race, participants will have to climb 800 meters in 7 kilometers, and at 16 kilometers, they will have another 500 meters of climbing to complete in just 1500 meters of running.
The local hero is also the clear favorite in the men’s trail race. From Annecy, Benjamin Roubiol is quite familiar with the area. In addition, he has won gold in the trail discipline at the 2023 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships, making him the current world champion.
After his victory in the Innsbruck-Stubai region of Austria, Andreas Reiterer of Italy was reduced to silver. Reiterer comes back to Annecy to rekindle their rivalry. There are names among the remaining 85 competitors that might be in the running for the top positions, such as Thomas Cardin, another Frenchman who finished third in El Paso two years ago.
Additionally, Francesco Puppi, an Italian who has demonstrated promise by winning the Lake Sonoma 50-mile race and the Chuckanut 50-K in Bellingham, Washington,Healdsburg, California, USA throughout the previous several months.
Fotios Zisimopoulos, a three-time Spartathlon champion, and Konstantinos Paraseidopoulos, who won the Trail du Saint-Jacques by more than 50 kilometers last year, are leading the Greek challenge. Thomas Roach of Great Britain, who placed second in the individual short trail race at the World Championships last year, is a contender.
Similar to the men’s race, it appears that two runners in particular will play the role of favorites in the women’s event. In the trail-short category, France’s Clementine Geoffray is the current global champion and Blandine L’Hirondel is the defending European champion.
However, there are 61 more people who could complicate matters for the domestic heroes. includes the Czech athlete Marcela Vasinova, who two years ago was tipped for a medal but fell to sixth after suffering an injury.
Prominent competitors include Camilla Magliano of Italy, who finished second in the 42-kilometer Chianti Trail and won the 55-kilometer Maremontana, as well as Esther Fellhofer of Austria, who won the 160-kilometer Ultra Trail Vipava Valley in Slovenia this year.
Will the favorites be upset by Switzerland’s Ariane Wilhelm, who has proven herself through victories at the 85-kilometer Madeira Island Ultra Trail and the 54-kilometer Trail du Petit Ballon?
To determine the team ranking, the top three athletes from each competing country’s results are combined. France won gold in the men’s and women’s competitions two years ago, and they will be eager to build on that accomplishment in front of their home supporters.
