Caleb Olson and Henriette Albon were the clear-cut winners of the 126km Classic race at Transgrancanaria, the third race in the World Trail Majors this year.
Here’s how they took the titles…
Men’s race – Huge win for Olson
American star Olson has gone close to a big win before but this was the day.
The action got underway just before midnight on Friday and though he wasn’t the favourite on the men’s side, he was right up there with Josh Wade (GBR) for the first half of the race.
Jon Albon (GBR), who had by far the highest ITRA rating in the absence of late withdrawal Tom Evans, was not far behind in third.
But Olson flew in the last 40km, so much so that he set a new course record of 12:17:25 – albeit there are slight variations in the route each year.
Albon would come through in second, with Wade completing the podium in third.
After his breakthrough win, Olson said: “That was definitely my best race result ever so it’s super-exciting and I’m really happy about it.
“I had some friends who came out from Utah and we just did this as a big group of friends – see the island and do the race together and it’s been super fun. They’re still out there but I’ll be cheering them on.”
On the new course record, he added: “That’s a surprise but it’s awesome. I felt like I ran really fast so I’m happy with that.”
And there are more important things to look forward to as he added: “My wife Morgan is pregnant and we’re waiting for our first baby – it’s going to be a boy and he’s due in May so we’re really excited about that and this is our last big trip before the baby is born.”
Women’s race – Albon a class apart
It was Claudia Tremps, last year’s runner up to the GOAT Courtney Dauwalter, who set the pace early on.
But Henriette Albon was within a minute at halfway and she would take over soon after.
And from that moment on it was one-way traffic. Albon crossed the line in 15:02, initially looking exhausted but it was more the emotions pouring out.
Tremps was second again, more than an hour behind, and Martina Klancnik Potrc third.
For Albon there was the bonus of a higher placing than her husband Jon but more importantly this was the biggest success of her career so far.
Afterwards she said: “The aim is to do Ultra Trail Snowdonia and try and qualify for UTMB and then do that next year, so we’ll see.”
The North Face Transgrancanaria Classic, 126km – Saturday 22nd February 2025
RESULTS – MEN
- Caleb Olson (USA) – 12:17:25
- Jon Albon (GBR) – 12:25:06
- Josh Wade (GBR) – 12:40:17
RESULTS – WOMEN
- Henriette Albon (NOR) – 15:02:50
- Claudia Tremps (ESP) – 16:09:20
- Martina Klancnik Potrc (SLO) – 16:11:07
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