Canadian mixed team wins Europe’s seven-stage Transalpine-Run

Canadian Marianne Hogan and French-born Montreal resident Mathieu Blanchard won the mixed team category at the 2017 Transalpine-Run in Europe.

The duo, running as Salomon SURA North America (Canada), won all seven stages within the mixed category, with stage distances ranging from 24.2K to 46.5K. Cumulatively, the race covers 267.4K, according to the event website, and climbs 15,556m, with slightly less than equal amounts of descent. The team’s total time for the event was 32:46.24, about 85 minutes better than the second-place team in the mixed category.

The Transalpine-Run began on Sept. 3 and finished on Sept. 9, four countries later. The event begins in Fischen, Germany and crosses through Austria, Switzerland before finishing in Sulden, Italy. As the seven-day race passes through the Alps, the Transalpine-Run is considered one of the tougher ultra stage events in the world.

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Hogan, who resides in Colorado, placed 18th, one of two Canadian women who placed in the top-20, at the Long Course World Mountain Running Championships in early August. Prior to that, Hogan won the Quad Rock 50-Mile in Fort Collins, Colo. in May. Other notable events in 2017 for Hogan include a win at Behind the Rocks Ultra in Moab, Utah and a sixth-place finish at the Speedgoat 50K at Snowbird Resort, also in Utah.

Blanchard is coming off a win at the Trans Vallée 38K and The North Face Endurance Challenge New York. Between those two races, he finished third at the Vermont 100-Miler. Blanchard was second at the Behind the Rocks Ultra. Both Hogan and Blanchard competed at the Mont Blanc Marathon 80K in Chamonix, France in the leadup to the Transalpine-Run.