The Fred. Olsen Tenerife Bluetrail is launching a 3.1-kilometer nighttime vertical race

The Fred. Olsen Tenerife Bluetrail will debut a 3.1-kilometer nighttime vertical race this year. This new event, for which a total of 100 spots are available, will take place on June 4 in the town of Los Realejos, starting at 9:00 p.m.

The race, which counts toward the 2020 Canary Islands Trail League organized by the Canary Islands Athletics Federation—along with the half marathon and marathon—will start near Calle de El Medio, head into the La Lora ravine, and finish at El Asomadero. The race has an elevation gain of 746 meters, and the steepest incline reaches 23.6 percent.

The island’s Sports Councilor, Concepción Rivero, notes that the Tenerife race—the highest in Spain—is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and has become a benchmark on the mountain racing circuit. “We wanted to take it a step further and include the vertical race in this year’s event, which has been highly requested by runners,” says the island councilor.

This new category joins the other six that make up the Fred. Olsen Tenerife Bluetrail: the Ultra, at 103 kilometers; the Trail, covering a distance of 71 kilometers, which also includes a relay category; the Marathon, at 44 kilometers; the Half, covering a distance of 20 kilometers; and the Bluetrail Challenge for people with disabilities, which offers three distances: 8, 3.7, and 1.2 kilometers.

Concepción Rivero notes that the Fred. Olsen Tenerife Bluetrail “already has 1,500 registered participants, which represents half of the available spots, and for some categories, such as the Ultra, the percentage of registered participants is already over 62%.”

The organization has set a limit of 3,000 runners for this race, which is part of the Spanish Mountain Running Cup, the 2020 Skyrunner National Series, and is included in the Alpinultras Circuit, the most technical and demanding in the country.

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

The Fred. Olsen Tenerife Bluetrail is sponsored by Turismo de Tenerife, Promotur, Fred. Olsen Express, and Hospiten, with the support of Fonteide, Physiorelax, Coca-Cola, Libby’s, Donuts, and Isola Frutos Secos.

*For more information and to register, visit www.tenerifebluetrail.com