Ultra Pirineu 2023: Arsenio and Molist win 100km races in Spain

Miguel Arsenio and Marta Molist Codina won the men and women’s 100km races at the 2023 Salomon Ultra Pirineu.

Thousands of runners took part in last weekend’s event, which took place in the north of Catalonia near Spain’s border with Andorra.

With no Kilian Jornet, a two-time winner of the event at the 100k distance in 2015 and 2021 and one-time champion in its shorter 84km form in 2012, Arsenio was able to surpass 2022 winner Miguel Angel Heras Hernandez to claim the title, while Molist had to hold off competition from runners such as Ragna Debats to take the win.

Arsenio defeats Heras

Miguel Arsenio has had a number of solid results this year.

He finished second at the 100-mile Transgrancanaria earlier this year, and has picked up some victories at shorter races like the 87km MaXi-Race du lac d’Annecy, the 33km race at Val d’Aran by UTMB and the 43km Trail da Raia in his native Portugal.

Stian Angermund after winning the 2023 UTMB OCC [Photo credit: UTMB]

But victory in the 100km Ultra Pirineu tops the lot. The race is brutal, boasting 6,600m of elevation gain across the course of the race as the route winds through much of the Parc Natural del Cadí Moixeró

There were also some serious contenders in action. Norwegian Stian Angermund was amongst the favourites, having won the UTMB OCC this year, but he had to withdraw near the end of the race at the Sant Jordi checkpoint after an ill stomach eventually took its toll, the Norwegian failing to finish a 100km race for the first time.

Another major rival Heras Hernandez, last year’s winner, could not keep up with his Portugese rival for the title who looked solid throughout. The Spaniard finished 15 minutes back on Arsenio, who finished in a time of 10:37:50. Rodrigo Monasor was third, finishing with 10:59:07 on the clock.

Molist dominant in Spanish one-two

The 2021 UTMB CCC women’s champion, Marta Molist Codina, entered Ultra Pirineu 2023 off the back of a solid win at the Canfran-Canfranc 45km Maratón.

That good form was on show in the Pyrenees, as she eased her way to victory in the women’s field of the 100km race in Northern Spain.

Marta Molist Codina wins the 2021 UTMB CCC. Photo Courtesy of UTMB.

Last year’s winner Nuria Picas, who set the women’s record as she won the 2022 title, could only manage fifth in this year’s race, while María Mercedes Pila Viracocha ran well to finish second, finishing half an hour behind Molist’s winning time of 12:30:16.

Behind the front two came the Dutch athlete Ragna Debats, herself born in Catalonia. She came a close third, finishing in 13:12:20. The 2019 CCC winner was self admittedly not at her best, explaining on Instagram that she struggled to eat and had to “survive” towards the end of the race.