Web oficial de la carrera Transgrancanaria

The 126 kilometre ultra, which starts in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, returns to the 2021 route with a change of route in the town of Tejeda.

The novelties include a new aid station in Tenoya, two life bags, changes in the obligatory material and a 12 midnight start line from Las Canteras beach.

The Transgrancanaria Classic will be, one more year, the culmination of the trail festival that will take place in Gran Canaria between the 22^nd and 26^th of February 2023. For the next edition, the organisation is extending its services to the ultra runners with a new aid station in the capital’s Tenoya district and with two points where they can collect their life bags, one of them in Fontanales and the other in El Garañón.  The race, which will once again count towards the international Spartan Trail World Championship, will also change the start time from Las Canteras beach, which will be delayed by one hour until midnight on Friday, 24 February.

Runners will be able to refill liquids and food at approximately kilometre 10, with the Arucas aid station at kilometre 19. Those participants who wish to do so will have the possibility of distributing extra material at two of the race’s strategic points, at kilometre 42, which marks Fontanales, and at El Garañón, located at kilometre 83. The organisers are also preparing a cold kit with warm clothing that will be obligatory if the weather conditions so require.

The 126-kilometre route will be slightly modified at the exit of the town of Tejeda in order to avoid the asphalt stretch to the wicker basket monument and the La Culata neighbourhood. The runners will descend along a path next to the municipal hostel to the ravine and then climb up to the Cruz de Timagada and head towards the La Culata neighbourhood. From this point, the 2021 route will be repeated with the passage through Roque Nublo and El Garañón, to then face the descent to the Parque Sur de Maspalomas, which will host the finish line for the second consecutive year.

The Councillor for Tourism of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Carlos Álamo, highlights the importance of sporting competitions such as Transgrancanaria, which serve as a “showcase” for “possibly the world’s largest outdoor gymnasium”, which is the island. In the case of Transgrancanaria, it is also held in winter, “a season when our potential tourists, Europeans and Spanish, are getting cold and can come to Gran Canaria to do sport in shorts”, and that it takes place “in many towns that are not normally on the tourist map”.

Álamo emphasises the media coverage of a race of the level of Transgrancanaria, which last year broadcast more than ten hours of its main races live at an international level through digital platforms such as Youtube, and which was a pioneer in the broadcasting by the state television channel Teledeporte. “It allows those of us who are not brave enough to take part in these sporting events to follow it from our living rooms”. “They are impressive images that reach any part of the world,” adds Álamo.

The ultra modality of the Transgrancanaria will be the culmination of almost a week of trail running that will take place on the island between the 22^nd and 26^th of February 2023. El Gigante Vertical Kilometre will kick off on Wednesday with a demanding 5.3 kilometre climb between El Valle de Agaete and Tamadaba. The following day, the two short races will be held in Tejeda: the Promo, of 12 kilometres, will start from Artenara and the Starter, of 24, from Tunte. The summit town will also be the protagonist on Friday when next year it will become the starting point for the runners of the Marathon, who will have to face 45 kilometres until they cross the finish line in the Parque Sur de Maspalomas. On the same day, at midnight, the Classic runners will run the 126 kilometres between Las Canteras and Maspalomas.

The last of the starts will take place on Saturday from Agaete, which six years later will once again host a Transgrancanaria race with the Advanced modality, which next year will increase its distance from 62 to 80 kilometres. The Marathon and Classic categories will once again be eligible for the Spartan Trail World Championship, which last year awarded $25,000 to the top five finishers in both the men’s and women’s categories. The fastest runners in the ultra distance took home $2,500 for the top finishers and $600 for the fifth place finishers, while in the marathon distance the prizes ranged from $2,300 to $400.

Registration will open next Tuesday, 5 July, at 12 noon on the official website www.transgrancanaria.net and will close on 26 January 2023 or earlier if all available places are taken. As every year, participants enjoy an initial period of reduced fares, which will last until 10 November. Canary Island residents also receive an additional 20% discount on the price during the full registration period.  On the other hand, the 50% discount for runners and guides in the Transcapacidad category will be maintained. Another novelty for this edition is that the payment of the Classic and Advanced categories can be split into several payments through the new Rock The Sport platform.

The Transgrancanaria 2023, organised by the company Arista Summit, is sponsored by the Cabildo de Gran Canaria through Turismo de Gran Canaria and the Instituto Insular de Deportes, Promotur of the Government of the Canary Islands, Maspalomas Costa Canaria and the Town Councils of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Tejeda and Agaete. The companies Fred Olsen Express, RS Sonocom, 226 ERS, Expomeloneras and Vital Suites continue as sponsors.