Raúl Díaz (41:35) and Carmen Ortega (1:00:52) were crowned winners of the Vertical Night Challenge, the Tenerife Bluetrail night race, which debuted a new course this year. The race, which began at 9:00 p.m. from Plaza de Barranco Hondo (Candelaria), featured 73 athletes who covered a distance of 5.25 kilometers to the finish line located in Las Lagunetas.

Second and third place in the men’s division went to Marco Rodríguez and Francisco Santana, respectively, while the women’s podium was rounded out by María del Carmen Hernández and Paula Montes, who finished second and third in the race.

The island’s Sports Minister, Concepción Rivero, explains that the Vertical “marked the kickoff of the 2022 Tenerife Bluetrail, a race that this year features many new elements in the course layouts, the starting points for some of the race categories, and an unprecedented finish along the beaches of El Ancón, Los Patos, and El Bollullo before reaching the finish line at Lago Martiánez in Puerto de la Cruz.”

Rivero points out that “this is a very demanding race, which also presents the added challenge of taking place at night along a spectacular climb up the Lomo Centeno trail, a site of great heritage, botanical, and wildlife interest.”

The course for the 2022 Vertical Night Challenge, with a total elevation gain of 990 meters and a maximum elevation of 1,410 meters, consists of 73% trail, 18% dirt road, and 9% paved road.

The Tenerife Bluetrail event will continue next Saturday, June 4, with the remaining race categories: the Ultra, covering 102 kilometers; the Trail, covering 73 kilometers, which also includes a relay category with legs of 25 and 48 kilometers; the Marathon, with a total distance of 44 kilometers; the Half Marathon, covering a distance of 24 kilometers; and the Bluetrail Challenge for people with disabilities, which includes three distances—7.2, 5, and 1.2 kilometers—that end at the finish line of all the races, in addition to the nighttime vertical race.

The Tenerife Bluetrail, featuring 2,223 runners from 36 countries, is considered one of the most appealing races on the national and international scene, not only because of its technical demands but also because of the diversity and uniqueness of the landscapes it traverses.

This year’s event is supported by companies such as Fred. Olsen, Hospiten, Physiorelax, La Fast, Fonteide, Libby’s, Cajamar, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Clínica del Pie La Orotava, Tirma, Vertresa, and Isola Frutos Secos, which are sponsoring the event.