Eduard Hernández and Patricia Domínguez win the Tenerife Bluetrail night vertical race

Eduard Hernández Teixidor (28:14) and Patricia Domínguez Brito (37:41) have been crowned winners of the Vertical Night Challenge, the new nighttime race of the Tenerife Bluetrail. The race, which started at 9:00 p.m. from the Plaza Viera y Clavijo in Los Realejos, had 150 participants who covered a distance of 3.1 kilometers to the finish line located in El Asomadero.

The second and third places in the men’s category went to Aitor Navarro Hita and José Luis Hinojosa Marchal, respectively, while the women’s podium was completed by athletes Nayra Noble Vigil and Silvia Pérez Delgado, second and third in the race.

The Island Councilor for Sports, Concepción Rivero, explained that with this tough race, “we have kicked off the tenth anniversary edition of the Tenerife Bluetrail, which we are resuming with more enthusiasm than ever after a year’s hiatus forced by the pandemic.”

Rivero noted the demanding nature of this race, “which is further complicated by the fact that it takes place at night on a legendary climb of the Tenerife Bluetrail, El Asomadero, a vertical wall that the runners will ascend to a height of 1,000 meters.”

The health protocol dictated the start of the Vertical Night Challenge, where runners set off individually to avoid crowding, with a 15-second gap between participants, except for the last 20, who started with a half-minute interval. The course for this event, with a cumulative elevation gain of 746 meters and a 23.6 percent gradient, ran almost entirely on trails.

The Tenerife Bluetrail spectacle continues tomorrow, Saturday, June 5, with the other races: the Ultra, 105 kilometers; the Trail, 74 kilometers, which also has a relay option; the Marathon, 42 kilometers; the Half Marathon, 20 kilometers; the Bluetrail Challenge for people with disabilities, which includes three distances of 8, 3.7, and 1.2 kilometers; and the Vertical Night Challenge.

The Tenerife Bluetrail, in which 2,200 runners from 29 countries participate, is considered one of the most attractive races on the national and international scene not only for its technical demands but also for the diversity and uniqueness of the landscapes through which it passes.