A Gsieser cheers in the Kitzbühel Alps

Martin Graf made a splash at the Kitz Alps Trail: The Gsies native won Austria's longest and most extreme trail run.

August 09, 2025

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Graf prevailed on Friday in the 100-mile KAT100 race, part of the UTMB World Series – a kind of World Cup for extreme mountain runners – after 173 kilometers and 9.900 meters of elevation gain, with a time of 24 hours, 28 minutes, and 9 seconds. Graf had previously engaged in a dramatic head-to-head race with the 2015 French trail running world champion, Sylvain Court. In the final kilometers, the 43-year-old from Gsieser attacked and took the win ahead of Court (24:55.02 hours). Third place went to Austrian David Wöhrer (27:15.04).

“In downhill he was (Note: Sylvain Court) Extremely strong—are you stupid? I've never seen anything like it. I was probably a bit stronger going uphill," said Graf. "At the second-to-last aid station, he stopped getting up, drank a Coke, and told me to keep going," he grins. "But I knew: If I didn't have a 10-15 minute lead at the highest point, I had no chance. There wasn't much left—I really used up my last ounce of energy," Graf explained after the race.

Normally, he only runs 100-kilometer races. "But in a 100-mile race, the real race only begins there," Graf emphasized. A total of 150 participants took part.