Claire Bannwarth is an unstoppable pressure. On Friday, the 34-year-old French athlete was the primary girl (and second total athlete) on the uniquely difficult Gran Canaria 360 race, in a exceptional time of 58 hours, 23 minutes, 43 seconds. Bannwarth is now the four-time champion of the race, and was greater than 32 hours forward of the following girl, Slovakian runner Soňa Kopčoková, who completed in 91 hours, two minutes, and 17 seconds. The third-place girl, Hungarian runner Szilvia Lubics, crossed the road in 96 hours, 44 minutes, and 40 seconds.
What an unbelievable 12 months for Claire!
Hope she will get some recognition within the @runfreetrail Path Runner of the 12 months award rankings! https://t.co/LB4KRTZOZG
— Liam (@aidstationfireb) November 17, 2023
The Gran Canaria 360 is held within the Canary Islands, and runners traverse a 260-kilometre unmarked, technical course that climbs and descends 13,000 metres of elevation, utilizing solely maps to navigate and carrying giant packs of obligatory gear. Bannwarth appears to thrive at these lengthy, grueling races that many skilled ultrarunners balk at: in 2023 alone she turned the primary girl ever to win the Tahoe 200 (360 km) race outright, and weeks later she accomplished a self-supported FKT on the 500-mile (805 km) Colorado Path west-to-east route in 9 days, 2 hours and 50 minutes. She described her FKT as “essentially the most difficult journey I took half in my life, but in addition one of the stunning and superb.”
Lower than a month earlier than Bannwarth toed the road at Gran Canaria 360, she was operating loops (yards) in Tennessee at Huge’s Yard Extremely, as considered one of solely 4 ladies opponents. Bannwarth was the ultimate girl standing, after finishing 60 yards and 250 miles (402 kilometres). She was the fourth girl at this 12 months’s Hardrock 100, and in mid-October (per week earlier than Huge’s) she was the primary girl within the Kodiak Extremely Marathons by UTMB 100-miler. Bannwarth even kicked her 2023 season off with a exceptional win, taking first girl within the Montane Backbone Race (300 km+) within the U.Ok.
In a pre-Hardrock 100 interview with iRunFar, Bannwarth mentioned that whereas she had been a runner her total life, she solely started path racing 5 years in the past. She quickly progressed in race distance, and says “I feel I’m higher at them [the longer distance races] as a result of I’m not quick; I can go sluggish for days.” She explains that she finds the longer races extra pleasing, with much less focus directed towards saving seconds by consuming shortly or not resting.
Bannwarth works a full-time job at an insurance coverage firm and says she trains roughly the identical period of time per week. “I sleep lower than I run or work, however it’s value it.”
Within the Gran Canaria 360 males’s race, Romanian runner Claudiu Ionel Beletoiu was first in 56h 23m 49s, adopted by Spain’s Jose Bordón Sardiña in 61h 3m 53s, and Italy’s Luca Papi in 66h 14m 59s.
For full outcomes of the 2023 Gran Canaria 360, head right here.
