Laia Cañes

About

Laia Cañes Badenes (born 5 October 1983, Vilavella, Castellón) is a Spanish trail runner who came to the sport relatively late — she began running in 2007 as a way to quit smoking — and progressed from recreational jogger to one of Spain's most decorated international ultrarunners over a remarkable decade of improvement. Her first significant competitive result came at the 2010 Penyagolosa Trails MIM, where she placed second and resolved to commit fully to competition. She gained international attention with a 3rd place at CCC by UTMB in 2015 and then dominated the Spanish domestic circuit in 2016, claiming the Spain Ultra Cup marathon category title and winning Ultra Sierra Nevada, Ultra Cerdenya, Ultra Guara Somontano, and Haría Extreme Maratón in a single season. Her career reached its pinnacle at the 2018 IAU Trail World Championships, held in her home region of Castellón: she took the individual silver medal and anchored the Spanish women's team to the team gold — results that confirmed her as one of the most complete mountain runners of her generation. Cañes continues to race at high level and is a respected and popular figure across Spanish and European trail running.

Notable Wins

• — CCC 3rd 2015
• — Ultra Sierra Nevada 2016
• — Ultra Cerdenya 2016
• — Ultra Guara Somontano 2016
• — Haría Extreme Maratón 2016
• — Trail World Championships individual silver 2018
• — Trail World Championships team gold 2018

Race History