The Isla Bonita race broke all eight of its competitive distance records, six of them on a legendary final day.
David Sinclair and Blandine L’Hirondel have been declared the winners of the Ultramarathon, breaking the all-time records for the premier distance.
The 2026 adidas Transvulcania can already be considered one of the greatest races of all time on a global scale. The event on the Isla Bonita saw an unforgettable day in which the two records broken on Thursday in the Vertical Kilometer were joined by six new all-time records on a Saturday that has already become legendary in the world of mountain racing.
All six races on Saturday’s schedule saw their previous records broken—an unprecedented feat for a single day—which speaks to the caliber of this 2026 adidas Transvulcania and the quality of the elite runners competing in the race on La Palma. In the case of the Ultramarathon, won by American David Sinclair and Frenchwoman Blandine L’Hirondel, records were set as the top six finishers in the men’s category broke the all-time record for the La Palma race.
The start of the Ultramarathon was just as fast-paced as the rest of the race. With perfect conditions, the pack shot up the first climbs after the start at the Fuencaliente Lighthouse, with Damien Humbert leading the men’s field through the Canary Islands and Blandine L’Hirondel leading the women’s field ahead of Lucy Bartholomew and Emelie Forsberg.
Humbert was soon joined by the duo of David Sinclair and Ben Dhiman, with Peter Engdahl keeping a close eye on them alongside Nadir Maguet and Andreas Reiterer. The gaps gradually closed, and the positions shifted, with Dhiman and Sinclair taking the lead and Humbert lying in wait.
By the time the race reached Roque de los Muchachos, the standings had completely shifted, with Peter Engdahl—who knew the terrain well and had previously won the La Palma Ultramarathon—taking the lead. Sinclair was five seconds behind, and Humbert was just over five minutes back. But there was still a long way to go, and by the time they reached the Torre de El Time, Sinclair had taken the lead and was running at a record pace.
The American would not relinquish his lead. By the time he reached Tazacorte, his lead was already substantial, so all he had to do was focus on maintaining his pace in an attempt to beat Luis Alberto Hernando’s record. His finish was spectacular, as he crossed the line 19 minutes faster than Hernando’s historic record. Sinclair won with a time of 6:32:24, Peter Engdahl was second (6:41:19), and Nadir Maguet (6:42:31) rounded out the podium, all of them breaking the old record, as did Damien Humbert, who finished fourth (6:43:54), Ben Dhiman (6:48:42), and Andreas Reiterer (6:49:52).
Meanwhile, Blandine L’Hirondel dominated the women’s race with a record-breaking pace, but Lucy Bartholomew, at the Pico de la Cruz checkpoint, was only about a minute behind, with Forsberg already further back.
The French runner continued to assert her status as the favorite with relative ease, although the race took a dramatic turn when Lucy Bartholomew took the lead. The Australian runner stayed in front until the descent.
That was when the race, which had turned into a seesaw battle, took a turn. Blandine L’Hirondel regained the lead after overcoming several falls and never relinquished it. In fact, her lead over Bartholomew widened again to around eight minutes, with Emelie Forsberg comfortably in third place ahead of Gemma Arenas and Beatriz Parrón.
The Kiprun team runner passed the Tazacorte checkpoint without needing to look back as she tackled the final kilometers of a race in which she broke the sixth record of the day—the eighth of this edition of the adidas Transvulcania.
L’Hirondel finished with a time of 7:43:47. Behind the French runner were Lucy Bartholomew (7:49:26) and Emelie Forsberg (8:14:40) on a day that will go down in the history of mountain racing.
A BREATHTAKING MARATHON
The marathon was full of excitement, emotion, and, above all, speed. Among the men, Fran Anguita took the win for the second time in his career, and among the women, the winner was his sister-in-law, Ikram Rharsalla, who delivered a superb performance throughout the race.
Anguita took the lead midway through the race alongside a tight-knit group where no one wanted to take the initiative—a group that also included Zaid Ait Malek and Olmo Allue, and from which Álex García broke away. Patience was Anguita’s strength, along with the leg strength to push hard as the descent began, catch up to García, and break away on his own.
Behind them, Ait Malek tried to catch up, but the gap kept widening, and the Moroccan began to mark his pursuer, Olmo Allue. They all crossed the finish line in Tazacorte in that order, with Fran Anguita winning in a record time of 3:39:03, 3:03 ahead of Ait Malek and 3:36 ahead of Olmo Allue.
In the women’s category, Ikram Rharsalla kicked off the competition shortly after the halfway point, with Elisa Kristindottir and Elisa Desco trailing behind her, and Julia Font a bit further back.
The standings remained unchanged until Font gradually began to close the gap and Iceland’s Kristinsdottir started to fall back, leaving Ikram Rharsalla with no choice but to push hard in pursuit of the race record. The Spanish international managed to break that record, finishing in 4:12:53 and beating Julia Font by 4:50 and Elisa Desco by 5:03, who finished second and third, respectively.
THE MOST EXCITING HALF MARATHON
The presence of the Kenyan runners suggested that the half marathon records—just as had happened on Thursday with the Vertical Kilometer records—might also be broken. African athletes don’t hold back, and they set off from the Fuencaliente Lighthouse with no intention of letting anyone hold them back, though they took along two intrepid runners—Anthony Felber and Linus Hultegard—who took advantage of the Kenyans’ blistering pace.
The lead group stayed tight and together during the climb, and it wasn’t until they began the descent toward the El Pilar Refuge that Philemon Kiriago and Anthony Felber pulled ahead of Richard Omaya Attuya and Linus Hultegar. Kiriago had a bit more left in the tank in the final meters to win and set a new course record (2:07:43), just four seconds ahead of Felber, who finished second. Meanwhile, Attuya and Hultegar crossed the finish line together in third place in a tight sprint, sharing the same time (2:08:15), although the timing chip placed the Kenyan ahead.
The stars of the Vertical Kilometer reprised their roles in this women’s half marathon, though with a switch in positions. At the El Pilar Refuge, Ruth Gitonga (2:22:50) was the strongest, finishing 2 minutes and 50 seconds ahead of her compatriot Joyce Njeru and 10 minutes and 31 seconds ahead of Kirsty Skye Dickson. Moana Lilly Kehres from La Palma ran a spectacular race, finishing fourth—first among the Spanish runners—with a time of 2:35:17.
The Transvulcania Adidas Terrex is organized by the Island Council of La Palma through the public company SODEPAL, with the support of the Government of the Canary Islands, through the Department of Tourism and Promotur with its “Islas Canarias Latitud de Vida” brand, as well as adidas, Hotel H10 Taburiente Playa, Hotel La Palma Princess, Hotel Meliá La Palma, Fred. Olsen Express, Cicar, Spar La Palma, Coca-Cola, Libbys, Isola, and Nutrinovex.
