Janosch Kowalczyk and Azara García de Los Salmones among winners at mozart 100 by UTMB

The mozart 100 by UTMB® based in Salzburg, Austria, and part of the UTMB® World Series, saw victories for Janosch Kowalczyk of Germany in the men’s 105km event and the Spanish runner Azara Garcia de Los Salmones in the women’s category on Saturday 18 June.

After crossing the finish line on the Kapitelplatz in Salzburg and completing the spectacular course with varied trails and over 5,000 metres of ascent on a day of high temperatures, Kowalczyk revealed he had been working up to this challenge since December.

“I prepared for the mozart 100 for six months,” he said. “It was a very demanding race – the heat made running even more challenging, so I divided the race tactically in such a way that I held back a bit at the beginning because I knew the last few kilometres would be very tough. I really enjoyed the trails – it was a great course with many highlights and I am very happy about my victory.”

Azara Garcia de Los Salmones, 38 from Cantabria in northern Spain, crossed the line more than 45 minutes ahead of her nearest female rival at the end of a crushing display of trail running. The Spaniard who is well known for training alone started as favorite and loved the views and settings of a course that showcased the Austrian Alps in all their summer glory.

“I am very happy about my victory,” she said. “The day was like something out of a picture book. It was a wonderful run. It was also very hard. The last 20 kilometres demanded everything from me, but the routes were fantastic and I’m happy that I was able to get everything out of myself and glad to have started here in Salzburg. This race fits perfectly into my running calendar and shows me that I am well on track for the UTMB Mont-Blanc at Chamonix in August.”

Among other noteworthy performances, was that of another Spanish female athlete, the hugely successful Marta Molist, who added another big victory to her CV when winning the 75-km Mozart Ultra race, finishing fifth overall. _“It was a very difficult race, the weather was very hot,” _said Molist. “The track was great and, above all, very spectator friendly. My whole family was able to give me great support in so many places along the course which helped me a lot.”

The results of all races can be found here.

Hot on the heels of the mozart 100 by UTMB, the UTMB World Series features three events this coming weekend – the Western States 100-mile Endurance Run in California, the Trail 100 Andorra by UTMB® and La Sportiva Laverado Ultra Trail by UTMB® based at Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy.

In common with all UTMB World Series events, these races award Running Stones to finishers, helping athletes to begin their quest to take part in the UTMB Mont-Blanc and UTMB World Series Finals. For Elite runners, a top-three finish will mean automatic qualification for the UTMB World Series Finals in their respective race category.