2016 Glen Coe Skyline

A runner climbs the near-vertcial slope. Image: © iancorless.com

The British duo of Jonathan Albon and Jasmin Paris emerged victorious at the 2016 Salomon Glen Coe Skyline. The race is the finale of the Skyrunner World EXTREME Series, and is seen is being the most testing of the bunch.

The 55K course packs a punishing 4,750m of vertical height gain over extremely technical terrain. Two-hundred and seventeen runners started the race, with 158 making it to the finish.

The EXTREME Series was introduced by the International Skyrunning Federation for 2016 to showcase the three most technical Skyrunning races in a stand-alone circuit: The Tromsø SkyRace® in Norway, the legendary Kima Trophy in Italy and Scotland’s first international Skyrunning race, the Salomon Glen Coe Skyline.

Race winner and now 2016 EXTREME Series Men’s Champion, Jonathan Albon, is a 27-year-old Londoner who lives in Norway and appeared on the Skyrunning scene in 2015 when he won the Tromsø SkyRace. In Scotland, he seemed to cruise effortlessly over the rugged and demanding terrain to finish in an incredible 6:33:52, nearly an hour inside the previous course record, on an even longer and tougher route than the 2015 edition.

The race includes plenty of treacherous, technical terrain. Image: © iancorless.com

“The course was a mixture of scrambling, hiking, running, amazing views, nature… the weather. It was a ride from start to finish,” said Albon. “I realised I could be the EXTREME Series champion on the last big climb. I’m really happy to win the title.”

Men’s race favourite and ranking leader Tom Owens led for most of the race. However, plagued by foot pain, he finished four minutes behind Albon. Switzerland’s Marc Lauenstein (winner of the SKY Series’ Ultraks 46K) placed third.

The women’s field was a different story with 32-year-old Briton Jasmin Paris, the Tromsø race winner, leading the race comfortably, especially on the technical sections, which she loves. She finished in 8:15:56.

“It was a great, great race,” she said. “I loved the race and the Series. I enjoy the energy you get. I really like that scrambling, technical stuff. I don’t really like flat running. I wasn’t feeling that confident as I could see some of the runners behind me. I couldn’t really sit around and wait so I pushed and joined a couple of guys who ran with me to the end.”