Golden Trail Series winners Maude Mathys and Bart Przedwojewski on top after four-day stage race of mud and fog
- The Golden Trail Series is compressed into a stage race as Covid-19 prevents worldwide tournament of runners
Maude Mathys and Bart Przedwojewski won the Golden Trail Series in the Azores at the weekend. The series is usually held over months at locations around the world, but due to travel restrictions the event was compressed into a four-day stage race on the remote Atlantic islands.
Within each stage runners could pick up additional points for a particular skill – a specific section of the course was designated as a climb, downhill run or sprint race within a race. At the end of four days, along with their overall times, the runners would also be given an overall time for the specific skill sections.
The weather was wet and foggy for most of the event.
Mathys, 33, from Switzerland, came second in stage one (25km), won stage two (24.5km) and three (30.9km), and finished second in stage four (29.8km).
“You really have to manage your nutrition and recovery over four days, and it was maybe a little too long for me at the end,” Mathys said. “There was a full range of technical terrain, which was really great, even if I’m not a big fan of mud, especially four days non-stop. It’s not my strong point.”
She came in undercooked. Mathys had been ill so was unable to train much until just three weeks before the race.