4th July 2024

Víctor del Águila and Inés Astrain fly on the PDA of the HOKA Val d'Aran by UTMB®

In a time of 05:00:20, the Catalan was the first runner to ring the bell in this fourth edition of HOKA Val d'Aran by UTMB®. In the women's category, Inés Astrain from Navarre was the fastest to reach the finish in 06:12:02.

Every year there is more and more desire for the PDA. A distance that sold out in just 20 days and which brings together some of the strongest runners on the national and international scene.

What has undoubtedly become the most prized distance of HOKA Val d'Aran by UTMB® started at 7:00 in the morning in the village of Salardú with a change in the route due to the accumulation of snow in the area of Còth de Pòdo, at an altitude of 2,600 metres, in Colomèrs. 1,707 runners took the start divided into three different waves, 7:00, 7:30 and 8:00, ready to run the 51.5 kilometres with 3,100 metres of positive vertical drop and 3,400 metres of negative that separated them from the finish line located, for the first time in the history of the event, in the Ultra-Trail® Village of Vielha.

The level was high, with athletes of the stature of Miguel Arsenio (903 UTMB® Index), José Ángel Fernández Jiménez (888 UTMB® Index), Marcos Ramos (871 UTMB® Index), Inés Astrain (706 UTMB® Index), Marta Pérez Maroto (698 UTMB® Index), and Madison Reynolds (692 UTMB® Index).

Finally, Víctor del Águila was the first runner to ring the bell of this fourth edition of HOKA Val d'Aran by UTMB®, crossing the finish line in a time of 05:00:20. Just behind him came the Portuguese runner Andre Rodrigues, who stopped the clock in 05:00:29. The podium was completed by Daniel Castillo, seventh in the same distance last year.

In the women's category, Inés Astrain was the fastest, covering the 51.5 kilometres of the race in a time of 06:12:02. "I dreamed of a race like this, my first race by my first race By UTMB®. I set my own time, and I enjoyed it a lot, until the last descent, when I was told that Gisela was three minutes behind", said the runner from Pamplona. Gisela Carrión took second place, stopping the clock in 06:14:58. "I had set myself a goal that I really liked and I chose this one. I have lived here a lot and the Val d'Aran is very special for me", said the Catalan. Marta Pérez Maroto was third, with a time of 06:22:29.

Tomorrow it will be the turn of the CDH, the 110 km race, which will start at 6:00, and at 16:00 the VDA, the flagship race of HOKA Val d'Aran by UTMB®, will start.