F50-54 at UTMB Ultra Trail: Deroulede dominates as Pardo and Vera Alemany stage a late thriller

• Marion Deroulede won the F50-54 field in 9:34:04 (15:24/mi), finishing more than 44 minutes clear of the runner-up across 60 km and 3,500 m+ of gain from Orsières to Chamonix.
• Viviana Pardo (3rd, 10:06:00) and Susana Vera Alemany (4th, 10:06:57) were separated by just 57 seconds at the finish — one of the tightest battles on the day — with Pardo posting the 44th-fastest women's split through the Champex-Lac section to hold her edge.
• Masa Jamnik climbed from far back to claim 2nd in 10:18:00, making up substantial ground through the middle of the race before the final descent.
• Kerri Clayden (5th, 10:14:32) ran a strong late push through Trient→Col de Balme to round out the top five in a deeply competitive 59-finisher field.

Marion Deroulede ran a commanding race from start to finish. Moving through the women's field steadily — from 139th among women at the first checkpoint to 101st by the penultimate checkpoint — she built a lead no one in the F50-54 field could answer. Her 15:24/mi average over a course that climbs to a new high point at 2,321 m between Col de Balme and Col des Posettes tells the real story: consistent, controlled power across terrain that punishes anything less. She crossed into Chamonix in 9:34:04, a margin so large it reframed the race for everyone else as a battle for the remaining podium spots.

That battle was fierce. Viviana Pardo, 53, ran a tactically sharp race — her 44th-fastest women's split through the Champex-Lac section was a genuine mid-race surge that helped her lock in 3rd at 10:06:00. Right on her heels, Susana Vera Alemany, also 53, finished 4th in 10:06:57 — 57 seconds back. Vera Alemany had actually held a position ahead of Pardo through much of the race, but Pardo's stronger Champex-Lac segment proved decisive. Kerri Clayden (5th, 10:14:32) was never far away, running a competitive Trient→Col de Balme segment to stay in the mix through the final alpine stretch.

Masa Jamnik's 2nd-place finish in 10:18:00 deserves its own mention. She was sitting 238th among women at the opening checkpoint — deep in the field — and methodically worked her way forward to 130th by the finish, a sustained climb through the standings across the full arc of the race. The final gap between her and Deroulede was 43:56, but Jamnik's trajectory was one of the most consistent in the F50-54 field. Behind the top ten, 39 more finishers completed one of ultrarunning's most iconic routes, all within the 14h 30min limit.