The 1987-born athlete from Lombardy won the ninth edition of the 170 km ultra race. He completed the course in 28 hours, 7 minutes and 30 seconds
Daniele Nava won today the ninth edition of the Adamello Ultra Trail. NAVA left Vezza d’Oglio, the historic start and finish of the Adamello Ultra Trail, at 9 am on Friday, September 29th. Present at the start with him were 101 other ultra runners who had confirmed their participation after bad weather during the previous week had forced the organization to postpone the event.
For Nava, this is the best career result and a goal he has been pursuing for some time. His first participation was in 2018, already in the 170 km race. In that first competition in the mountains of the Pontedilegno-Tonale area, Nava finished in eighteenth place with a time of just over 40 hours. In his next three participations, Nava finished seventh, sixth and fourth. In June this year, the ultra runner from Tirano, in the province of Sondrio (Lombardy), was the winner of the DoppiaW Ultra, a 100 km race in Villa di Tirano, in his home region.
On Friday, Nava remained in the front ranks throughout the day, marked by the fast pace of Frenchman Pierre Augrit, who around sunset passed the 2,681 meters high Passo dei Contrabbandieri (Smuggler’s Pass), the highest point reached during the Adamello Ultra Trail. Shortly after 1 am on Saturday Augrit, whose maximum lead had been more than half an hour, paused for the night’s rest in one of the life stations along the route. There, at about 100 kilometers from the start, Augrit had arrived just before Nava, who rested there much less than the Frenchman in order to gain an advantage before dawn, being a great night rider.
Augrit then retired early in the morning, as he had to do a year ago, while he was leading in a similar way. On Saturday morning, Nava managed his lead, despite an understandably more tired pace.
«It’s a race that I truly love, a race I’ve dreamt of winning in a long time. I suffered the first part of the race, but I know that I always feel good in night races, and so it was this time. I talked with Augrit tonight, and I understood he wasn’t doing so well anymore,” said an exhausted but enthusiastic Nava at the finish. Immediately after his race, he also thanked the organization and the more than 250 volunteers along the route. «These mountains are beautiful and inhabited by extraordinary people. I thank all the volunteers because with a word or a look I can welcome and pamper the participants».
