51st Ganghoferlauf Leutasch

TOGETHER AGAIN AT LAST! The joy of finally celebrating a joint sports festival again was written all over the faces of the participants, organisers and many volunteers. On 5th and 6th of March, the big and small athletes were welcomed and cheered on with great enthusiasm at the 51st Ganghoferlauf.

The legendary Ganghoferlauf was not only the last race before the first lockdown, but also the first popular race to be held in Austria since the beginning of the pandemic. As if that alone wasn't reason enough for a truly brilliant sports festival, the 51st Ganghoferlauf thrilled with perfect conditions, impressive sporting moments and real top performances from young to old.

On Saturday morning the time had finally come, the wait was over: at exactly 9.00 am, in bright sunshine, the long-awaited starting signal was given for the 51st Ganghoferlauf in the classic style over 25 and 50 km. With a time of 01:02:05.7 Max Olex won the men's race and with 01:11:14.2 Charlotta Sophie De Buhr won the women's race over 25 km. In the 50 km distance, Jakob Milz won with 01:57:36.3 and Franziska Müller with 02:16:02.8.

At the Special and Mini Ganghoferlauf, the little ones celebrated the greatest sporting moments and a large number of young runners were right at the front with real sporting spirit and great motivation.

True to tradition, the skating events followed on Sunday with highly motivated amateur runners and ambitious professionals at the starting line. Punctually at 9.30 am the first runners of the 20 km distance opened the race day, half an hour later the long distance followed as usual. Noe Näff crossed the finish line after only 47:09.9, while Lisa Zinecker won the women's 20 km race with a fantastic time of 49:44.1. In the long distance race over 42 km, Max Olex won with 1:33:57.6 and Sigrid Mutscheller with 1:37:50.6.

An extraordinary challenge was mastered by all runners who competed in the 50 km classic-style on Saturday and the 42 km skating-style on Sunday. The extraordinary performances were recognised in a separate combined ranking. Jakob Milz covered both distances in a sensational time of 3:31:35 and Schmidhofer Anna in 4:07:40.

A total of around 1,500 participants competed in a tough but fair cross-country race at the 51st Ganghoferlauf. And even though the timekeepers had to choose the best times at the end, there were only happy winners in the Leutasch Valley this weekend. After the flower ceremony in the finish area, the big sporting successes were celebrated in a smaller circle for safety reasons: With gastronomic vouchers for a favourite meal in an excellent regional restaurant of choice.
 
BEST CONDITIONS – ENTHUSIASTIC FEEDBACK
Once again, Leutasch more than lived up to its premium Nordic image: as one of the most snow-sure places in Tyrol, the impressive Leutasch Valley did not disappoint its participants. Under perfect conditions with top prepared, fast cross-country tracks and lots of sunshine, the race was held on the traditional course and earned enthusiastic feedback from all participants.

GENUINELY SUCCESSFUL COLLABORATION
The popular Ganghoferlauf in Leutasch was organised and held for the 51st time with the active support of more than 100 volunteers and over 10 Leutasch based associations. Thanks to the excellent cooperation, after a year's break we were finally able to welcome around 1,500 participants to Austria's largest, oldest and most popular public run!

SAVE THE DATE
After this really successful Ganghoferlauf 2022 we are already looking forward to the next one! The 52nd Euroloppet Ganghoferlauf will take place from 4th to 5th March 2023.