The competitive calendar of the Spartan Trail World Championship (STWC), came to a close with the ninth and final stop in the heart of San Francisco, with the Golden Gate taking centre stage.
With views of mountains and sea in Marin County, California, over 1,700 runners took on the Golden Gate Trail Classic. In its third edition, the event spanned two days, with participants racing across its four distances: 50 Miles, 50K, 21k, and 10K.
From the copious rain and penetrating wind on Saturday, November 18, the story changed to clearer skies and sunshine on Sunday, November 19.
The 50 mile race was part of the ULTRA championship of the Spartan Trail World Championship, were dominated by Benjamin Cook in the men’s race, while Aude Hofleitner claimed victory in the women’s race.
The TRAIL race of the Spartan Trail World Championship, featuring the half marathon distance, was won by Valentin Benard and Olivia Lantz.
The Spartan Trail World Championship (STWC) is a global championship with stops around the world. Each race in the World Championship features multiple distances, with two of them selected to earn points in the final STWC ranking in their respective categories.
The STWC consists of two championships running simultaneously, with one corresponding to ULTRA (distances of 50 kilometres or more) and the other to TRAIL (distances up to 49 kilometres).
For 2023, the Spartan Trail World Championship has nine events on five continents. The events included: Transgrancanaria, Patagonia Run, Maxi-Race Annecy, Brisbane Trail Ultra, Fjällmaraton, Salomon Ultra Pirineu, Borneo Trail Classic, Shinshiro Trail Classic and Golden Gate Trail Classic.
