For the second time, the Skyrunning South American Championships took place in Brazil, this time in Serra, Espírito Santo, on June 23-24, 2023 where the VERTICAL, SKY and SKYULTRA disciplines were contested. Brazil, Peru, Chile and Ecuador shared the 27 medals at stake.
The events kicked off on Friday, June 23 with the Insanity Mountain Mestre Álvaro VK for the VERTICAL discipline. The race is 4.8 km long with 1,014m vertical climb reaching the rocky summit of the Mestre Álvaro mountain after traversing forest and steep rock faces with fixed ropes.
Peruvian Jhosep Mamani Palomino was first man to cross the finish line in 52’07”, beating the previous course record by almost 2’30”. “I’m so happy and very proud to represent my country and get the gold for Peru. I want to dedicate this victory to my family who always support me,” he commented.
The silver medal went to another Peruvian, Emerson Trujillo, while the bronze medal went to Brazilian André Luiz Mapa. The top four runners beat the previous course record, underlining the high level of performance.
Dominating the women’s race was Valeria Correa from Chile who took the gold in an excellent 1h01’31”. She sliced almost 9’ from the previous record and crushed the competition with more than three minutes over the second, placing sixth overall. Silver and bronze medals went to Brazilians Marica Clara Ruschell and Mirlene Picin respectively.
“It’s such a tough race and course! It doesn’t have the altitude I’m used to, but the course is true skyrunning due to the technical terrain – steep, slippery and with a via ferrata to the top. Eveything you could desire!” said Correa.
Superstar Fernanda Maciel from Brazil joined the open race and won it, despite a severe injury to her shoulder just three weeks earlier.
Saturday was the highlight of the weekend with both the SKYULTRA and the SKY disciplines on the same day. Thirty-five kilometres long with 3,300m vertical climb the SKY event touches three mountain tops, close to the Mestre Álvaro peak.
The gold went to Brazilian Sandro Arcanjo, who chased the VERTICAL winner Jhosep Mamani for the first half, after which he took the lead right to the finish line closing in 6h13’44”, with fellow countryman André Luiz taking the silver and Christopher Guevara from Ecuador the bronze.
Star of the day was VERTICAL gold-medallist Valeria Correa from Chile. After pacing herself in the top three for the first 20 kilometres, she took the lead and pushed to the finish line, breaking her own record by 14’, to close in 7h04’59” taking home another two gold medals – for the win and the COMBINED title.
Brazilian Francieli Kiekow had to settle for silver while the battle for bronze was between Ecuador duo Nancy Martinez and Liliana Suquillo where Martinez succeeded by a split second.
“Am I really triple South American Champion? I can’t believe it! It’s a locura!” Correa declared after crossing the line ecstatic for the triple gold medal.
The SKYULTRA started in the dark with headlamps on. The course was specifically designed for the Championships, a challenging 50 km long with 4,394m vertical climb.
The race was won by Peru’s Emerson Trujillo, the VERTICAL silver medallist. 2019 South American Champion Cleverson Del Secchi from Brazil took the silver and another Brazilian, Felipe Costa, took the bronze medal.
The COMBINED men’s medals went to André Luiz from Brazil, and Peruvians Jhosep Mamani and Marcos Salinas. Brazilians Valeria Correa and Maria Clara Ruschell took the gold and silver COMBINED titles with Peruvian Lucy Mejia taking the bronze.
“It was a privilege to witness the growth of the skyrunning movement in South America in person. The enthusiasm and camaraderie between the teams was contagious”, stated ISF delegate, Maurizio Regis. “Thanks to the enormous work of Skyrunning Brazil president, Rafael Aquino Leal, the level of the South American athletes is getting higher and higher, proving they’re ready to compete with the best skyrunners in the world.”
Race results
VERTICAL
Men
Gold – Jhosep Mamani Palomino (PER) 52’07”
Silver – Emerson Robert Trujillo Flores (PER) 53’35”
Bronze – André Luiz Mapa (BRA) 54’28”
Women
Gold – Valeria Correa (CHI) 1h01’31”
Silver – Maria Clara Ruschell Hillmann (BRA) 1h04’43”
Bronze – Mirlene Picin (BRA) 1h05’17”
SKY
Men
Gold – Sandro Arcanjo (BRA) 6h13’44”
Silver – André Luiz Mapa (BRA) 6h20’16”
Bronze – Christopher Guevara (ECU) 6h37’47”
Women
Gold – Valeria Correa (CHI) 7h04’59”
Silver – Francieli Kiekow (BRA) 7h09’00”
Bronze – Nancy Martinez (ECU) 7h32’56”
SKYULTRA
Men
Gold – Emerson Trujillo Flores (PER) 8h50’25”
Silver – Cleverson Del Secchi (BRA) 8h55’57”
Bronze – Felipe Costa (BRA) 9h14’06”
Women
Gold – Ivania Rambo (BRA) 10h03’16”
Silver – Lorena Ricalde (PER) 10h43’52”
Bronze – Mariana Pipolo Scarpelli (BRA) 11h30’18”
COMBINED
Men
Gold – André Luiz Mapa (BRA)
Silver – Jhosep Mamani Palomino (PER)
Bronze – Marcos Salinas (PER)
Women
Gold – Valeria Correa (CHI)
Silver – Maria Clara Ruschell Hillmann (BRA)
Bronze – Lucy Mejia (PER)
