The ultra-distance race 360º The Challenge Gran Canaria is starting to attract legendary figures from the trail running world. Basque runner Silvia Trigueros, a three-time winner of the Tor des Geants, will be at the starting line in Tejeda on November 15th to face the more than 250 kilometers and 13,000 meters of positive elevation gain in the race. “It’s a challenge against myself,” says the athlete from Team Scarpa, who returns to the island seven years after her last participation in the Transgrancanaria.
A lot has happened since then. Trigueros was an athlete specialized in races up to 170 kilometers, such as the Ehunmilak Ultra-Trail, where she is the reigning queen with six consecutive victories. In 2015, she finished tenth in the Transgrancanaria, and a year later, she narrowly missed the podium with a fourth-place finish. That was the prelude to a further step in her career as one of the best ultra-distance runners.
Starting in 2016, her love affair with Tor des Geants began, a 340-kilometer race with 28,000 meters of positive elevation gain held every September in the Italian Alps. Two years later, the athlete from the small Basque town of Abadiño achieved her first of three victories in the legendary race, becoming a true legend for the Aosta Valley.
Trigueros arrives this year at the 360º The Challenge Gran Canaria, an event organized by Arista Eventos, with a clear objective. “It’s a challenge against myself,” says the Basque runner. “Let’s see if I can finish the race without external assistance, meeting the time limits I set for myself,” adds the runner, who has good memories of her two participations in the Transgrancanaria. “I remember the great atmosphere, Roque Nublo seemed spectacular, and there was a lot, a lot of heat… I hope it’s not that hot in November,” she comments.
The Scarpa team runner admits that she hasn’t done any special preparation for the race, although she acknowledges one detail she needs to work on. “I lack proficiency in using the GPS, so I have to train with it a bit,” she says. The 360º The Challenge Gran Canaria is an ultra-distance race whose route is kept secret until ten days before the start and also lacks course-marking, so participants have to navigate with maps provided by the organization or GPS devices.
Silvia Trigueros joins the list of participants alongside Romanian runner Robert Hajnal, second in UTMB in 2018; Luca Papi, a four-time winner of the 360º; and Canarians Esteban García and Sandra Moreno, who will repeat in the toughest race in the islands, which will take place between November 15th and 19th. For this eighth edition, Arista Eventos has also prepared a relay race so that ultra-distance runners can have their first contact with a self-sufficiency race where physical preparation and navigation go hand in hand. Registrations are open on the website www.360thechallenge.com.
360º The Challenge Gran Canaria is sponsored by the Cabildo de Gran Canaria through Turismo de Gran Canaria and Gran Canaria Isla Europea del Deporte, the Government of the Canary Islands through Promotur – Islas Canarias, Tejeda town hall and Fred. Olsen Express, and counts with the collaboration of Gofio La Piña and Provital.