Charlotte Morgan (GBR) produced a domineering display for victory in the women’s Canfranc-Canfranc Marathon on Saturday, in round nine of the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) World Cup.
Meanwhile, Peter Frano (SVK) edged out a host of Spanish athletes in the men’s event to claim his second World Cup win of the season following his success at Tatra SkyMarathon.
But it was 2018 WMRA Long Distance World Champion Morgan who caught the eye in the Central Pyrenees, as she also clinched her second World Cup win of the season after victory at Tatra Race Run in June.
Morgan, who is the current WMRA World Ranked #3, hit the front early on as she reached the first checkpoint just under three minutes clear of Olivia Magnone (FRA).
Magnone remained Morgan’s closest challenger for the remainder of the race, but the gap between the two athletes was ever-expanding – by the fourth checkpoint the Brit was over 15 minutes clear.
Morgan would go on to complete the 45km race in 6:38:09, some 19:05 ahead of Magnone and 23:28 swifter than third place finisher Eva Ortiz (ESP).
Now with two victories and a podium finish at Tatra SkyMarathon to her name this season, Morgan says she is keen to be involved more World Cup races, and picked out Zamaia as her next target.
“I’ll probably continue doing some races in the World Cup – I’ll probably go to Zumaia,” she revealed. “It’s just the way things have fell, it’s fun and there’s a good selection of races this year. They’re all races that I like.”
In the men’s race, Frano finished in 5:38:16, 4:32 clear of second placed Inigo Cipriain (ESP) and 5:07 ahead of Fran Morales (ESP), who claimed the final spot on the podium.
It was a hard-fought victory for Frano, with less than five minutes separating the top four athletes for majority of the race.
But the Slovakian eventually came out on top, holding onto the the slender lead he established at the first checkpoint. Raul Sanchez (ESP) battled hard for a spot on the podium, but ultimately lost out to his compatriots Cipriain and Morales.
Round ten of the WMRA World Cup – the 16km Canfranc-Canfranc Skyrace – takes place tomorrow, with the action getting underway at 9:00am local time.
