Kilian has established a record time climbing up and down Mount Olympus in a time of 5:19:45h.
Faithful to his style, Kilian alleged “More kilometers means more fun” when he took the wrong route and also reached the summit of Mount Stephanie by mistake, which added on 20 minutes to his time
“The atmosphere was incredible. I received the support of Greek runners who were all over the mountain” expressed Kilian at the end of the first challenge in Kilian’s Quest season 2011.
Greece 10th June 2011
This morning Catalan athlete Kilian Jornet, broke a new record reaching the summit and descending from mythical Mount Olympus in Greece, with a time of 5:19:45 h, in this first challenge in Kilian’s Quest season 2011.
The route was 45 kilometers long, with over 2.800 meters upward slope in the first 22,6 km, a total upward slope of 3,508 meters and a total downward slop of 3,228 meters.
“I felt good on the way up, although my legs were slightly tired, from these last days training, I guess. The technical side of things went very well and I really enjoyed the descent, which was long and technical.”
The anecdote of the day arrived when Kilian took the wrong route by mistake and reached the Summit of Mount Stephanie “I took the wrong route and climbed to the summit of Mount Stephanie, where I realized a mountain ridge was keeping me away from Mount Olympus. I tried to go round it but was unsuccessful, so I had climb down the path and take the right way to Mount Olympus. It took me about 20 minutes, but, as I say: “More kilometers means more fun.” “It gave me the chance to enjoy new views”.
Kilian wasn’t alone in this challenge, since “there was an excellent atmosphere, with a great number of Greek runners who supported me all along the run and the children from Litochoro school who came to keep me company in the final meters”.
After finishing the first challenge in Kilian’s Quest season 2011, Kilian will start preparing the next challenge in the season, the Western States 100, a 161 km race, in the USA,. “Today I ran in extremely high temperatures. It was 25ºC at eight o’clock in the morning, and the last part of the race was very hot. It was great training for the WS 100 “commented Kilian at the end of the feat.
Movescount link: www.movescount.com/moves/move2097989
Next event:
After completing the first challenge in Kilian’s Quest season 2011, Kilian will start preparing the next challenge in the season, the Western States 100, a long distance race of 161 km which will take place on 25th-26th June in Squaw Valley, USA, where he will attempt to improve the third position obtained last year.
Images by Stephan Repke