Tweet & Post Frenzy At The North Face® Lavaredo Ultra Trail 2012 As Fans Follow The Race In Real-Time
The North Face®, the world’s premier supplier of authentic, innovative and technically advanced outdoor apparel, equipment and footwear, caused a digital frenzy as ultra-running fans followed athletes through continual live updates during the 6th edition of The North Face® Lavaredo Ultra Trail, June 29-30th 2012, Cortina, Italy.
Continuous tweets and Facebook® posts kept friends, families and running communities up-to-date both night-and-day as The North Face® Lavaredo Ultra Trail action brought the Dolomites close to home, as fans digitally witnessed the arrival of winners Iker Karrera (ESP) and Francesca Canepa (ITA) running to victory. Runners also chose to activate the Live Trail APP automatically posting their location details on Facebook© and Twitter© pages.
Starting for the first time in Cortina, The North Face® Lavaredo Ultra Trail took 1,020 competitors through the heart of the Italian Dolomites, passing the spectacular Cinque Torri and the world famous Tre Cime/Drei Zinnen. The headline 120km race covered an accumulated height gain of 5,740m. Under temperate but humid conditions, 502 highly trained ultra-runners from 25 countries set off into the night at 10pm on Friday June 29th to run one of Europe’s most stunning and yet technical ultra races. As runners ran through the night, morning brought blazing sunshine, reaching over 30ºC during the day. Crowds of spectators remained loyal throughout the race, greeting the athletes along the trail and into the finish line.
From the start, Iker Karrera (ESP) and Sebastien Chaigneau (FRA) held the pace for the majority of the course. However, it was Karrera who surged forward through the final 25km mark in order to claim the 2012 title with a winning time of 12h:26m:29s: ‘This has been a wonderful experience, full of emotion. The technical features of the race suit me perfectly. The timing I’ve achieved was a great performance as when I started I had no expectations,’ said Karrera.
Finishing just minutes later to take 2nd place with a strong time of 12h:42m:30s, The North Face® athlete Sebastien Chaigneau explained: ‘The race was really hard and challenging but I’m happy to finish second place because I was about to drop out when I was at the Refugio Auronzo due to being sick. Iker performed really well and I’m glad to arrive only minutes behind him because he is an extraordinary athlete. The North Face® Lavaredo Ultra Trail is one of my favourite races and my goal was to finish it even if I was not in perfect shape.’
Arriving a full hour behind Chaigneau, Hungarian ultra-runner Nemeth Csaba finished with a respectable time of 13h:42m:03s. ‘I’m very happy with 3rd place, considering this is one of my favourite competitions and is part of my getting ready for The North Face® Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc®.’ The North Face® athlete Zigor Iturrieta (ESP) crossed the finish line just eighteen minutes later to take 4th spot.
From a field of 51 women, Italian ultra-runner Francesca Canepa ran a very strong race claiming 1st place victory in15h:58m:02s. ‘I’m so excited with this result, not only for the fact I won the women’s category but also because I finished at 10th position in the overall ranking!’ stated an elated Canepa. The North Face® athlete and Spanish resident, Fernanda Maciel (BRA) came a close 2nd with a time of 16h:29m:02s” ‘Even if it has not been my best race, I’m very happy to finish as it is an amazing race, wonderful for mountains, great people and super support.’ Katia Fori (ITA) arrived 17h:28m:39s to claim 3rd place.
New for 2012, the 50km Cortina Trail, covering a height gain of 2,500m, took place at 09.00am on Saturday June 30th, 2012, under a hot blue sky. Despite the heat, Nicola Giovannelli (ITA) won the men’s category in 4h:34m:22s, and Chiara Parigi (ITA) the women’s title. 509 competitors took part.
The Live Trail APP allows runners to share their race with family, friends and running communities via posts on their Facebook© and Twitter© pages. Each runner, tracked by a chip, provides data such as location, ranking and timing each time they go through a checkpoint. LiveTrail APP, a widget that connects live tracking with the runner’s social media profiles, automatically posts location details on Facebook© and Twitter© pages.
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