The Romanian, second in the 2018 edition of the UTMB, makes his debut in a mountain race of more than 200 kilometres and several days – He has already participated twice in the Transgrancanaria Classic, with a withdrawal and a fifth place overall.
The Romanian Robert Hajnal is the first confirmed favourite for the 360º The Challenge Gran Canaria, a mountain race of more than 250 kilometres and semi-self-sufficiency that will be held between the 15th and 19th of November. The runner has a track record of excellent results in the world’s most important ultras, including a second place in the UTMB.
Hajnal made his international breakthrough in 2015 with a top ten finish in the UTMB CCC. Two years later he finished fifth in the Lavaredo Ultra Trail and the Ultra-Trail Cape Town, and the following year he made his big step: he finished second in the UTMB in a tough edition in which he only finished behind the French Xavier Thévenard.
The Romanian already knows the trails of Gran Canaria. The Altra team rider has taken the start of the Transgrancanaria twice. In the first one, in 2020, he was forced to drop out, and in 2022 he finished fifth in the edition where Pablo Villa from León won. On this occasion, he arrives on the island to make his debut in an endurance race with a distance of over 250 kilometres that is not marked out and where participants can only be supplied at the life bases distributed along one of the toughest routes in the world.
The 360º The Challenge Gran Canaria is a semi-self-sufficiency mountain race where the organization keeps the route secret until ten days before the start, one of the most striking ingredients of this event. Runners must be guided with the help of a GPS or maps provided by Arista Eventos, the organizer of the race, which has a maximum of 100 participants. Registration is open on the website www.360thechallenge.com.
The race, which has a maximum duration of 101 hours, is sponsored by the Cabildo de Gran Canaria through Gran Canaria Tourism Board and Gran Canaria European Sports Island, the Government of the Canary Islands with Promotur – Islas Canarias, Tejeda Town Hall and Fred. Olsen Express; and with the collaboration of Provital and Gofio La Piña.