Symonds + Owens extend Men’s lead / Close competition for podium positions in all race categories

Andrew Symonds and Tom Owens of Scotland left no doubt as to their superiority among the Men’s teams as – once again – they were first to dash across the finish line in the renowned resort community of St. Anton/Arlberg today. The two athletes of ‘Saab Salomon Outdoor Team’ deserve sporting their leader jerseys for a second day in a row as a just reward for covering the shortest of this week’s stages in no more than 02:39:54.2 hours. This sensational achievement becomes all the more palpable if one considers that the next two teams, not exactly known as slouches from previous races, wouldn’t arrive for another ten minutes. Christian Stork and Matthias Dippacher of Team ‘BLT Laufsport Saukel Hagloefs’ (02:50:28.0 hours) claimed second place beating Thomas Geisenberger and Michael Veit (‘Team Dr. Steinbauer’, 02:52:06.4 hours) to the finish line on the last stretch after racing neck-to-neck race for much of second half of the stage.

Christian Stork, who admitted to suffering some on yesterday’s first stage had found his form again. Yet, bad luck was with him today as the tough terrain along the 24,63 km stage ruined one of his brand-new running shoes. Still, Stork was cheery about today’s podium-position performance pointing out “that it went a lot better today. This is my fourth time at the GORE-TEX® Transalpine-Run and the first stage has always been the worst for me”.

Stork’s, a champion of the Master’s category in 2008, jinx may have been to the advantage of Matthias Dippacher. The always upbeat German and his teammate both took falls along the trail. “Somebody took a spill right ahead of us and so we followed his lead. Luckily we only suffered minor scrapes that aren’t going to bother us much” were the words of national team member Dippacher. All in all, the day had been toil of playing catch-up for ‘Team BLT Laufsport Saukel Haglöfs’. The two athletes had started out in fifth position when leaving Lech but they steadily worked their way up. By the time they reached the south side of Valluga Ridge (2,750 m) they were able to play out their technical finesse and managed to pass ‘Team Dr. Steinbauer’ on the steep downhill.

Scots in a class of their own
Well ahead of any competition, Andrew Symonds and Tom Owens once again were able to focus on their running. With no team breathing down their necks, the duo nevertheless decided to rev it up a notch on the three uphill sections but – in the words of Symonds – “tried to stay relaxed. That’s the key to success. You have to flow with the course”.

His team chum Owens added: “We stayed focused on ourselves and just ran our race”. As the 27-year-old managed to put some thigh problems behind him last night, the Scottish team should be good for a few more surprising performances this week. The two ‘über-runners’ show no signs of fatigue so far but assume that they “most certainly will look trashed after another few days of racing”.

Senfter/Theiner save tight lead into St. Anton/Arlberg among the Women’s
Team Latsch (Irene Senfter and Petra Theiner) was able to defend their leader jerseys today even though not as comfortably as yesterday. While the two Italians had secured a lead of nearly four minutes ahead of ‘Team Salomon Sexten’ (also ITA) in the inaugural stage, it was just 22 seconds today. Still, the formidable time of 03:41:03.3 hours landed Senfter, the former race champion (2006, 2007), and her new running partner Theiner on the top podium position. Martina Pfeifhofer and Elisabeth Egarter (Team Salomon Sexten, 03:41:25.6 hours) who claimed second place will likely stay on their heels for the rest of the week. Irene Senfter seems well aware that Team Salomon Sexten has to be reckoned with. “All went well today but when we noticed that Martina and Elisabeth were catching up so we had to speed up”. For Gerti Ott and Sabine Kraus of ‘Team Orthomol Sport I’ it was a first time on the podium this year as third (04:00:22.3). 

Repeat performances in the Master’s category
Just as in all other categories, yesterday’s victors Dr. Thomas Miksch and Philipp Anton of ‘BLT Laufsport Saukel Hagloefs’ will hang on to their leader jerseys. The claimed the top of the podium arriving in St. Anton after 02:54:31.8 hours. Philipp Anton seemed satisfied with how today’s race strategy panned out: “Early on we switched from running to walking on the steep ascent up Rüfikopf and pushed on with the leaders. We lost them when descending from Valluga Ridge. But that’s ok.”

Second to arrive at the finish line – just as yesterday -were the Spaniards Oscar Perez Lopez und Eladio Lantada Zarzosa (Team Elyos, 03:12:41.5 hours). Steffen Walk and Bernhard Endras of Team ‘Salomon/Sport Reischmann’ took 03:15:02.1 rounded out the podium as third.

Second triumph for the Mixed-Leaders
Angela Mudge and Ben Bardsley of Team ‘Saab Salomon Outdoor’ once again demonstrated – what can only be described as – preeminence in the Mixed category. Their time of 03:04:28.2 hours not only won them first place in their category but also eighth position in the overall stage ranking.  Gaby Steigmeier and Seppi Neuhauser of ‘Team Salomon’ (SUI/AUT) arrived ten minutes after them claiming second place (3:14:10.6). Siblings Annemarie and Ulrich Gross of ‘Telmekom Team Südtirol’ (03:19:08.2) cheerily celebrated a first podium position as the third ranking Mixed team.

Preview Stage 3: St. Anton / Arlberg to Galtür, Austria:
The third stage of the 2009 GORE-TEX® Transalpine-Run won’t exactly afford any respite. En route to Galtür the teams will take on a cumulative vertical ascent of 2,437 meters along a whooping distance of 32.97 kilometers. Two tough climbs followed by two equally challenging descents will tax most racers to the max. Luckily we’re expecting excellent weather since much of the stage will be well above tree line.

Photo credit © GORE-TEX® Transalpine-Run – Lars Schneider