Former UTMB winner Katie Schide climbs to KV ‘El Gigante’ win in Gran Canaria

Katie Schide showed just why she was the clear favourite in the women’s race as she claimed a clear-cut victory in the ‘Kilometre Vertical – El Gigante’, the opening race at this year’s The North Face Transgrancanaria.

The American runner, winner of UTMB two years ago, was the headline name on the start list for what was just a 5.5km race – but one which packed a huge punch with over 1,000 metres of climbing from the Agaete Valley to Tamadaba.

Schide shines

And she didn’t disappoint as she ran out the emphatic winner, stopping the clock in 47 minutes and 31 seconds, more than three minutes clear of Germany’s Lena Laukner.

Moana Lilly Kehres rounded out the podium in third, with local favourite Estela Guerra, winner of the LPA Trail in 2023, fourth and British runner Kirsty Hall just outside the top 10.

Schide followed up her UTMB success in 2022 with the runner-up spot at Western States last year when it took a new record time from ultrarunning legend Courtney Dauwalter to beat her.

Spotlight now on Dauwalter

Dauwalter, who went on to complete an unprecedented treble of Western States, Hardrock and UTMB, is looking to defend her title in the showpiece 126km Classic at Transgrancanaria this weekend.

That’s something that Schide is aiming to target herself in the future – this was her first appearance in the Canary Islands event.

In the men’s race Italian Henri Aymonod, who was third in 2023, took the spoils with a time of 39:19, just over a minute in front of Frederic Tranchand of France.