The 7th edition of 100 miles of Istria took place this weekend in Istria with 1.800 trailers participating in the greatest spring trail event in the CEE region.
Nothing about this year’s edition of 100 miles of Istria was as expected. The winter unexpectedly returned to Istria the exact day of the 100 miles and 110km race, compelling the runners to climb mount Učka through snow.
In spite of harsh weather conditions, Kazufumi Ose, the Japanese Dragon Ultra winner, finished the 100 miles race in 18:38:58. He was followed by second Gregoire Curmer (FRA) with a time of 18:55:50, and third Luca Manfredi Negri (ITA) with a time of 19:30:37.
In the female competition, Katja Kegl Vencelj (SLO) came first with a time of 23:16:54 followed by second Federica Boifava (ITA) with a time of 24:25:38 and third Dariia Bodnar (UKR) with a time of 24:46:37.
The weather conditions also did not affect the fight for the podium in the other categories where seconds decided on the winners. In the 110km race of the male category, Aleš Sedlak (CZE) crossed the finish line in 11:53:48 while one second decided between the 2nd and 3rd position. The second position went to Aljoša Smolnikar (SLO) with a time of 12:21:11 and third to Marin Mandekić (CRO) with a time of 12:21:12.
The first female finisher of 110km is Ingrid Nikolesić (CRO) with 14:32:43, followed by second Aysen Solak (TUR) with a time of 14:50:06 and third Ines Jozić (CRO) with a time of 15:07:51.
Another tough category to win was the 67km course where the difference between the first and second was measured in seconds. The first was Matic Čačulovič (SLO) with a time of 05:43:35, followed by Yury Shtankov (RUS) with a time of 05:44:36 and third Donatello Rota (ITA) with a time of 05:47:29.
The first woman to finish in the category of 67km was Marcela Mikulecká (CZE) with a time of 07:47:47 followed by Anela Muhtarević (BIH) with a time of 08:03:38 and Urška Šipec (SLO) with a time of 08:04:26.
An absolutely stunning record was given to the race by the fastest man on the 41km course, Helio Fumo from Portugal. At the end of the race, Helio commented the conversation between the runners during the race about the race being slower than last year. “There was only one thing to do to change it and it was to run faster” said Helio. The last record was 03:19:35 which Helio broke by more than 20 minutes. Helio’s record of the 41km course is 02:55:19. The second Marjan Zupančić (SLO) crossed the finish line with a time of 03:11:57 followed by Andrei Ivanescu-Gliga (ROU) with a time of 03:12:21.
First positioned woman was Barbara Trunkelj (SLO) with a time of 03:26:19. Second was Zorana Težak (CRO) with a time of 03:53:58 and third Antonia Mielers (GER) with a time of 03:58:24.
