Kilian Jornet Wins North Face Race

Last weekend, Suunto athlete, Kilian Jornet won the Ultra Trail du Mont-Blanc for the third time in his career. The UTMB is 170 km long with 9,700 meters of elevation gain in the mountains of the Mont-Blanc massif. It is considered to be one of the most difficult and prestigious races in the world of Trail Running.

"This year's UTMB has been very special, as it has probably been the UTMB race with the highest level. Just looking at the list of competitors was scary," said Kilian after coming in first with a time of 20:36.43 hours.

Kilian says, “The weather conditions were really tough. We set off with rain and snow in the highest areas, which made the first part of the race particularly tough. This context, however, brought about some remarkable moments, such as the sunrise in Col de la Seigne, the light, the moon still visible, the sun, the snow and some impressive colors. It was an incredible moment.”

For most of the race Kilian ran with a group of runners, some of his closest friends. But 25 km out from the finish line in Chamonix, he sprinted away from the group and kept his distance until the very end. The public shared a warm welcome to the Catalan racer. “The UTMB is a very special race. This year I felt the public’s support in all the areas, no matter whether French, Italian or Swiss. There were a lot of people supporting and cheering me on. It truly was a very special experience.” says Kilian.

For the next few days Kilian is going to rest up and get himself ready for the race on September 17th in South Africa, part of his 5 Races, 5 continents project.

Results: UTMB Mens

1. KILIAN JORNET. 20:36 h. (Team Salomon)

2. IKER CARRERA. 20:45 h. (Team Salomon)

3. SEBASTIEN CHAIGNEAU. 20:55 h. (Team North Face)

Results UTMB Women's

1. Elisabeth HAWKER. 25:02 h. (Team North Face)

2. Nerea MARTINEZ. 27:55:34 h. (Team Salomon)

3. Darcy AFRICA. 28:30:28 h. (Team Pearl Izumi)

Who Will Win the North Face Race? Predict and Win!

On August 26, the 2011 North Face Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc will commence, and the starting line will be nothing short of power-packed. Some of the world's finest endurance athletes --including our own Kilian Jornet, Mike Wolfe, Nick Clark, Jez Bragg, Geoff Roes, Miguel Heras, Dakota Jones, Hal Koerner, Scott Jurek and Tsuyoshi Kaburaki-- will take this mountainous ultra head-on, competing against each other and Mother Nature herself.

It's going to be an intense showdown in some stunning country ... question is, who will cross the finish line first?

Go ahead, take a guess ... and be entered to win! Suunto has teamed up with iRunFar to put together a contest. All you have to do is predict which competitor will win and what his/her time will be. Post your prediction as a comment; if you've got the winning time, we'll give you a Suunto M5 Running Kit!

Kilian Jornet Takes his Moves to a First Place Finish

Movescount.com member and inspiring pro trail runner Kilian Jornet took time to share his successful race at the K42 Adventure Marathon in Argentina. Kilian regularly posts his moves on his Movescount.com page. Here is his winning move--yeah, that's for real! He won the event with time of 3h 8m 56s. Kilian trains and races with a Suunto t6d. You can also keep up with him on his website here. Congratulations Kilian and keep up with the awesome work. You're truly an inspiration to trail runners across the globe.

Kilian's Run Across the Pyrenees

Our friends over at Salomon Running are busy these days. One of Salomon's extreme trail runners, Kilian Jornet is currently running across the Pyrenees! Last year, Kilian was crowned the World Mountain Running Champion and double winner of the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc in addition to crushing a "regular" competition season.
Kilian is currently crossing the Pyrenees from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. In total that is 700 km (435 miles) and close to 40000m (131000) in just seven days. That breaks down to a daily average of 100K!

The journey began on May 31st and is set to finish on June 6th. Kilian and his support team are doing very well, but have found some unexpected snow in the high country, causing them to alter the route and take different trails. Kilian and the Salomon support crew have added an additional day to the plan due to snow. Here's the most incredible part--this entire feat is just a Kilian's training regimen for the U.S. Western States Endurance Run--only two weeks after his quest across the Pyrenees.

Kilian has met hundreds of supporters along the way from Spain and France. Kilian is set to break the current World Record of 12 days for running across the Pyrenees. Breaking the record isn't the top priority for him, though. He says he is just glad to be home in his childhood mountains and experiencing the run at all levels.

He will likely wrap up his run on June 7th. You can read about each day the Salomon Running Facebook page, follow on Twitter (@salomon_running), Kilian's blog, and Salomon Running website.

Oh, and did we mention that Kilian wears a Suunto t6c?