700 athletes participated, last Sunday, January 28th, in a in one of the biggest trail running events held in the Algarve: the AXT- Algarve Xtreme Trail, in Querença.
The huge squad of athletes and teams from all corners of the Algarve were joined by athletes from teams from Alentejo, the Greater Lisbon area, as well as athletes from other nationalities, namely Spanish, Dutch and English athletes.
There were three aspects: a 31-kilometer trail, the trail sprint (18 kilometers), in addition to the usual 10-kilometer walk.
Having Querença as its starting and finishing point, the Algarve Xtreme Trail has as one of its main objectives the promotion of Trail running activity and publicizing the territory where the race takes place.
The race routes passed through areas of natural beauty and vast cultural and environmental heritage, such as the territory of the Aspirante Geoparque Algarvensis.
The Algarve Xtreme Trail in the two competitive distances is part of the Alengarve Trail 2024 Cup (TAT). The Trail route is also a test of the Algarve Long Trail Circuit 2024 of the Algarve Athletics Association, and the ATRP National Trail Circuit (Trail Running Association of Portugal). The Trail Sprint is part of the ATRP National Trail Sprint Circuit.
The big winners of this edition's Trail race were Roberto Baião (Clube Desportivo de Espite), who confirmed his title of 1st overall, Tiago Cortes (Núcleo Desportivo e Cultural de Odemira) and Joel Silva (Grupo Desportivo Alcoutim-Trailruners).
In the female category, Patrícia Serafim from Clube Desportivo Areias de São João was crowned the overall female winner, being seconded by Tânia Capuchinho (Barrancos FC/Biogado) and Ana Ramos from Casa do Benfica de Almodôvar.
In the shortest competitive race (Trail Sprint), Paulina Polak (Club Trail Ultreya) was the big winner, while the young athlete Tiago Vieira (BigK / Fátima Trail Team) was the absolute overall winner.
The success of the race, according to Miguel Morais Coutinho, president of Algarrunners, was once again due to the unconditional support of the municipality and its parish councils, as well as the team's sponsors, employees, volunteers and athletes.
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