World stars to Ultravasan 2016

Right now there are over 1200 runners registered for Ultravasan. For those who want to participate there are still start positions available in both Ultravasan 90 and Ultravasan 45. Ultravasan 45 in particular looks to attract more participants in 2016 compared to previous years.

In 2015, local runner Jonas Buud broke the previous Ultravasan 90 track record from Sälen to Mora. On August 20 he will compete against British Steve Way again. Way was second in Ultravasan 2014 and he is aiming to win this year: ”Ultravasan 2016 – The rematch!” as he called it on his blog.

Also registered are number six from Ultravasan 2015, Jarle Risa from Norway, and number seven, Matt Flaherty from the USA. Swedish Fritjof Fagerlund won Ultravasan 45 in 2015 and a few weeks later he was sixth in the 100 km World Championship – he will be running in Ultravasan 90. Number five from the World Championship, Wouter Decock from Belgium, will also be at the start in Sälen. Another two strong Americans to participate are Dylan Bowman and Geoff Burn. We also have Yan Longfei from China. In other words, we may expect a very interesting day ”in forefathers’ tracks” this August…

Ultravasan’s female victor from 2015, Jasmin Nunige from Switzerland (who also broke the track record), will be starting this year as well. But another favourite must be Canada-resident Ellie Greenwood, UK. She won the 100 km World Championship gold in both 2011 and 2014, and has been the victor in other prestigious races such as Comrades Marathon in South Africa (2014), Western States 100 in the USA (2011) and Le Templiers in France (2015). Greenwood had some injury issues at the start of 2015 and did not participate in Ultravasan but she has now set it as a major goal for 2016.

Other strong female runners include Ultravasan’s silver medalist from last year, Ida Nilsson, who crossed the finish line only three minutes behind the victor, Jasmin Nunige. Another promising Swede is, of course, Kajsa Berg, who was second in the 100 km World Championship in 2015. You may also count on American Cassie Scallon and Croatian Marija Vrajic (third in the World Championship 2015).

This weekend, on Sunday May 29, 2016, the world’s oldest and largest ultramarathon race –  Comrades Marathon in South Africa – will run on 89 km of road between Pietermaritzburg and Durban, with 20,000 runners. Swedish participants in this year’s Comrades include Jonas Buud, Fritjof Fagerlund and Kajsa Berg.

Here are some of the highly qualified elite runners who are currently registered for Ultravasan 90 2016 – and their chief merits.

Men

Jonas Buud, Sweden
1st Swiss Alpine, 2007–2014
2nd WC 100K (Torhout, BEL), 2009
2nd WC 100K (Gibraltar, GBR), 2010
4th Comrades Marathon, 2011
2nd WC 100K (Seregno, ITA), 2012
2nd UTMB, 2012
2nd Comrades Marathon, 2013
2nd WC 100K (Doha, QAT), 2014
1st Ultravasan 90, 2014
7th Comrades Marathon, 2014
1st Ultravasan 90, 2015
1st WC 100K (Winschoten, NED), 2015

Dylan Bowman, USA
2nd Leadville 100 miles, 2011
3rd Western States 100 miles, 2014
1st Tarawera (UTWT), 2015
1st TNF Australia (UTWT), 2015

Jarle Risa, Norway
3rd Ultravasan 90, 2014
4th Eco Trail Oslo 80, 2015
6th Ultravasan 90, 2015

Fritjof Fagerlund, Sweden
10th WC 100 K (Doha, QAT), 2014
1st Ultravasan 45, 2015
6th WC 100 K (Winschoten, NED), 2015

Steve Way, UK
10th Commonwealth Games Marathon (2.15), 2014
15th London Marathon (2.16), 2014
1st NC 100K, GBR (6.19), 2014
2nd Ultravasan 90, 2014

Yan Longfei, China
1st Hong Kong 100, 2015
4th TNF 100 Australia, 2015
2nd Hong Kong 100, 2016

Wouter Decock, Belgium
5th WC 100 K (Winschoten, NED), 2015

Matt Flaherty, USA
3rd UROC, 2011
2nd JFK 50 miles, 2013
7th Ultravasan 90, 2015

Geoff Burns, USA
10th WC 50 K, 2015
1st Mad City 100K (NC) 6.30, 2016

Women

Jasmin Nunige, Switzerland (photo above)
1st Swiss Alpine, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015
1st Ultravasan 90, 2015
2nd Les Templiers, 2015

Ida Nilsson, Sweden
1st TransVulcania, 2016
2nd Lidingöloppet 30, 2015
2nd Ultravasan 90, 2015
Former SWE-record holder 3000 m steeplechase
Multiple SWE-champion, XC, 3000 m steeplechase, 5000 m.

Eleanor “Ellie” Greenwood, UK
1st WC 100K (Gibraltar, GBR), 2010
4th Comrades, 2011
1st Western States 100 miles, 2011
1st CCC, 2012
2nd Comrades, 2012
1st Comrades, 2014
1st WC 100 K (Doha, QAT), 2014
1st Les Templiers, 2015

Marija Vrajic, Croatia
6th EC 100K (Belves, FRA), 2013
1st Mozart 100, 2014, 2015
3rd WC 100K (Winschoten, NED), 2015

Cassie Scallon, USA
1st JFK 50 miles, 2011
2nd UROC, 2014
2nd Lake Sonoma, 2015
12th IAU UltraTrail WC (Annecy, FRA), 2015
4th Les Templiers, 2015

Kajsa Berg, Sweden
3rd Swiss Alpine, 2011
2nd WC 100K (Seregno, ITA), 2012
1st EC 100K (Belves, FRA), 2013
2nd WC 100K (Winschoten, NED), 2015

Sophia Sundberg, Sweden (running 45 or 90)
5th EC 100 K, 2013
13th WC 100 K, 2014
12th Comrades Marathon, 2014
4th Ultravasan 90, 2014
19th Comrades Marathon, 2015
15th Two Oceans Marathon, 2015
2nd Ultravasan 45, 2015

Footnote:
Ultra is the name of races longer than the marathon distance of 42,195 metres, and ”trail” or ”terrain” means that the main part of the race is not on asphalt. ASICS is hosting Ultravasan 90 and Ultravasan 45.