It was an intense weekend of challenges for both athletes and organisers with severe weather on Friday but celebrating with “Less cloud. More sky” at Sunday’s finals of the 2025 Masters Skyrunning World Championships.
The third edition of the Masters was held at the Balkaniada SkyRace® in Karlovo, Bulgaria, on October 3-5, 2025, featuring, for the first time, all three skyrunning disciplines – VERTICAL, SKY and SKYULTRA. The over-forty athletes were split into four age categories for every discipline: over 40, over 45, over 50, and over 55.
Seventy-five medals and world titles were at stake in the Open Championships, where official teams from 23 countries participated. An incredible 17 countries took home medals attesting to the ever-increasing competitiveness of countries relatively new to skyrunning.
After devastating damage due to storms and torrential rains on Friday, the event organisers were severely challenged to make last minute course changes, but plan B courses for all three disciplines were immediately put into effect.
The VERTICAL kicked off the events on the re-designed course, 3.6 km long with 840m vertical climb. First man to summit was Austria’s Christian Hoffman (O50), who stopped the clock at 30’51”, one minute ahead of the competition. All the way from Australia, Jessica Short, closed in an excellent 39’01”. “The weather wasn’t such a shock as I’ve been in Chamonix the whole summer, but it’s really, really exciting to be here and explore new trails. There’s a few of us here from Australia and we’re really proud to represent our country – it’s a great event and we’re looking forward to the weekend – and the better weather!”
Saturday’s SKYULTRA began with low cloud but slowly opened up to sunny spells, despite heavy gusts of wind above the cloud line, some sprinkled with snow. The new course was a true skyrunning challenge – 52 km long with 3,000m vertical climb.
Fastest man was Italy’s Luca Arrigoni (040), closing in 5h52’51”, the only participant to finish in under six hours. Apart from his Masters medal collection now complete, Arrigoni also won a silver in July at the European Skyrunning Championships.
“I’m very happy with this victory as I’ve completed my Masters medal collection. I started with a silver in 2023, a bronze in 2024 and now, the gold! I’m very proud of my season and can easily say I couldn’t wish for more. I started running only 11 years ago and apart from my medals and titles, I’ve also collected a lot of satisfaction!” Arrigoni commented.
The women’s race saw Sofia Beizel (AIN) (O40), reconfirm her 2024 Masters World title, closing with a 23-minute advantage over the second woman in 6h53’17” and an impressive 14th place overall.
Notable was Hungarian Ildikó Wermescher’s third consecutive champion title in the O55 category. Aged 60, she was 15th woman and 63rd overall in 8h23’45”.
True to the weather forecast, today’s SKY discipline was also true to its name, sunny and clear blue overlooking the revised 26 km course with 1,900m vertical climb giving athletes a full-on experience, this time including views of the Balkans.
Austrian Christian Hoffman (O50), took another victory in the SKY after Friday’s gold medal in the VERTICAL, closing seven minutes ahead of second man in 2h54’25”.
Slovakian Viera Slivková took the gold for the women in 3h33’ – an incredible 20th overall out of 290 participants. Anna Strakova from Czechia, took her third Masters title, clinching the gold in the O50 category.
Seventeen countries took medals in the Championships out of the 23 countries that took part: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Croatia, Czechia, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and United Kingdom.
Portugal, with 49 athletes, was unbeatable in the team ranking and took home the gold, followed by Japan and Bulgaria who took silver and bronze respectively.
João Paulo Queirós, the proud Portuguese team manager, stated, “It was a successful event and a very good promotion for skyrunning, especially the Masters Championships. Although the weather conditions were difficult, we must thank the organisers for all the work in setting up the event and organising the alternative routes to avoid the bad weather conditions at altitude, but at the same time, keeping the wonderful landscapes of the Balkan Mountains on view.
All the athletes from the large Portuguese Team were happy to be in Bulgaria for the first time, and the medals won by the team were the cherry on top of the delicious Bulgarian cake.”
Race Organiser Dimitar Zhelyazkov commented, “We are extremely proud to have achieved one of our main goals – taking the next step in the development of Balkaniada. Over the past year, we have invested tremendous effort, dedication, and hard work to organise the championship in the way we have always envisioned it.
Despite the challenges brought by the weather and the constant need for adjustments, we believe we made the right decisions — ensuring both the safety of all participants and the opportunity for them to experience the remarkable beauty of the Balkan Mountains.
We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to the entire Balkaniada team – our sponsors, partners, and volunteers. Without their support, commitment, and professionalism, this event would not have been possible in its current form. Now, we continue to work with even greater motivation and consistency to further build upon and develop Balkaniada. The best is yet to come!”
The country presentation, postponed from Friday, together with the medal awards, took place on a stage with the addition of traditional Bulgarian music and dancing in local costumes from the famous Rose Valley, where the host venue, Karlovo, is located.
In presenting the medals, ISF President Marino Giacometti was joined by Dimitar Dimitrov, President of the Bulgarian Skyrunning Federation, who stated, “We are extremely proud to host a major skyrunning event in Bulgaria – the Masters World Championships, thanks to the excellent and hard work of the Balkaniada race team. After hosting Skyrunner World Series’ races a few years ago, the Masters World Championships now, and the VK OPEN Grand Finale in just a few days – we are looking to further showcase our amazing mountains and great skyrunning races to the global community. Bulgaria is a real skyrunning paradise and we plan to further build on that!”
Full rankings
VERTICAL results
SKYULTRA results
SKY results
Race website
