Henriette Albon claimed victory in the 50k race at Ultra-Trail Snowdonia to make it a terrific weekend for the family.
Sweden’s trail running sister duo, Lina and Sanna El Kott Helander, both podiumed in 2nd and 3rd as they finished around a minute apart. But neither of them could even get close to the brilliant Albon.
The Bob Graham Winter Round course record holder finished almost an hour ahead of 2nd and 3rd and placed 15th overall. It was quite the weekend for the Albons, with husband Jon also setting a new course record at the Transvulcania Ultramarathon.
Henriette said afterwards: “It was a really tough race. When I was halfway, I thought I couldn’t manage this because of the heat – I ran out of water in the last 3km.
“I’m really pleased with how it went today. As my husband is English, it feels a bit like I’m at home, it’s great to be able to race here. I got my sister-in-law living 20 minutes away from here so it’s very special”
A well deserved win for Narkowicz
After having to drop out of the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, last year due to hypothermia having already covered an immense 152k and 8894m of elevation, Poland’s Aleksandra Narkowicz gained excellent compensation here. She blazed to the finish line of the 100km race, taking a lead of 50 minutes (16:16:23) with GB’s Tess Elias finishing in 17.06.28 and Georgina Lewis in 17:57.26.
The 100m race was won by British athlete Rachel Fawcett, a physio and mum of two, from Bedfordshire. Last year, she also set a new female course record in the Centurion Wendover Woods 100m.
‘Beautiful beyond belief. Savage beyond reason.’
UTS is known as one of the most ‘savage’ races in the UTMB circuit and while the sun meant clear skies and beautiful mountain views, the heat and brutality of the technical trails still made this a truly challenging day out.
More than 64 nationalities and over 2,800 runners took on the four race distances of UTS.
In the 100k race, 715 people started and almost half of runners dropped out, leaving 431 incredible runners to cross the finish line.
Lina El Kott even said she was expecting ‘rough conditions but was welcomed by high summer weather and dry beautiful trails’. Albon also welcomed the conditions but shared on social media that she had to take on more salt and her ‘emergency’ gel, as she was hungry and sweating a lot.
100k runner Charlotte Clarke shared in an Instagram post that it was ‘the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I have no desire to do this again, it was brutal. But I am so proud!’
Ultra-Trail Snowdonia 2024 Women’s Results
25k Women’s Results
1 Naomi Eaton, GB 02:55:03
2 Kamila Feret, PL 02:57:23
3 Eleana Matos, GB 02:58:22
50k Women’s Results
1 Henriette Albon, NO 06:39:54
2 Lina El Kott Helander, SE 07:35:14
3 Sanna El Kott Helander, SE 07:36:41
100k Women’s Results
1 Aleksandra NARKOWICZ, PL 16:16:23
2 Tess ELIAS, GB 17:06:28
3 Georgina LEWIS 17:57:26
100m Women’s Results
1 Rachel Fawcett, GB 34:10:57
2 Maria Pijoan Gall, ES 39:47:42
3 Corine Kagerer, CH 41:12:05 and Nikki Arthur, GB 41:12:05
