Boi Valley was filled with numerous events on the weekend of 7 to 9 July 2017. Families, nature lovers, and sports enthusiasts flocked to the incredible landscapes of the Parc National D’Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici and the magical La Vall de Boí for the first edition of BUFF Mountain Vall De Boi Festival.
This first real mountain festival in Southern Europe has brought together people from all walks of life with a wide range of activities, both leisure and sports, such as BUFF Epic Trail, MTB Marathon, climbing, canyoning, rafting, yoga, concerts, sports workshops and many other events.
The discovery of the Romanesque through the “Románico a Escena” play has been the most popular recreational activity during the festival. In addition, almost 100 mini runners aged between 4 and 14 years old participated in the Mini Skyrace, which was a free race organized as part of #UNICEF campaign against child poverty.
BUFF Epic Trail Ultra Marathon 105K
122 runners challenged themselves to face the test of the BUFF Epic Trail Ultra Marathon 105K, a race that undoubtedly lives up to its epic status.
Because of the constant changes of the weather conditions and the forecast of worsening weather conditions for the next few hours, the organization made a difficult decision to stop the race in Espot (67.5km). The organizer’s main objective was to ensure the safety of all participants.
Only runners who had passed the Estany de Gento point (81.5km) at the time the race was stopped, could continue to finish as they were out of danger area. Gerard Morales won with the victory (13:27:22) followed by Luis Duarte (13:33:39), Miguel Ángel Sánchez (13:48:31) and Ernest Ausiró (14:04:08).
The women winners were determined based on the order of arrival at the Espot point (67.5km), where the race was cut. Judith Franch (09:37:44) won the race, followed by Leire Martinez (09:50:32) and the Runner of the BUFF Pro Team Manuela Vilaseca (10:27:31).
Sky Marathon 42K
384 trail runners took the exit in Espot at 9:30 a.m. on the morning in the 42k Sky Marathon Skyrunner World Series.
The men’s category was characterized by a constant struggle for the first place between Aritz Egea and Eugeni Gil. Eventually, Eugeni Gil emerged as the undisputed leader of the marathon and winner of the 42k championship in 04:08:24. Meanwhile, Aritz Egea finished in the second position in 04:11:52, followed by Adrien Michaud who completed the race in 04:16:47.
The podium of the female category was also fought until final moment with a constant dance of positions between Oihana Azkorbebeitia, Laura Sola and Celia Chiron.
Half Marathon 21K
The half-marathon 21K, with approximately 400 runners, was the last BUFF Epic Trail 2017 race. With persistence and strength, Ismail Razga – who left the 42K marathon the day before and despite having suffered a fall in the 21K race that caused him to lose his lead for some kilometres – managed to catch up in the final stretch of the race and became the leader of this race with a time of 02:18:53.
13 seconds later, Jo Forseth who has been leading the race until he was eventually taken over by Ismail, finished the race in second place with 02:19:06. Juan Javier Jiménez completed the podium with a timing of 02:19:29.
In women’s category, Núria Picas of the BUFF Pro Team (02:55:51) returns to the competition despite still recovering from pneumonia. She overtook Clementine Geoffray (03:00:10), who had been leading the race for some time. Imma Boada closed this podium with a time of 03:13:19.
MTB Marathon
Held simultaneously with the Half Marathon, MTB Marathon – a mountain bike competition – was held in Barruera. After a demanding high mountain circuit that reached the ski resort of Boí Taüll – 58km away, 2,100m of positive difference and 2,272m altitude – Ever Alejandro Gómez, Tomás Bellès-Cannondale, and Ramona Gabriel, BUFF Scott Team, were proclaimed the champions.
