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Iván Calvó and Julia Gracia Conquer Unicaja Ultra Sierra Nevada

The twelfth edition of the demanding mountain race, connecting Granada city with Sierra Nevada, gathered 1,800 athletes from 45 nationalities.

Generic image of an ultra trail runner in the mountains.
IA

Generic image of an ultra trail runner in the mountains.

Catalan athletes Iván Calvó and Julia Gracia claimed victory in the Unicaja Ultra Sierra Nevada, a challenging mountain race that brought together 1,800 participants from 45 countries in its twelfth edition.

The event, covering 100 kilometers with an elevation gain of 5,500 meters, linked the city of Granada with Sierra Nevada. For safety reasons, the final kilometers of ascent towards Pico Veleta had to be shortened due to strong wind gusts, with the highest point set at the ski area of Borreguiles, at an altitude of 2,700 meters.
Calvó and Gracia proved to be the fastest and most strategic in managing their efforts from the start, which took place on Friday at ten in the evening in Granada. Double Olympic medalist Ana Alonso officially started the race, in an act that also paid tribute to Miguel Torres, former director of the Unicaja Ultra Sierra Nevada, who passed away the previous year.
After a night of intense running through the mountains of Beas, Quéntar, and Güéjar Sierra, Iván Calvó arrived alone at the finish line in Sierra Nevada, recording a time of ten hours, 42 minutes, and two seconds. The Dutchman Pablo van Hoorn secured second place, less than three minutes behind the winner, while Andalusian Jesús Maya Gómez completed the podium in third position.
In the women's category, Julia Gracia, from Barcelona, dominated the race from the outset, leaving her rivals behind shortly after exiting the forests of the Alhambra and Cerro del Sol. Gracia, who had finished second in the 2023 edition, crossed the finish line with a time of thirteen hours, 57 minutes, and eight seconds, nearly an hour ahead of the second-place finisher, Valencian Fátima Gilabert, and seventy minutes ahead of Madrid native Ana Cristina Constantín, who completed the podium.
Saturday's competition program also included the Trail modality, covering 60 kilometers with a positive elevation gain of 3,800 meters, where Aragonese Esteban Herrero and Andalusian Cristina Ortiz emerged victorious. Sunday's events concluded with the Ultra modality, a half marathon of 24 kilometers between Pinos Genil and Pradollano.