The mountain race in Las Palmas of Gran Canaria, which will be held this Saturday, will have 1,000 participants between the three distances.
The training categories will be able to participate in the short and medium races, further this will be the second time the streets of Vegueta will host the LPA Kids race.
The Plaza de Santa Ana, in the historic neighborhood of Vegueta, will be this Saturday the finish line of the three distances of the LPA Trail. This amazing race in its ninth edition will have more than 1,000 participants, the largest number to date in the history of the only mountain race held in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Estela Guerra from Gran Canaria, reigning champion of the 21-kilometer distance, the Spaniard of Moroccan origin Zaid Ait Malek or the Norwegian Anders Kjaerevik will be some of the names to watch out for in the long race. The race will start from the Plaza de Santa Ana at 10:00 a.m., and then head towards the batteries of San Juan, Barranco Seco, El Fondillo, the Casa del Gallo, the Jardín Canario, the university campus, and down the Guiniguada ravine to the finish line, located at the same starting point.
Guerra will seek to revalidate the victory in the longest distance of the race after last year she did the 21 kilometers in a stratospheric 1:44:32, almost six minutes less than the second classified. The Arista Pro Team runner will have in front of her teammate Anselma Lima, who at the end of 2023 was proclaimed champion of the Canary Islands in the promise category; the Norwegian Katarina Skaufeldt, sixth last year; Dunia Cruz, top 15 in the Marathon of the recent The North Face Transgrancanaria and third in the Entre Cortijos of 26 kilometers in 2023; the young Sheila Falcón, who was third in the LPA Media of 2023 and will debut in the longest distance this year; Laura Barrera, runner-up in the long race in 2017 or Graciela Acosta, runner-up in 2021.
Estela Guerra, winner of the 2023 LPA Long Trail. Carlos Diaz-Recio
In the men’s category, two prominent names stand out: the Moroccan-born Spaniard Zaid Ait Malek and the Norwegian Anders Kjaerevik. Ait Malek has established himself as one of the best Spanish runners in the history of trail running, he has represented Spain since gaining citizenship in 2018. Although he specializes in skyrunning events, in his palmarés he has wins and podiums in various events such as the Reventón Trail El Paso Marathon (winner in 2019 and runner-up in 2021), the Transgrancanaria Advanced (runner-up in 2014 and third in 2015), the Olympus Marathon (first in 2019), Madeira Sky Race (champion in 2023) or the Transvulcania ultramarathon (third in 2017). As for Anders Kjaerevik, he has been champion of the Tenerife Bluetrail Trail in 2022 and this year was seventh in The North Face Transgrancanaria Marathon. Along with them, candidates for the victory are Aday López, who in 2023 was second in the LPA Trail Media and third in the Sprint race of the Reventón Trail El Paso and in the 15 kilometers of Entre Cortijos; Alberto González, who last year was second in the long Artenara Trail and winner of the Circular de Tejeda; as well as other athletes such as Octavio León, Glendor Rodríguez or Carmelo González.
Meanwhile, from the soccer field of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria will take place the start of the LPA Trail Media, of 10 kilometers and with more than 450 participants. Marcia Ramos, Sandra Moreno, Samanta Vega or María Tatiana Mujica are among the favorites to win this fast race that, after starting from the University Campus, will go into the Viera y Clavijo Canary Botanical Garden, the Guiniguada ravine and will end at the finish line located in front of the cathedral. Among the men, names like those of Esteban García, champion of the Entre Cortijos of 15 kilometers in 2023 and runner-up in the LPA Trail media in 2019, as well as champion of the long one in 2018; Jehosua Medina or Jorge Álvarez stand out among those registered.
As for the shortest modality, the 5.5 kilometers, this year it will start from the soccer field of Lomo Blanco, from where the more than 220 participants will run along the final channel of the Guiniguada in the direction of the neighborhood of Vegueta.
The final climax of the LPA Trail will be the LPA Kids, where children will be the protagonists for the second consecutive year. Thus, more than 120 children will participate in two categories, from 0 to 7 years old and from 7 to 13 years old, who will run through two circuits that will run through the cobbled streets of the historic center of the capital of Gran Canaria. In this way, Arista Eventos and the Municipal Sports Institute of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria want to instill the practice of sport from an early age.
LPA Kids in 2023. Carlos Diaz-Recio
As in the last editions, the LPA Trail is also a race that attracts foreign participants and an example of this is that in the three modalities there are registered participants from the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway, Cuba, Cape Verde, Argentina, Venezuela, Romania, Netherlands, Portugal, France, Italy, Austria, Sweden, Poland or Ireland.
The LPA Trail is organized by Arista Eventos and is sponsored by the City Council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, through the Municipal Sports Institute (IMD); the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, through the Insular Sports Institute; Tourism of Gran Canaria; the Viera y Clavijo Canary Botanical Garden; the Government of the Canary Islands, with Promotur – Tourism of the Canary Islands; Fred. Olsen Express; University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria; Gofio La Piña; Aguas de Teror; Pepsi; Lorenzo González Automoción and Inerza.
