In this month’s column we bring you news from the opening rounds of the Ultra Trail World Tour and the latest UTWT standings, as well as a selection of news from the blogs.
Vibram Hong Kong 100
The opening round of the 2017 Ultra Trail World Tour in Hong Kong had improved conditions with some milder temperatures and rain. Yanqiao Yan from China captured the win but a decent margin of twenty six minutes over Italian Daniel Jung. Sage Canaday was the top American in third place. Other notable finishers in this early season head to head were Didrik Hermansen 4th, Tim Tollefson 5th, Seth Swanson 6th and Julien Chorier 10th.
Nuria Picas returned to her winning ways in dominant fashion with an emphatic victory over China’s Linming Chen by some thirty five minutes and in the process besting the old course record by over forty minutes.
New Zealand athlete and Hong Kong based Marie McNaughton took third place in what appears to be her fastest time on this course.
Vibram Hong Kong 100
| Men | Time | |
| 1 | Yanqiao Yun | 09:35:11 |
| 2 | Daniel Jung | 10:01:35 |
| 3 | Sage Canaday | 10:03:50 |
| Women | Time | |
| 1 | Nuria Picas-Albets | 11:18:57 |
| 2 | Linming Chen | 11:53:47 |
| 3 | Maria McNaughton | 12:26:19 |
Tarawera Ultramarathon
American Jim Walmsley cruised to victory unchallenged in an incredibly fast record time of 7:23 leading from virtually the get go. Walmsley was more than forty five minutes ahead of second placed Jonas Buud who is no slouch when it comes to fast trails.
The final spot on the podium was for New Zealand’s Sam McCutcheon. Other notable finishers in this hotly contested race in New Zealand were Gediminas Grinius in 5th, Matt Flaherty 7th and Michael Wardian 8th.
In a similar vein the women’s race was won by leading from the front, Camille Herron beating second place Magdalena Boulet by around twenty four minutes. It was a narrow margin for third placed Cecilia Flori who was only ninety seconds behind Boulet. Fiona Hayvice who won last year in 10:34 finished sixth in 10:06 such was the step up in competition this year. Fernanda Maciel took 7th and Sophie Grant 10th.
Tarawera Ultramarathon 102km
| Men | Time | |
| 1 | Jim Walmsley | 07:23:32 |
| 2 | Jonas Buud | 08:10:58 |
| 3 | Sam McCutcheon | 08:12:35 |
| Women | Time | |
| 1 | Camille Herron | 08:56:00 |
| 2 | Magdelena Boulet | 09:20:13 |
| 3 | Cecilia Flori | 09:21:42 |
Transgrancanaria
Trangsrancanaria is the first UTWT race of the season in Europe with a distance of 125km and with 8,000 metres of ascent it is a serious early season challenge. The runners traverse from the north of the island to the south and the massed crowds on the beach of Maspalomas.
This year’s men’s winner was a richly deserved Pau Capell in a fast time of 13:21 beating Didrik Hermansen’s winning time from 2016 by a huge twenty minutes. Lithuanian Vaidas Zlabys placed second fourteen minutes later with Hermansen settling for third place this year.
Other top ten finishers included Diego Pazos 8th, Andy Symonds 9th and Timothy Olson 10th.
The women’s race was dominated by Spain’s Azara Garcia in her first race of over 100 kilometres. A challenging last 40 kilometres where she had difficulty eating and drinking made the closing efforts more intriguing but Garcia still managed to eclipse second place Andrea Huser by over forty five minutes. In third place was Melanie Rousset less than fifteen minutes behind.
Other top ten finishers Ildiko Wermescher 5th, Juliette Blanchette 7th, Lisa Borzani 8th and Manuela Vilaseca 10th.
Transgrancanaria
| Men | Time | |
| 1 | Pau Capell | 13:21:03 |
| 2 | Vaidas Zlabys | 13:35:38 |
| 3 | Didrik Hermansen | 13:50:06 |
| Women | Time | |
| 1 | Azara Garcia | 16:25:20 |
| 2 | Andrea Huser | 17:15:45 |
| 3 | Melanie Rousset | 17:30:40 |
News from the blogs
Kilian Jornet
In the continuing adventure ‘Summits of My life’ Jornet recently announced he will once again go back to Everest. On his return he has a full bag of trail racing, Marathon du Mont Blanc, Hardrock and UTMB amongst others. Somewhere in all this racing he will travel to the UK to take on the famous Bob Graham Round.
http://www.kilianjornet.cat/en/blog/2017-calendar/
Manuela Vilaseca
Brazilian ultra runner and mountain biker, Manuela “Manu’ Vilaseca trains hard and invariably finishes top ten in some of the tougher mountain races such as UTMB and Transgrancanaria. ‘Catch me if you can’ is Manu’s catch phrase! More regular updates on her athlete Facebook page.
Andrea Huser
Find out more about Andrea Huser on her Facebook page. Swiss athlete Huser loves the mountains. Looks like this year she will spend some time in the US in preparation for Western States at the end of June.
Francesca Canepa
Italian Francesca Canepa looks like she is heading to Croatia to compete in the 100 miles of Istria a UTWT event. Checkout her Facebook page to keep up to date.
Gediminas Grinius
Lithuanian athlete Gediminas Grinius came on the scene about two years ago at Lavaredo Ultra Trail and has continually impressed showing it was not a fluke performance. I like his mantra ‘Time is Time’ so don’t look for his blog which is not regularly updated but check out his Facebook page for updates. He is currently running in the US.
Mike Wardian
Does he really need an introduction… Mike races practically every weekend and sometimes both days or indeed in the morning and then in the evening. He is scheduled to run Western States at the end of June and then Hardrock three weeks later. Even with MW’s prodigious racing calibre that is a tall ask…. bring it on!!
UTWT Standings
Here is a recap on scoring for UTWT events. These are points awarded to the winner of the various category races.
Three rounds of this year’s Ultra Trail World Tour have been raced, Vibram Hong Kong 100 (Pro), Tarawera Ultramarathon (Pro) and Transgrancanaria (Series).
| Place | Series with Bonus | Series | Pro | Challenger |
| 1st | 1300 | 1000 | 700 | 400 |
| 2nd | 1124 | 865 | 605 | 346 |
| 3rd | 1021 | 785 | 550 | 314 |
| 4th | 948 | 729 | 510 | 292 |
| 5th | 891 | 685 | 480 | 274 |
Leading the way after three races are Didrik Hermansen with 1,295 points and Azara Garcia with 1,000 points. 
Transgrancanaria as a Series race commands more points than the Pro races (Vibram HK and Tarawera). Critically, later on in the season Marathon des Sables and UTMB are the only two Series with Bonus races and could prove crucial to who wins the 2017 UTWT.
Up and coming races
Marathon des Sables – April 7th-17th
100 Miles of Istria – April 7th-9th
Patagonia Run 2017 – 145k – April 7th-8th
Madeira Island Ultra Trail – April 22nd
Penyagolosa Trails – April 22nd
Thames Path 100 – April 29th – 30th
The USA’s Zach Miller and Caroline Chaverot of France storm to convincing wins at the fifth 
ian campbell adventures 