Big excitements for the first edition!
3 August 2015
Bergamo, August 2nd 2015 – The Reda Rewoolution Orobie Ultra-Trail® is now a reality! The first edition is now in the records, concluded with an award ceremony that has filled the precious setting of Piazza Vecchia in Città Alta, with enthusiasm and applauses for the winners of the two scheduled competitions: Marco Zanchi and Lisa Borzani, Jordi and Cristina Bes.
It has been an awesome “first one” and you could tell starting from the Race Office set in Bergamo’s Palazzetto dello Sport-PalaNorda, spacious and tidy just like in all top competitions. Not to mention the opening press conference and the evening with Pietro Trabucchi, capable of attracting top runners and many fans.
The start of the Orobie Ultra-Trail® at 2:00pm on Friday July 31st in Piazza dell’Orologio in Clusone has been a moment of joy and sharing. A great audience at the start applauded the 251 athletes, ready to endure the 140km and 9500 meters in elevation gain, but also a special guest, Giovanni Storti who also couldn’t wait to start the run.
The conditions during the race were ideal until the first hours of Saturday morning, with a battle for the lead between Marco Zanchi and Marco Gazzola. But then came a quite strong storm that forced the Race Management to suspend the competition for 50 minutes – except for the 4 leading athletes that had already passed the critical zone – and to postpone the start of the Gran Trail Orobie in Carona, Val Brembana.
Once the emergency was over at 8:25, the 720 GTO athletes were able to take off towards the Rifugio Laghi Gemelli although the weather conditions were still unstable and with rain. As for OUT, all athletes were then allowed to go and chase Marco Zanchi. The runner from Bergamo, who took and kept the lead around Brunone, went on and managed his energies till the finish line in Città Alta, completing and winning the Reda Rewoolution Orobie Ultra-Trail® in 23.37.59 followed by Bosatelli and the joint winners Galeati and Insam who ended the race with a hug.
Following the OUT finishers came those of GTO, making in less than 15 minutes between 4:30pm and 4:45pm the men’s podium: Jordi Bes, Jan Zemanik and Michael Dola.
The women’s first positions of OUT and GTO were made only in the few following hours. Lisa Borzani, after many battles with Cinzia Bertasa took the lead of the 140km race and finished 30 minutes ahead of her with a time of 28hours and 7 minutes, leaving then the third place to Graziana Pè.
Few moments before the arrival at the finish line of the GTO female athletes, around 8pm, the heavy rain had already made the trails treacherous, ultimately impracticable and obligating the Race Management to intervene again.
And as Cristina Bes, Carolina Tiraboschi and Virgilia Olivieri crossed the finish line one after the other, the organization took care of upholding the safety of the 250 athletes that were blocked on the trails, completing in a few hours their transfers back to Città Alta. (For these participants there will be a secondary ranking, based on the last checkpoint).
Runners kept on arriving on the final stage until the first hours of Sunday, always before a surprised and amazed audience, that even if they were less and less as hours went by, they never stopped applauding the 41 OUT finishers and 402 GTO finishers, increasingly worn out and covered in mud.
Only 2 minutes to 2am, the last runner crossed the finish line and in that moment this first edition had come to an end, despite the bad weather nothing could trouble the organization Spiagames Outdoor Agency.
Few hours later, as the sun rose, the entire land of Bergamo woke up under a beautiful blue sky, gorgeous setting for a closing press conference and an award ceremony that in Città Alta’s beautiful square couldn’t be more iconic.
Reda Rewoolution Orobie Ultra-Trail®’s staff would like to thank all those who have taken part in this competition, from the athletes to the volunteers, along with the partners, institutions and sponsors: what we witnessed was a magnificent team work, whose heart is Bergamo and its Orobie.
OUT MEN’S RANKING
1 MARCO ZANCHI - ASSO PRO TEAM 23.37.59
2 OLIVIERO BOSATELLI - TEAM ELLERRE 23.56.43
3 GIANLUCA GALEATI - TEAM TECNICA 24.55.04
OUT WOMEN’S RANKING
1 LISA BORZANI - TEAM VIBRAM 28.07.19
2 CINZIA BERTASA - TEAM TECNICA 28.31.01
3 GRAZIANA PE` - ASSO PRO TEAM 31.56.14
GTO MEN’S RANKING
1 JORDI “TOTI” BES - RECUPERATION-COMPRESSPORT 8.14.12
2 JAN ZEMANIK - CZECH SKYRUNNING TEAM 8.17.51
3 MICHAEL DOLA - REWOOLUTION TEAM 8.26.03
GTO WOMEN’S RANKING
1 CRISTINA BES GINESTA - NABES TEAM 10.00.20
2 CAROLINA TIRABOSCHI - CARVICO SKY 10.27.45
3 VIRIGINIA OLIVERI - SALOMON 10.46.33
The first official photos of the race are available at the following link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9rK0Nmj0Pa9bkltbHdkNG5nc1k/view?usp=sharing
