Skyrunner World Series Explained

Skyrunner World Series
Status:	active
Genre:	sporting event
Date:	from April to October
Frequency:	annual
Location:	various
Country:	Worldwide
First:	2002
Last:	2018
Organised:	ISF
Website:	skyrunnerworldseries.com

The Skyrunner World Series is an annual international championship of skyrunning (high altitude endurance races) and the official International Skyrunning Federation (ISF) race circuit for mountain running.^[1] Each year the Skyrunner World Series presents a global Sky Racing calendar, attracting mountain running athletes from almost every country.

History

Skyrunning was founded in 1992 by Italian Marino Giacometti, President of the International Skyrunning Federation which sanctions the discipline worldwide. The SWS was launched in 2004 and has grown to represent the peak of outdoor running defined by altitude and technicality. In 2017, Migu Run, an advanced online and offline exercise and health management platform founded in China, became title sponsor of the Migu Run Skyrunner World Series.

Definition of a Skyrunner World Series Sky Race

Skyrunning stands apart from other mountain running activities. The criteria of a SWS Sky Race are:

Race Duration: Day-long races with a time limit of 16 hours.
Race Distance: Sky Races feature distances from 22 km to 66 km to enable full intensity performance throughout the race.
Race Values: Races are characterised by their technicality, speed, intensity and extreme terrain.

Altitude (average and maximum reached), peak reach, running on snow/glacier, grade II climbing difficulty and increased elevation percentage are other factors also taken into account when defining a Sky Race.

2019 rules and rankings

The 2019 Skyrunner World Series proposes two ranking systems. The single season ranking, introduced in 2019 and limited to the Skyrunner World Series, and the 52-week ranking which encompasses all races, including the Skyrunner National Series races.

The single season ranking

In 2019, the Skyrunner World Series introduced the first single ranking system. The objective of the general ranking is to unify the circuits and key races to make the series even more competitive and define who is the best Skyrunner in the World; a Skyrunner being someone able to face any type of mountain with technicality, speed and intensity, and serves as a base to distribute the end of season bonus pool.

The 2019 Skyrunner World Series season runs from April to October. It consists of 15 races in 11 countries and concludes with the "SkyMasters", the end of season race open only to qualified athletes.

Athletes are ranked on their top 4 points results of the season, of which no more than 2 can be "SuperSky Races" - races rewarding twice as many points as a Sky Race, plus the SkyMasters points.

At each race, points will be attributed to the top twenty finishers in a symmetric manner for men and women according to the following grid:

Pos.	Sky Race	SuperSky Race	SkyMasters
1	100	200	250
2	80	160	200
3	70	140	175
4	60	120	150
5	54	108	135
6	48	96	120
7	42	84	105
8	36	72	90
9	30	60	75
10	26	52	65
11	22	44	55
12	18	36	45
13	16	32	40
14	14	28	35
15	12	24	30
16	10	20	25
17	8	16	20
18	6	12	15
19	4	8	10
20	2	4	5

The 52-week ranking

The 52-week rolling ranking is a ranking based on results over the last 52 weeks. It includes the points earned in MRSWS and Skyrunner National Series and is updated every week. After 52 weeks, any result completely disappears.

End of season bonus pool

The end of season bonus pool increased from €66,000 in 2018 to €75,000 in 2019, split equally between the top 10 ranked male and female athletes of the season. To be eligible for the end of season bonus pool, athletes must participate in a minimum of four races, at least two must be Sky Races and start at the SkyMasters race.

2019 Race Calendar

!Date!Race!Country
21.04.2019	Mt. Awa Skyrace33 km, 2,400m+
04.05.2019	Yading Skyrun32 km, 2,819m+
11.05.2019	Transvulcania Ultramarathon74 km, 4,350m+ / SuperSky Race*
19.05.2019	Skyrace Des Matheysins27km, 1,980m+
01.06.2019	Madeira Skyrace56 km, 4,100m+
15.06.2019	Livigno Skymarathon34 km, 2,700m+ / SuperSky Race*
29.06.2019	Olympus Marathon44 km, 3,200m+
14.07.2019	BUFF Epic Trail 42K42 km, 3,325m+ / SuperSky Race*
21.07.2019	Royal Ultra Skymarathon Gran Paradiso55 km, 4,141m+
28.07.2019	Skyrace Comapedrosa21 km, 2,280m+
03.08.2019	Tromsø Skyrace57 km, 4,700m+
23.08.2019	Matterhorn Ultraks «Extreme»24 km, 2,800m+ / SuperSky Race*
15.09.2019	ZacUP Skyrace27 km, 2,650m+
22.09.2019	Pirin Ultra Skyrace66km, 4,400m+	Bulgaria
05.10.2019	Sky Pirineu37 km, 2,575m+
19.10.2019	The SkyMasters27 km, 2,600m+

2018 Ranking system

For the 2018 season, three rankings were published: Sky Classic, Sky Extra and Overall.

Sky Classic races were 22 km to 50 km long with 7.5% average elevation and a 1,000m difference of min/max. altitude. The Sky Classic ranking took into account the best five results of the season. The Sky Classic category champions were Pascal Egli from Switzerland and GBs Holly Page.

Sky Extra mixed races that were formerly known as Sky Ultra and Sky Extreme. These races were over 50 km long with 6.5% average elevation and 1,000m difference of min/max. altitude. The Sky Extra took into account the best four results of the season and was won by Pere Aurell of Spain and America's Hillary Gerardi.

Overall - all athletes scoring points in any race entered the overall ranking. Their best two results in each category counted for the final ranking.

Previous overall champions

That is the results of the singles races of the various years.^[2] ^[3]

Year	Men's winner	Women's winner
2002	Agustí Roc Amador	Corinne Favre
2003	Agustí Roc Amador	Teresa Forn
2004	Agustí Roc Amador	Anna Serra
2005	Rob Jebb	Corinne Favre
2006	Ricardo Mejia	Angela Mudge
2007	Kílian Jornet	Angela Mudge
2008	Kílian Jornet	Corinne Favre
2009	Kílian Jornet	Emanuela Brizio
2010	Tofol Castañer	Emanuela Brizio
2011	Luis Alberto Hernando	Oihana Kortazar
2012	Kílian Jornet	Emelie Forsberg
2017	Jonathan Albon	Maite Maiora
2018	Kílian Jornet	Ragna Debats
2022	Nicolas Molina	Lindsay Webster

Past events champions

Year	Men's winner	Women's winner	Men's winner	Women's winner	Men's winner	Women's winner	Men's winner	Women's winner
align=center colspan=2 bgcolor=palegreen	SkyRace	align=center colspan=2 bgcolor=khaki	Sky Ultra	align=center colspan=2 bgcolor=lightblue	Vertical Kilometer	align=center colspan=2 bgcolor=Moccasin	Sky Extreme
2012	Luis Hernando	Zhanna Vokueva		Núria Picas		Laura Orgué
2013	Kílian Jornet	Stevie Kremer		Emelie Forsberg		Laura Orgué
2014	Kílian Jornet	Stevie Kremer		Emelie Forsberg		Laura Orgué
2015	Tadei Pivk	Laura Orgue		Emelie Forsberg		Laura Orgué
2016	Tadei Pivk	Megan Kimmel		Gemma Arenas		Christel Dewalle		Jasmin Paris
2017	Marco De Gasperi	Sheila Aviles		Ragna Debats	Vertical Kilometer World Circuit		Maite Maiora

Races

category	Race	Country	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
bgcolor=palegreen rowspan=10	Sky Classic																	x	x	x
				x	x	x	bgcolor=lightblue	x		x	x	x		x	x		x	x	x
																x	x	bgcolor=lightblue	x
																	x	x
																	x	x
				x	x	x	x				x	x		x	x	x	x	x
																x	x	bgcolor=lightblue	x
													x	x	x	x	x	x
															x	x	x	x
													bgcolor=lightblue	x	bgcolor=lightblue	x	bgcolor=lightblue	x	bgcolor=lightblue	x	bgcolor=lightblue	x	bgcolor=lightblue	x
bgcolor=palegreen rowspan=8	Sky Extra													x	x	x	x	x	x	x
																x	x	bgcolor=lightblue	x
																x	x	x
															x	x	x	x
		x										x		x		x		bgcolor=lightblue	x
																bgcolor=lightblue	x	bgcolor=lightblue	x	x
															bgcolor=lightblue	x	bgcolor=lightblue	x	bgcolor=lightblue	x	x
																		x
SkyRace			x
			x	x
			x
			x	x					x		x	x			x
			x	x	x	x	x	x	x	bgcolor=lightblue	x	bgcolor=lightblue	x
					x	x	x		x	x
					x	x
						x	x		bgcolor=lightblue	x		x	bgcolor=lightblue	x
							x	x	x	x	x	x
							x	x	x	x
									x	x	x
									x	x	x
									x
									x	x
										x
									x	x
										x	x
										x
											x	x
											x
												x	x
												x	x
												x
													x
														x
																x
																		x
SkyMarathon				x				x
				x					x
				x
					x	x			x	x	x	x		x
								x	x
										x
										x	x
											x
												x
												x	x
														x		x
Sky Ultra							x
												x
													x	x	x
													x
													bgcolor=lightblue	x
														x	x
														bgcolor=lightblue	x
															bgcolor=lightblue	x	x	x	x
																		x
																		x
																		x
																		x
Vertical			x	x											x	x	x
												x
											x		x	x
													x	x
													x		x	x	x
													x
													bgcolor=lightblue	x
														x
														x
														bgcolor=lightblue	x	bgcolor=lightblue	x	bgcolor=lightblue	x	bgcolor=lightblue	x
															x		x
															x	x	x
																x	x
																	x

Races multiple winners

Men

Rank	Athlete	Wins
1		34
2		10
2		10
4		7
5		6
5		6
7		5
8		4
		4
		4
		4
		4
		4
		4
15		3
		3
		3

Women

Rank	Athlete	Wins
1		17
2		16
3		15
4		13
5		9
5		9
7		8
8		7
9		6
		6
		6
12		5
12		5
14		4
		4
		4
17		3
		3
		3
		3
		3

External links

Notes and References

Web site: Skyrunning History. https://web.archive.org/web/20150905053758/http://skyrunning.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=108&Itemid=105. International Skyrunning Federation. 2015-09-05.
Web site: Results. https://web.archive.org/web/20091005005527/http://www.buffskyrunner.com/results. Buff Skyrunner World Series. 2009-10-05.
Web site: Storico Skyrunner World Series. https://web.archive.org/web/20151218074822/http://fabiomenblog.tumblr.com/STORICOSKYRUNNERWORLDSERIES. Fabiomenblog on Tumblr.com. Italian. 2015-12-18.

Pos.	Sky Race	SuperSky Race	SkyMasters
1	100	200	250
2	80	160	200
3	70	140	175
4	60	120	150
5	54	108	135
6	48	96	120
7	42	84	105
8	36	72	90
9	30	60	75
10	26	52	65
11	22	44	55
12	18	36	45
13	16	32	40
14	14	28	35
15	12	24	30
16	10	20	25
17	8	16	20
18	6	12	15
19	4	8	10
20	2	4	5

Pos.	Sky Race	SuperSky Race	SkyMasters
1	100	200	250
2	80	160	200
3	70	140	175
4	60	120	150
5	54	108	135
6	48	96	120
7	42	84	105
8	36	72	90
9	30	60	75
10	26	52	65
11	22	44	55
12	18	36	45
13	16	32	40
14	14	28	35
15	12	24	30
16	10	20	25
17	8	16	20
18	6	12	15
19	4	8	10
20	2	4	5