Simpanen and Wolf take 2018 Volcano Marathon titles
Juuso Simpanen, a former professional soccer player and Ultra Trail Tour Finland champion, won the men's division of the 2018 Volcano Marathon. Katrin Wolf of Germany took the female title.
The 6th annual Volcano Marathon took place in the region of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile on 9th November.
At a start altitude of 4,475 metres (14,682 feet), the Volcano Marathon is the higest desert marathon in the world and offers spectacular, panoramic views of up to 10 volcanoes. The finish is located at 3,603 metres (11,821 feet).
In the men's race, Simpanen was closely tracked by Austria's Alexander Rudiger who had finished 5th in the 2018 North Pole Marathon and previously finished 3rd in the Volcano Marathon (2013). However, Simpanen prevailed in a time of 4:31:17 hrs with Rudiger securing second place in 4:53:22 hrs and Regis Depery (FRA/USA) third in 5:51:38 hrs.
In the women's race, Germany's Katrin Wolf prevented a double Finnish victory by overcoming the challenge of Marianna Zailkova. Zailkova is known as the first woman in history to run 7 maratthons on 7 contnents in 7 days, whoch she achieved at the 2015 World Marathon Challenge. Heather Carr (USA), a finisher of both the North Pole Marathon and Antarctic Ice Marathon as well as the 2016 Volcano Marathon, was third.
Full results below:
Men's Marathon
| Position | First Name | Last Name | Bib No | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Jusso | Simpanen | 11 | FIN | 4:31:17 |
| 2 | Alexander | Rudiger | 9 | AUT | 4:53:22 |
| 3 | Regis | Depery | 3 | FRA/USA | 5:51:38 |
| 4 | Marcelo | Alvarez | 18 | CHL | 5:57:05 |
| 5 | Gareth | Evans | 4 | GBR/USA | 6:10:55 |
| 6 | Matt | Gibson | 20 | GBR | 6:13:00 |
| 7 | Eric | Rieken | 8 | USA | 6:29:34 |
| 8 | Krzysztof | Stepien | 12 | POL | 6:50:35 |
| 9 | Francisco | Vaccarella | 19 | CHL | 6:56:33 |
| 10 | Gilbert | Summa | 13 | FRA | 7:21:43 |
| 11 | Jingbiao | Shan | 10 | CHN | 8:23:25 |
| 12 | Doug | White | 14 | USA | 11:45:33 |
Women's Marathon
| Position | First Name | Last Name | Bib No | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Katrin | Wolf | 15 | GER | 5:58:29 |
| 2 | Marianna | Zaikova | 16 | FIN/RUS | 6:36:05 |
| 3 | Heather | Carr | 2 | USA | 8:44:17 |
| 4 | Sha | Mao | 5 | CHN | 10:05:42 |
| 4 | Hua | Zhang | 17 | CHN | 10:05:42 |
| 6 | Lisa | Richardson | 7 | PUR/USA | 11:45:33 |
Women's Half Marathon
| Position | First Name | Last Name | Bib No | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Natalia | Pachentseva | 21 | RUS | 4:03:55 |
Women's 10K
| Position | First Name | Last Name | Bib No | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Mia | Black | 1 | USA | 1:50:10 |
