Erland Eldrup works full-time, runs between 8 and 10,000 altitude meters a week and is aiming for the WC in terrain ultra. – I run for an hour and 20 minutes before and after work. I also run longer trips at the weekends. To compete against other mountain goats, he traveled to Spain last week to participate in the Grand Trail Picos De Europa. After eight hours and 25 minutes, he reached the finish line. Just over an hour before number two, a professional athlete from Spain. But the joy was short-lived: He had not walked in a short part of 1.5 km where the runners had to walk. – Right on the nose, says Erland – who claims it was not marked well enough. Erland Åkra Eldrup has delivered a high level of mountain running for several years. Last year he participated in the World Championships in ultra-terrain in the longest distance. Photo: Arne Dag Myking – Should be perfectly marked Before the race, Erland read the race manual that was sent out. Then he learned that there was a part the runners had to go. – There is a walking area in a national park, and they wrote that it should be perfectly marked. Then I thought it would be understandable. Erland explains that he also studied the trail profile carefully, and understood it to mean that the “walking part” would come after 32 kilometres. – That’s why I also walked a lot after 32 kilometres, says Erland. Erland got a big lead to second man early on. Photo: Jose Luis Lastra / GTPE – Made it clear that I don’t know Spanish But Erlend had not gone in the right part of the race. The place he should have gone was in a section that Erland describes as a great road. – There I ran past several tourists cheering. Then I was filmed by a Spaniard who shouted something in Spanish to me, says Erland and adds: – I thought he was cheering, so I waved to him. Erland was simply caught in the act. Once at the finish line, he is quickly informed that the Spaniard behind him, Pablo Villa, had lodged a complaint. – Did you see no markings in the area? – Absolutely nothing. Neither before nor after. For me, perfect labeling is the minimum amount of information in English, Erland replies and adds: – I had done a few interviews with the organiser. Then I made it clear that I don’t know Spanish. Afterwards, Erland tried to explain to the organizer that it was not a good enough mark, and said they should rather have given him a time penalty. – This is an organizational error and incredibly unprofessional. In addition, there is talk of 1.5 kilometers out of 70 kilometers, they could have given me a time penalty of 30 minutes. news has asked several questions to the Spanish organizer, without receiving an answer. The meritorious ultra runner Didrik Hermansen gives Erland support. Photo: Gro Jørgensen – Can’t be treated The meritorious ultra runner Didrik Hermansen has several top 10 positions in the WC in terrain ultra. Last year he and Erland were in the same squad. He says that the level of the Spaniard is high, and that this was therefore a solid performance by Erland. – This is primarily unprofessional on the part of the organiser. It is not possible to treat runners in this way and favor runners who speak the local language, says Hermansen and adds: – I will never run this race myself, or recommend it to anyone else. It is quite obvious. Hermansen also points out that this could have been solved with a time penalty. – There are many organizers who have such solutions. He made a small mistake and this shows that they had chosen the winner in advance. It’s embarrassing for the Spaniard as well, who obviously would never have won anyway. news asks Erland Eldrup if he does not take self-criticism that he actually broke the rules, to which he replies: – If the information had been in English, I would of course have had a better understanding. All they had needed was a sign with two words; stop, walk news has not been able to get in touch with the Spanish Pablo Villa. Published 13.07.2024, at 16.16
ttn-69
Erland Eldrup won a 70 km long ultra race in the Spanish mountains – was dished out for going in the wrong place – news Nordland
