Dramatic finale in the mountains España brings Peruvian second place in the Skyrunning World Series
Peruvian athlete José Manuel Quispe took second place overall in the World Mountain Running Series Merrell Skyrunner World Series 2026. The awards were decided by the final race Marató dels Dements, which took place along the Serra d'Espadà mountain range in España.
The 42-kilometer distance with a total elevation gain of about 3,900 meters required serious technical training from the participants. Quispe covered the route in 4 hours 13 minutes 59 seconds, reaching the finish line in eighth place. The 90 points earned allowed him to score 568 points in total and maintain the silver step of the world ranking, ahead of the Frenchman Frédéric Tranchand by only 5 points. The winner of the season was the Spaniard Manu Merillas with an indicator of 647 points.
During the season, the 38-year-old athlete from Arequipa laid the foundation for success with four victories in South America - at starts in Chile, Argentina, Ecuador and Peru, as well as with a second place in the Beast of Big Creek competition in the USA.
In the women's final, Peruvian Rosalía Zegarra competed. She completed the difficult course in 6 hours, 1 minute, 35 seconds, finishing twelfth, which allowed her to consolidate her position in tenth place in the final world ranking with 349 points.
Context
The Serra d'Espadà mountain range is located in the province of Castellón in the east of España and has the status of a natural park with an area of over 31 thousand hectares. The landscape is distinguished by rare outcrops of red sandstone (rodeno) for the Valencian region, which form a sharply dissected relief with steep ridges, deep gorges and numerous springs.
Despite the moderate heights of the peaks - the highest point reaches 1,106 meters - the massif attracts trail running and mountain hiking enthusiasts with its complex rocky profile and large-scale arrays of Mediterranean cork oak forests.