Gore-Tex® Transalpine Run

Andy Symonds wins the Gore-Tex® Transalpine Run
Congratulations to Carnegie club member Andy Symonds who along with his Saab Salomon Outdoor Team mate Tom Owens are the winners of the 5th Gore-Tex® Transalpine Run. The eight stage event began on Saturday 5th September in Germany and involved the teams of paired runners completing a 238km course with 15,422m of ascent. After leaving Germany the runners ran an incredibly challenging course across the Alps in Austria and Switzerland before finishing in Italy. Andy and Tom’s winning time of 24 hours 02 mins 47 secs was a course record and almost two hours ahead of the 2nd placed team. A breakdown of the inividual stages can be found below; Andy Symonds got his 8 day Gore-Tex® Transalpine Run of to the perfect start on Saturday 5th September by winning the opening stage from Oberstdorf in Germany to Lech am Arlberg in Austria. Running with team mate Tom Owens (Shettleston Harriers) they covered the 35.03km course complete with a vertical ascent of 2,543m in 3 hours 35 mins 09 secs. The 2nd placed team finished in 3.49.56. Andy’s race report from Stage One can be found HERE. Sunday’s Stage 2 involved 23km of running with a 2014m climb across the Austrian Alps from Lech am Arlberg to St.Anton. Andy and Tom continued their impressive form from the opening day by winning Stage Two in 2 hours 39 mins 54 secs to extend their overall lead. Andy’s race report from Stage Two can be found HERE. Andy extended his overall lead by winning Stage 3 from St.Anton to Galtür in a course record of 3 hours 43 mins 56 secs. This 33km stage involved 2437m of climbing. Andy and his team mate Tom Owens now hold a 50 minute advantage moving into Day 4. You can read Andy’s Stage 3 report HERE. Stage 4 on Tuesday featured 39.9km of running with a 2339m climb from Galtür in Austria to Scuol in Switzerland. This was the longest stage of the event and Andy and Tom maintained their excellent form, winning the stage in 3 hours 51 mins 25 secs. You can read Andy’s Stage 4 report HERE. Stage 5 on Wednesday involved the competitors tackling a 963m uphill race over 6.19km. Andy and Tom both decided to take this short stage at an easier tempo before the distance increases over the next three days. The pair still ran extremely well finishing 2nd overall on the day and only ten seconds behind the stage winners. You can read Andy’s Stage 5 report by clicking HERE. Stage 6 on Thursday saw Andy and Tom get back to winning ways by covering the 37.02km (1332m climb) route from Scuol (Switzerland) across to Mals im Vinschgau (Italy) in 3 hours 9 mins 14 secs. The second placed team were a further 6 minutes behind and Andy’s team now have a lead of around 60 minutes with two stages remaining. You can read Andy’s Stage 6 report HERE.  Friday’s penultimate race saw Andy and Tom break the Stage 7 record by over 40 minutes by covering the 34.51km course (2004m climb) in 3 hours 34 mins 46 secs. The route from Mals to Schlanders im Vinschgau featured the highest elevation of the event with the competitors running across a high alpine pass at 3012m. You can read Andy’s Stage 7 report HERE. The final stage took place over a 28km course (1817m climb) from Schlanders to Latsch im Vinschgau in Italy. Andy and Tom maintained their incredible form to win the stage in 2 hours 46 mins 51 secs.  Videos from each stage of the event can be viewed HERE and the event website HERE.