Salzburg, 18. June 2023 | The eleventh edition of mozart 100 by UTMB took place on Saturday, June 17th, with the largest and most international starting field to date. Over 2,500 runners from over 70 nations took on the challenges of one of six distances of 105km, 81km, 39km, 31km, 21km and 9km on the trails along the beautiful mountain backdrop of the Salzburger Land.
The race for the 690 participants in the mozart 100 competition began at 5:00 a.m. on Salzburg’s Kapitelplatz square at the foot of Hohensalzburg Fortress. The varied trails with +/- 5,400 meters in altitude led the runners over a total of 105 km via Hinterwinkel and along the Fuschlsee to St. Gilgen, up to the Zwölferhorn and to the Schafbergalm, and from there back via Fuschl am See to Salzburg with the finish line on Kapitelplatz in the heart of Salzburg’s old town.
After 10:24.50, Britain’s Luke Grenfell Shaw crossed the finish line as the winner. After his win he explained: ” I was so looking forward to do a UTMB and a 100k, it was my first one and I must say that it gets really hard at the last 30-40 kilometers. Five years ago today I was diagnosed with cancer and I am just happy to be here and have a body that allows me to compete. My motto is to run hard and to enjoy it, Salzburg is a beautiful place, when I was running I was just looking at the mountains around me, and could more than enjoy it.” France’s Baptiste Petitjean secured second place in 11:25.07, followed by Hekmat Darwishi from Afghanistan, who came to Salzburg as a refugee five years ago, and Britain’s Jack Chamberlain in 11:35.55, sharing third place.
For Darwishi, it was the third podium finish in his fourth participation at mozart 100 by UTMB, having already finished third at the mozart Ultra in 2019 and third at the mozart 100 in 2021. After the race, Darwishi said, “Trail running means a lot to me. I’ve been living in Salzburg for five years now and this is where I discovered this sport for myself. It means so much for me to be here and it’s an incredible feeling for me to be at the start in the morning and to be able to experience the beautiful nature during the race.” Chamberlain adds: “Today was the best finish experience I’ve ever had. For me, trail running can be described with the word ‘freedom’, you get a little distance from everyday life when you’re out on the trails. I think a lot while running and it’s just fun for me to run, and with a backdrop like today I can enjoy it all the more.”
The second ultra distance, the mozart Ultra starting in Fuschl am See, led the participants over 81km through the Salzburger Land. Here Tobias Geiser from South Tyrol secured victory after 8:19.50, followed by Morten Antonsen from Norway in 8:42.24 and Hans Mühlbauer from Germany in 9:11.07. Geiser said after his victory: “The beginning of the race was very tough, after 15 kilometers I picked up the pace and was able to pull away, after that I found my rhythm and I’m very happy with my race. I’m running two ultras this year, I’ve been living in Austria for 6 years and have never been to Salzburg, so it was clear to me that it was about time to start at mozart 100 by UTMB in Salzburg and I had a great racing experience.”
With 695 starters, the mozart marathon starting in St. Gilgen was the competition with the most participants. In the women’s race, the Slovak Katarina Lovrantova, who lives in St. Gilgen, secured victory after 3:37.59. She said after her race, “I thought I was running for second place and was surprised to become first. I live in St. Gilgen and as the race starts in St. Gilgen, I thought it was about time to participate, so yesterday I drove for five hours from our holiday location to be here. The trails were beautiful but demanding, and it was wonderful to experience mozart 100 by UTMB as a participant.”
Just a minute behind Lovrantova, second place was secured by Spain’s Gisela Carrion Bertran in 3:38.59, and just 11 months after she became a mother, Germany’s Maria Purschke took third place in 3:43.09. Purschke said after her race: “My preparations were tough but very good, I got great support from my husband and my coach and above all I was more motivated than ever. It was a wild race, I started well and wanted to finish in the top three and qualify for the OCC in Charmonix. I’m happy that the plan worked out, I love the mountains and the atmosphere of all trail running events, you always meet the same people and it’s just a great community.”
While about half of the participants in this year’s edition of mozart 100 by UTMB came from Austria and Germany, the number of international athletes was bigger than ever, coming mainly from the Czech Republic, Poland and Great Britain (5% each), as well as the Netherlands and France.
“It was great that we were able to follow so many exciting races today in perfect weather conditions and welcome so many smiling faces at the finish line at Salzburg’s Kapitelplatz. We are very satisfied with the course of all competitions and are very pleased that we were again able to welcome a record starting field with over 2,500 participants from over 70 nations this year,” said Josef Mayerhofer, race director of the mozart 100 by UTMB. “I would like to thank my colleagues from UTMB, the city of Salzburg, the Salzburger Land and all municipalities, and of course also our partners and service providers for the good cooperation and support, without them the event would not have been possible, and I am actually already looking forward to next year.”
Further information on mozart 100 by UTMB and the individual competitions at:
https://mozart.utmb.world
