Almost 250 athletes have climbed the 2,180 steps in solidarity for children at risk in Sant Joan de Déu
We are launching the new ‘Children’ category with 8 participants and the participation of firefighter athletes is increasing
The best time was achieved by Enrique Santamaria with 12:42 minutes in the male category and Laia Montoya with 13:48 minutes in the female category
Saturday, May 25 at 8:50 a.m., the VI Vertical Montserrat was held, the most demanding vertical race in Spain, in which almost 250 participants climbed the 2,180 steps that separate the lower station of the Santa Cova Funicular from the upper station of the Funicular de Sant Joan – Ferrocarrils of the Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC)- exceeding the 388 meters of difference in level.
The winners in the ‘Open’ category were Enrique Santamaria with 12:42 minutes and Laia Montoya with 13:48. The Vertical Montserrat is part of and is scored by the National Circuit of Vertical Races (CCV). This year, in this modality, we have once again had an international presence with athletes from Brazil, England and Vivi Xhevrije, a 60-year-old athlete from New York.
The sixth edition has increased the participation of firefighters, with 71 members, from different bodies: Generalitat de Catalunya, Firefighters of Barcelona, Firefighters of Andorra, Firefighters of the City Council of Madrid, Firefighters of the Community of Madrid, Firefighters of the Diputación of Zaragoza , Zaragoza City Council Firefighters, Toledo Provincial Firefighters Consortium. They climbed the 2,180 steps in uniform with the intervention equipment that weighs around 23 kg.
The best time achieved in the ‘Bombers’ category was by Adrià Duarri of Bombers de la Generalitat (parc Bombers de l’Eixample) with a time of 18:27 minutes. This is the third year that firefighters have participated, 4 in total, and the award for the best firefighter went to Mireia Quirós of the Generalitat Fire Department (Parc de Torroella de Montgrí) with a time of 24:32. He was able to beat the 25:57 of Clara Nierga of Bombers de la Generalitat last year.
6 athletes have also participated in the ‘Inclusive’ category, making Aniceto Rodríguez, with a mark of 24:31, the best time in the visual modality and Josep Díaz with 19:32 in the physical. In the female visual modality, Paralympic athlete Pepi Benitez has clocked a time of 21:31. Aniceto Rodríguez, who is visually impaired, was accompanied by a sighted guide and joined by a directional bar. In this way, Vertical Montserrat continues to contribute to the inclusion of people with different disabilities through the practice of sport.
This year Vertical Montserrat has incorporated an important innovation, the new Children’s category. 8 boys and girls between the ages of 10 and 15 participated, accompanied by an adult athlete. This category has climbed the lower section of the route, that is to say, the 711 steps of the Santa Cova funicular. Jofré Ortuño, with a time of 4:13 and Agnès Ortuño with a time of 5:57 were the winners.
In the most supportive category, that of ‘Som Un Equip’ (SUE), the number of registrants remains the same as the previous year with a total of 22. Aimed at individuals, companies, schools, sports clubs and other organizations, they have participated with two runners who represented them after having achieved a charity challenge of €500.
In this sixth edition, the first SUE team from a hiking association, 4000 Peus, and from a sports club, Invictus Workout, participated. Also worth highlighting are the 4 Off Diabetes SUE teams who, through the race, wanted to raise awareness about this disease. The winners were in the mixed SUE mode Aigües de Barcelona – Som Aigua, in the men’s SUE mode the Aeri de Montserrat, and in the women’s SUE, Invictus Workout.
All times and classifications can be consulted on the SportManiacs website and soon on the verticalmontserrat.org website
Created in 2017 by the Bombers de la Generalitat de Catalunya and organized jointly with the Social Work of Sant Joan de Déu, it is part of the Bombers amb Causa project. It has the support of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya, the Abbey of Montserrat and the Patronat de la Muntanya de Montserrat and the collaboration of, among others, the Bombers de Barcelona, Creu Roja de Catalunya, la Federació d’Entitats Excursionistes de Catalunya, Inaccés and Airbox.
In these 6 editions, Vertical Montserrat has always had the objective of obtaining funds to finance research projects in childhood diseases and social care programs for children at risk of exclusion served in the various centers of Sant Joan de Déu . And, at the same time, promote the inclusion of people with disabilities.
The 2024 Vertical Montserrat ambassador has been the professional trail running athlete and world ski mountain champion, Oriol Cardona.
In addition, for the third consecutive year, a live broadcast has been carried out through Canal Taronja and La Xarxa+ for local television stations throughout Catalonia and by streaming from their digital platforms. It could also be seen in Plaça del Monestir, where the award ceremony took place and a giant screen was installed.
They didn’t want to miss the race Toni Segarra, president of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya, Joan Delort, director general of Prevenció, Extinció d’Incendis i Salvaments, Father Ignasi Fossas of the Abbey of Montserrat, Juanjo Ortega director of the Catchment Area of the Obra Social Sant Joan de Déu, Gemma Rodríguez, mayor of Collbató and Núria Carreras, mayor of Monistrol de Montserrat, among other authorities.
For those people who still want to collaborate, a ‘Dorsal Zero’ has been enabled that will be operational until the week after the race.
Since the creation of the solidarity project until last year,Bombers amb Causa has raised more than €800,000 and has financed grants for research and investigation of childhood diseases, and social projects of Sant Joan de Déu related to childhood.
