The Fred. Olsen Tenerife Bluetrail 2020 Surpasses 1,000 Registrants in Two Months

The Fred. Olsen Tenerife Bluetrail, Spain’s highest-altitude mountain race, has already surpassed 1,000 registrants in just over two months—225 more athletes than during the same period last year. The organizers have set a cap of 2,900 runners for this event, which is part of the Spanish Mountain Running Cup, the 2020 Skyrunner Spain-Andorra Series, and is included in the Alpinultras Circuit, the most technical and demanding in the country.

The island’s director of sports, Laura Castro, highlights the special appeal of this race, which winds through a unique setting—Teide National Park—which is also a World Heritage Site. “The top national and international runners will once again compete in our race, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year and has already become a benchmark on the mountain racing circuit,” Castro notes.

The Tenerife race, which will be held on June 6 of next year, has attracted runners from 23 countries, although most are Spanish, followed by French, British, and German runners. The Fred. Olsen Tenerife Bluetrail will also feature participants from Argentina, Ukraine, and the United Arab Emirates. As for Canarian participation in the race, the 149 runners from Gran Canaria who have already registered stand out in particular.

Laura Castro confirms that so far, nearly 200 women have registered to participate in the various categories of the race, “a figure that confirms an upward trend in the number of female athletes in the race, which will most likely lead us to exceed last year’s total of 476.”

The Fred. Olsen Tenerife Bluetrail features six race categories: the Ultra, at 103 kilometers; the Trail, covering a distance of 71 kilometers, which also includes a relay category; the Marathon, at 44; the Half, covering a distance of 20 kilometers; and the Bluetrail Challenge for people with disabilities, which includes three distances of 8, 3.7, and 1.2 kilometers.

The Tenerife event will once again offer points awarded by the International Trail Running Association (ITRA) in all its categories, which are valid for the UTMB. Thus, the Ultra category (103 kilometers) will be worth 5 points, while the Trail category (71 km) will be worth 3 points, the Marathon (44 kilometers) 2 points, and the Half Marathon (20 kilometers) 1 point. Two points will also be awarded to each participant in the Trail relay category.

The race is also part of the Alpinultras Circuit and will once again count toward the 2020 Skyrunner Spain-Andorra Series. The addition of the Trail category to the Tenerife race is one of the new features on next year’s calendar, which also includes the Zumaia Flysch Trail (Zumaia, Basque Country); the Montserrat Marathon (Collbató, Catalonia); the BUFF® Epic Trail 26K (Barruera, Catalonia); the SkyRace Comapedrosa (Arinsal, Andorra); and the Montlude SkyRace (Lleida). The Trail category, which also counts toward the Spanish Cup, is a 71-kilometer race with 3,501 meters of elevation gain (ascent) and 4,874 meters of elevation loss (descent). The race starts in Vilaflor and ends at the finish line located in Puerto de la Cruz.

Fred. The Fred. Olsen Tenerife Bluetrail is sponsored by Turismo de Tenerife, Promotur, Fred. Olsen Express, Hospiten, and Cajamar, with support from Fonteide, Physiorelax, Coca-Cola, Libby’s, Donuts, and Isola Frutos Secos, which are partners in the event.