Author: Tomo Sarf

The World Masters Championship adopts a new 2 race format from 2023 and takes place on the island of Madeira on 16th and 17th of September.

Following the success of the World Masters Mountain Running Championships last weekend in Clonmel, Ireland, we are already looking forward to next year’s championship. Representatives of the LOC were present in Clonmel, where they were presented with the WMRA flag by Tomo Šarf.

Check out our report from this year’s championship here.

Madeira is no stranger to international mountain running competitions, having hosted the European Mountain Running Championships in 2002 and 2015, as well as the European Masters Championship in 2020.

The 2023 championship, organised once more in partnership with World Masters Athletics, will bring a new format, with a short uphill race and a long trail race, similar to this year’s European Masters Championship which took place in France in July.

Nélio Parreira, of the L.O.C.: “We are very happy to receive this event on our island, where other international Mountain Running events have already taken place, and this time in the municipality of Calheta, on the southwestern shore of the island, known for it’s nature and great weather, being the sunnier part of the island. And we can’t wait to welcome athletes from the four corners of the earth to participate in this event, that we hope will be an all-round success.

“On the uphill race the athletes will be challenged over a 9.25k and 800m+ course that starts in Ponta do Pargo, the most rural area of the municipality of Calheta, and comprises many types of paths, going from dirt roads, to single tracks along the forest (that provide shade for the athletes), with short passes by meadows, and even a pass by one of the world famous madeiran levadas (small water channels, famous for its hikes), and will finish in the scenic location of Fonte do Bispo, with its picturesque altitude forest and quietness.

“And in the long distance race, athletes will run through the locations of Ponta do Pargo and Fajã da Ovelha, on a 32.4k course with a uphill gain of 1160m+, having changing views at each corner, and also different types of terrain all along the course, with it’s also different levels of technicity.”

Photos by Richard Bolt and Madeira LOC.

On 27th of August the Valsir Mountain Running World Cup makes its first ever visit to Peru, for the Andes Race.

After a 2 year break due to Covid, the Andes Race returns to celebrate its 6th edition in the high mountains to the north of the Inca capital of Cusco. The event features 4 race distances, 100k, 60k, 13k and 30k, which is a Silver Label race in the 2022 World Cup.

This race is at once a celebration of this incredible mountain range and a nod to the culture of those who have lived here for centuries. The courses follows a section of the Qhapaq Ñan, a network of Inca roads which covers over 30,000km, stretching most of the way up the west coast of the continent, and has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Although the Andes Race only began in 2014, these roads have been used by runners for hundreds of years.

¨The day we decided to organize a race in Cusco, it was with the purpose of paying tribute to the Chaskis, ancient messenger runners of the Inka empire,” says Claudio Castillo, the Andes Race’s executive manager. “We wanted to make a race that would evoke their spirit and pay tribute to the legacy of those ancient runners.”

“Our mission is also to put Peru on eyes of the world as a privilege destination for trail runners,” says Claudio. “Being part of WMRA World Cup is a big step for us on that mission.”

There will be few trail and mountain runners who don’t see the appeal of the high mountain landscape which the race passes through. The surrounding peaks are as beautiful as they are intimidating, terrifying collisions of rock and ice with summits well clear of 5,000m.

Seeing the potential in the race to have a positive impact, the organisers have made a great commitment to protect and restore this environment.

“Every year we have been doing small scale reforestation in the area of influence of the race. Since 2022 we have a partnership with Global Forest Generation and we will plant 100,000 native trees thanks to the kilometers accumulated during the race by the participants.”

This year’s event looks set to be the biggest yet, with 21 countries represented among more than 700 participants across the Andes Race’s 4 distances.

The Course

At 30km with 1,050m+ and 2,020m-, The Andes Race is certainly a stern test for the legs, but it’s the altitude that will be a real problem for those not fortunate enough to have grown up in the thin air of these mountains.

From the start at Huacahuasi, already 3,700m above sea level, the race’s first 8 kilometres are all uphill, taking runners to Abra Ipsayjasa at 4,500m, the high point of the route and by far the highest altitude on this year’s World Cup. From there the course descends, passing snowy peaks and gorgeous lagoons. It drops almost 2,000m to the finish in Ollantaytambo at 2,870m, with a few shorter climbs keeping runners on their toes.

The Favourites

The favourite in the women’s race is returning champion Katia Maraus Sullca Amata, who is on fine form after taking 3rd in the 35km race at the recent South American Championships in San Juan, Argentina. Her closest competition may be from Mary Christine Ricalde Mora, 2nd at the Andes Race in 2018.

The fight for the men’s podium is likely to feature José Manuel Quispe Mallma and Octavio Chiri Chamana, both of whom represented Peru at the World Long Distance Mountain Running Championships in Argentina in 2019, as well as Fernando Condori Torres, who has twice finished 4th here.

The course records are Remigio Huaman’s 2:28:20 for the men and Aydee Loayza Huaman’s 3:15:18 for the women, both set in 2017.

Photos by Raul Montero and Jose Ivan Cano.

We catch up with Ranking Secretary Francesco Puppi for an update on the ranking in its second year.

Launched in April last year with the aim of increasing the visibility of both races and athletes, the World Mountain Running Ranking provides a calendar of races, a database of results, and a simple, transparent scoring system which allows anyone with an interest in mountain running to keep track of who the in-form athletes are within the sport.

The rolling 365 day points system can assist in the decision making of team managers and race directors, allow athletes to demonstrate their form to federations and sponsors, and gives fans and media a clear insight into who the heavy-hitters are in the build up to important races.

The ranking is already in use on the Valsir World Cup circuit as a means of allocating travel expenses to invited athletes.

Into its second year, the ranking continues to grow. The addition of new races and new results bring in new athletes, all with the aim of creating a clearer picture of the state of play within mountain running globally.

Francesco Puppi, the Ranking Secretary, gave us his take on the current shape of the standings.

After two years of events, championships and series that were deeply affected by the global pandemic, the situation has normalized and the WMRA ranking is now reflecting this more stable situation. Both the women’s and men’s rankings are dominated by the current World Cup best runners, with Kenya placing 3 athletes in the top 3. As a reminder, the current world ranking is a rolling ranking, meaning that it’s calculated taking into account the results that an athlete had in the 365 days prior to today’s date. 

The men’s situation is particularly interesting and keeps changing week after week. Petro Mamu (ERI)is the current ranking leader thanks to his solid and consistent performances week after week, with Henri Aymonod (ITA, last year’s world cup winner) right behind, still holding a great number of points thanks to his performances from last year. Unfortunately he’s not been racing much this year due to some physical problems, but he recently took 2nd at Skaala Uphill and it looks like he could finish his 2022 season strong, with his eyes on the World Championship in November.

Patrick Kipngeno (KEN), the men’s current World Cup leader, who only took up mountain running at an international level this year, has 4 World Cup wins plus a 3rd place in his debut at Sierre-Zinal, with a sub 2h30′ finish. He also won Thyon Dixence, setting a 32 year old CR, and he’s projected to finish this year as the ranking leader if he keeps this super impressive pace. He’s surely been the number one revelation of this season and he is an example of the still to be discovered potential that African runners have in the sport. 

Joyce Njeru (KEN) has over 100 points of advantage on Andrea Mayr (AUT), while Lucy Murigi (KEN) keeps the third place in the women’s ranking, which looks much more defined than the men’s current ranking. 

The European Championship was also a 3 day event which shifted by a great deal the equilibrium of the ranking, allowing Cesare Maestri, ITA (who placed 1st in the uphill only and 2nd in the up and down race) and Maude Mathys, SUI (winner of both uphill only and up and down races) and Dominik Rolli (SUI) to scale many positions inside the top 10.

A couple of final thoughts: thanks to the addition of several US mountain running races, including the whole Cirque Series calendar, many american runners have had a chance to gain positions in the ranking: currently in the top 10 are Allie McLaughlin and Grayson Murphy among the women, and Joe Gray and Andy Wacker among the men. 

A final call to any federation reading this report: we encourage you to get in touch and let us know the dates and the details of your national mountain running championship, every year. We do our best to check the calendars and add these events from most countries, but it would be extremely helpful if you could help us in this process.

Photos by Marco Gulberti.

With half of the season’s Gold Label races already in the rear-view mirror, we take a look at the standings midway through the season.

So far in 2022 the World Cup has made its first visit to 2 new countries, run 2 brand new races and, 2 months on from the first Gold Label race, there are 2 almost unbeatable athletes at the top of the men’s and women’s standings.

Just as the races have been a mix of new favourites and established classics, we’ve seen a blend of seasoned campaigners and new faces battling for supremacy. The top 2 women are both previous World Cup winners but neither of the top 2 men had run a mountain race outside Kenya before this season. 

With each passing race, consistency across a number of races becomes more and more important in maintaining a high position. The provisional podiums on both men’s and women’s sides have all been regulars on the circuit so far; Petro Mamu’s 3 races is the lowest of any of the top-3 ranked runners. One off winners, such as Sierre-Zinal champions Mark Kangogo and Esther Chesang, 6^th and joint 4^th respectively, are well positioned, should they decide to continue on the World Cup.

View the full standings after 9 races here.

Women’s Standings

Joyce Njeru leads the women, just as she did at the end of last season. Her strategy is as simple as it is effective; win lots of races. Before her DNF at Sierre-Zinal last weekend, Njeru had won all four Gold Label races, already matching her total number of wins from 2021.

Frequent racing and consistent results have seen second place Lucy Murigi and third place Camilla Magliano keep Njeru within sight. Both have completed 5 races, with Murigi’s pair of 2nd places, at Giir di Mont and Grossglockner Berglauf, giving her the edge over Magliano who took 3^rd place at both Montemuro Vertical Run and Montée du Nid d’Aigle. Although both are still looking for that elusive first World Cup win of the seaon, they are well positioned to capitalise should Njeru’s form drop off in the second half of the season.

Fourth and fifth in the women’s standings are the two other Gold Label winners, Elisa Desco and Esther Chesang, who have both only completed one race.

Men’s Standings

In the men’s standings Patrick Kipngeno has a lead of almost 100 points after 4 wins and 3^rd at Sierre-Zinal. Second is his similarly consistent teammate, Philemon Kiriago, who has 3 2^nd places plus 6^th at Sierre-Zinal. With plenty more races on the calender that will suit the Run2gether pair, it is possible that their dominance of the results sheets may continue all season, but can the youngster Kiriago mount a challenge for the top step of the podium?

The athlete best placed to take on the Kenya pair is 2014 World Cup winner Petro Mamu, whose 3 races include a win at Giir di Mont.  The World Cup’s next Gold Label races are Vertical and Trofeo Nasego, where Mamu took 2^nd and 1^st in 2021. If he can achieve similar placings this year we could be set for an exciting season finale.

Fourth place Zak Hanna started the season with a bang, taking his first World Cup podium with 2^nd at Montemuro Vertical Run, and has performed well in each of the 3 races he’s run since, including 5^th at Giir di Mont Uphill. With 3 vertical kilometres still to come, the Irishman will be looking to capitalise on his prowess in the Short Uphill races to move up the standings.

Like Petro Mamu, the Italian pair of Andrea Rostan and Cesare Maestri, 5^th and 7^th having scored in 2 races each, have previously run well at Nasego. Strong results would be enough to see them challenging for the overall World Cup podium.

Of course, with nearly half the points still to be handed out, everything could change. Last year’s men’s champion Henri Aymonod is racing again after missing the early part of the season through injury and looks to be on improving form. And how much more will we see of Andrea Mayr? If the great Austrian chooses to defend her titles at Vertical Nasego and Chiavenna-Lagunc she too could move into contention for the podium.

Everything is still to play for.

Check out all this season’s results on the World Mountain Running Ranking.

Photos by Marco Gulberti. See his full album from Giir di Mont Uphill here.

On a day of nail-biting racing in the Swiss Alps it was Mark Kangogo and Esther Chesang, both of Kenya and both in their first participation at the race, who claimed victory at the 6th Gold Label race of the Valsir Mountain Running World Cup.

Update: following the positive test and subsequent suspension of Mark Kangogo, Andreu Blanes is the Sierre-Zinal Champion 2022. Read more.

Despite strong performances, Kilian Jornet and Maude Mathys were unable to extend their winning streaks, finishing 5^th and 2^nd respectively.

With 6,100 participants making the 31km, 2,100m+ journey through the mountains of Valais, those in the Tourist category had been on the trails since 4:40am. The elite runners took off at 11am, straight into the race’s infamous opening climb. With clear blue skies, it promised to be a hot, hot race and the bone-dry, dusty trails offered little traction on the route’s fast, technical descents. Many runners were to come in to the finish covered in varying quantites of dust and blood.

Women’s Race

Esther Chesang was on the front from start to finish, though this race was anything but boring. Going out hard, she led by over 2 minutes at Ponchette, less than an hour into the race. Chasing behind were Maude Mathys, the Swiss winner of the last 3 editions, and Philiaries Kisang, the Kenyan winner of last weekend’s Thyon-Dixence. They themselves were almost 4 minutes clear of the next group. This seperation of the front 3 would remain all the way to the finish in Zinal.

Through the middle third of the race the elastic between Chesang and Mathys stretched and contracted. With Kisang falling away behind, the leading pair took turns gaining time on the indulating trails up to Hotel Weisshorn, with both athletes at points running under Mathys’ course record splits from 2019.

However, as the race entered its closing chapter after Hotel Weisshorn, it was Mathys and her superior descending skills that had the upper hand. Chesang, a 69 minute half marathon runner who reportedly only trained for her debut mountain race for 2 months, was by no means slow, but the Swiss champion’s technical prowess saw her floating over the steepest terrain, bringing her closer and closer to the lead. In the tense final kilometres, there were times where she would have been able to look up and see Chesang, had she not been concentrating on the trail.

Ultimately, Mathys ran out of road. Esther Chesang crossed the line first, taking the win in her first attempt at this great race, in the end just 30 seconds ahead of the 3 time champion Mathys.

It was a lonely run in for Philiaries Kisang in 3^rd. She came in over 5 minutes later but still 3 minutes ahead of Teresiah Omosa, also of Kenya, in 4^th. Ireland’s Sarah McCormack ran an 8 minute PB to finish 5^th, having passed U.S.A.’s Bailey Kowalczyk on the final descent.

Men’s Race

In the men’s race it was another Kenyan debutant who pushed the pace early on. Unlike Chesang, Mark Kangogo had company. Among those who kept up with the early pace were Kangogo’s compatriots Patrick Kipngeno and Philemon Kiriago, the Run2gether pair who have been the standouts on the Valsir World Cup so far this year, and the great Catalan Kilian Jornet, 9 time champion of Sierre-Zinal.

Gradually that group broke as first Kangogo and Kipngeno pulled away from the rest, then as the gradients eased after Chandolin, Kangogo pulled away from Kipngeno. Running ahead of course record pace, his lead grew all the way to Hotel Weisshorn and although he slowed dramatically in the final kilometres and dropped behind the record, he was never in danger of being caught. His winning time, 2:27:31, is the 3^rd fastest in the race’s history; only Kilian Jornet and Petro Mamu, 1^st and 2^nd in 2019, have run faster.

But if there was a processional air to Kangogo’s finish, behind there was frantic racing the very final metres.

Remarkable runs for 2^nd place are becoming a tradition at Sierre-Zinal. After Robbie Simpson’s incredible move through the field in 2021, this year it was the turn of Andreu Blanes. The Spanish orienteer was nowhere early on, over 4 minutes down on the leaders at Ponchette. Biding his time, he picked up a few places through the middle section of the race, then from Hotel Weisshorn to the finish he flew. No-one else was even close to his splits.

Where Mathys ran out of road, Blanes had just enough, passing Kipngeno on the final descent and giving himself just enough of a buffer to celebrate, falling to his knees as he crossed the line in 2^nd, 14 seconds ahead of Kipngeno in 3^rd.

But if the race for 2^nd was exciting, the race for 4^th was a heart-stopper. Kilian Jornet and the Eritrean Petro Mamu, sparring partners at this race before, were also gaining hard. Metres apart, they passed a fading Kiriago, who took a horrible fall, in the closing minutes.

On the road into the finish the 9 time champion thought his 4^th place was secure, but as Jornet was high fiving the fans Mamu was right behind, his footsteps hidden by the noise of the crowd, winding up to a ferocious finishing kick. By the time Jornet realised what was happening it was too late. Leaning for the line like he was racing on the track, Mamu snatched 4^th place by a tenth of a second.

Philemon Kiriago did a commendable job of limiting his losses after his fall and crossed the line, covered in dust, just 28 seconds later to take 6^th.

Full results can be found here.

World Cup standings after 9 races are here.

Photos by Marco Gulberti. Find a full album here. 

The Valsir Mountain Running World Cup hits the halfway point this weekend, Saturday 13^th August, with its 6^th Gold Label race: Sierre-Zinal.

Since the first edition in 1974, the best of the best of have been gathering in the Swiss Canton of Valais every August to race the 31km from Sierre to Zinal. From the long grind of the monstrous opening climb to the final, frantic downhill, every year The Race of the Five 4000s provides fierce racing and high drama. Weisshorn, Zinalrothorn, Obergabelhorn, Matterhorn and Dent Blanch; these giants of the Alps have watched on as the giants of mountain running do battle on this historic, iconic course.

Jairo Correa, Anna Pichrtova, Sally Goldsmith, Ricardo Mejía; the Sierre-Zinal honour roll reads like a Who’s Who of the sport, an exclusive club where World Champion mountain runners rub shoulders with Olympians and world record holders.

And this year is no different. Take the prestige of Sierre-Zinal, layer on top the Valsir Mountain Running World Cup and the Golden Trail World Series and you have the deepest elite fields to be found anywhere outside a major championship. Here are just some of the many athletes who will be hoping to make their mark on Saturday.

Find the full elite fields here.

Women’s Field

Maude Mathys returns, looking for her 4th win and clearly as fit as ever after double gold at the European Championships in La Palma. Mathys has been unstoppable here, running the 3 fastest winning times in the last 3 editions, culminating in last year’s 2:46:03.

She will be joined on the startline by another 3 time winner, Lucy Murigi, who will be looking for her first World Cup win of the year after 2^nd places at Grossglockner Berglauf and Giir di Mont. Camilla Magliano, 3rd in the World Cup standings, will also start.

There are a number of previous podium finishers looking for an upgrade. Anaïs Sabrié, 2nd in 2020 and 3rd in 2021, will be looking to move up to the top step, while Simone Troxler and Emma Pooley, 3rd in 2018 and 2020 respectively, are also back for more.

Joyce Njeru has been the standout performer on the Valsir Mountain Running World Cup this year, winning 4 Gold Label races from 4 starts. Only one woman has beaten her in Europe this season, Kisang Philiaries at Thyon-Dixence just last weekend. Both women will start among the favourites.

Sara Alonso will look to extend her lead in the Golden Trail World Series standings, after a win at Mont Blanc Marathon and 3rd at Zegama-Aizkorri. Third place in the G.T.W.S. Fabiola Conti also starts, as does Sophia Laukli, winner of last weekend’s Stranda Fjord Trail Race.

Also in the race are Nuria Gil and Mathilde Sagnes, silver and bronze respectively in the trail race at the European Championships, as well as previous World Cup winners Sarah Tunstall, Sarah McCormack and Alice Gaggi.

Men’s Field

If Kilian Jornet wins this weekend it will be an unbelievable 10th victory for the Catalan at Sierre-Zinal. For anyone else, a win at the Hardrock 100 4 weeks before the race would be enough to count them out of contention, but it’s a double that Kilian has done 3 times before. His 2:25:35 from 2019 is the course record.

Petro Mamu, 2016 champion, returns, as does the great Mexican, 5 time winner Ricardo Mejia and U.S.A.’s Pablo Vigil, who won 4 times in a row between 1979 and 1982.

The other most consistent mens performer at this race in recent years is Robbie Simpson. He’ll be looking to take a first win after 4 2^nd places, including last year. Cesare Maestri was 3rd in 2021 and comes into the race on the back of gold and silver medals at the European Championships. Other returning podium finishers include Fred Tranchand and Remi Bonnet, 2^nd and 3^rd respectively in 2020.

Patrick Kipngeno hasn’t put a foot wrong this year. On top of his perfect record in the Valsir World Cup, last weekend he broke the great Jairo Correa’s 1990 course record at Thyon-Dixence. Also under the course record at that race was Mark Kangogo, who lines up here too. Kipngeno’s teammate Philemon Kiriago has hardly been less impressive and will come into the race on a high after taking the win at Fletta Trail on Sunday following a string of second places.

The top 3 from the Golden Trail World Series will all be on the startline; Elhousine Elazzaoui, Trail World Champ Jon Albon and Davide Magnini, who has twice made the top 5 here.

European Champions Sylvain Cachard and Maximilien Drion will start, alongside silver and bronze medallists Dominik Rolli and Danial Osanz.

As ever at Sierre-Zinal, there are plenty wild cards shuffled into the pack. Olympic marathoners have had plenty of success here and a few more will look to have an impact this weekend.;Anna Hahner of Germany and Hassan Chahdi of France, who set his marathon best of 2:08 in February of this year. American cross-country legend Garrett Heath is another one to watch as he continues his journey into trail and mountain running.

The only sure thing is fantastic racing!

The Valsir World Cup standings heading into the race can be found here.

All photos by Marco Gulberti, see more on Flickr.

The Czech town of Janské Lázn? hosted the third Silver Label race of the 2022 Valsir Mountain Running World Cup on Sunday.

The town hosted multiple Masters and Under 18 championships over the years before the World Cup came to town last year, with Geoffrey Ndungu and Joyce Njeru coming away victorious. As it did in 2021, the 22km, 1,220m+ race, from Colonnade Square in the town centre to the forest trails around the peak of ?erná hora and back again, also hosted the Czech long distance mountain running championship.

Find 2021 results on the World Mountain Running Ranking.

With last year’s Czech long distance champion Barbora Macurová unable to start due to illness, it was Hana Švestková Stružková who stepped up to claim the vacant title. She came into the race with good recent form; 3rd at the Czech Up and Down Championships in June, 10th at the European Championships in July. But her run here was a step up from either of those performances, posting a time of 1:47:58, over 2 minutes faster than last year’s winner Joyce Njeru.

Barbora Jíšová, a strong championship performer on the track for a number of years but a debutant in mountain running, also eclipsed Njeru’s time from 2021, coming into Colonnade Square in 1:29:32 to take second place.

Gabriela Veigertová was the best placed of last year’s returning runners, taking almost 4 minutes off her 2021 time to move from 4th onto the podium. Adéla Stránská also improved one place from 5th to 4th, while last year’s 3rd place finisher Pavla Schorná Matyášová took 5th.

For Stránská, the 12 World Cup points earned here combine with the 30 she won at Grossglockner Berglauf to more her up to 5th in the World Cup standings.

World Cup standings after 8 races can be found here.

In the men’s race there was disappointment for Marek Chrascina. The multiple time Czech champion and World Championship medallist in 2019 was unable to finish, not yet fully recovered from the injury which kept him out of the European Championships.

In a field full of athletes with huge numbers of championship medals across a range of disciplines, it was a relative newcomer who prevailed. Mat?j Zima, fresh from a period training at altitude in Livigno, Italy, took the win in 1:34:06. After 6th and 8th places at the national short course races in the last 2 years, the 24 year old found himself on the top step of his first championship podium.

By contrast, second place went to a seasoned campaigner; Vit Pavlišta’s silver medal is the 34th national medal in his collection, across road, track, cross country and mountain running. Third place, exactly one minute further back, was Viktor Šinágl in 1:36:00.

Tomáš K?ivohlávek improved on his 2021 time by 9 minutes to move from 14^th to 4th, while Ond?ej Fejfar took a minute off last year’s time to finish 5th.

Check out the full race results here.

The Valsir Mountain Running World Cup continues this weekend as elite athletes from around the world descend on the Swiss canton of Valais for the race of the five 4,000s, Sierre-Zinal.

This Sunday, 7^th August, the Valsir Mountain Running World Cup visits Janské Lázn? in the Czech Republic for the 3rd Silver Label race of the year, Krkonošský Half Marathon.

This small spa and ski town in the Giant Mountains has a big history of hosting major events in mountain running. The World Masters Mountain Running Championships came here in 2013, the International Under 18 Mountain Running Cup in 2016 and the European Masters Championships in 2019.

Last year it was the turn of the World Cup. In the 6^th race of the season, Joyce Njeru took a big step towards her eventual overall World Cup win with a victory in Janské Lázn?, finishing with a small margin over Barbora Macurová. Her teammate Geoffrey Ndungo led a Kenyan 1-2 in the men’s race ahead of Timothy Kirui, with Marek Chrascina the best of the Czech athletes just 12 seconds back in 3rd.

The Krkonošský Half-Marathon route is a real rollercoaster, 21km and 1,220m+ of mountain trails, starting and finishing in Collonade Square in Janské Lázn?. The race begins with the climb of ?erná hora, taking racers on a steep, direct route to top out just short of 1,300m, before a long loop takes them out to the neighbouring ski resort of Pec pod Sn?žkou. Having fought their way through the forest and back to the top of the first climb, all those hard-won metres are lost on the final breakneck plunge back to the finish in the centre of town.

As a Silver Label race in 2022 there are 20 World Cup points available to the winners, down to 2 points for 10^th place. Prize money spans the same range, from €700 for 1st down to €50 for 10^th. There is also prize money for the first 3 Masters in each category and Juniors.

The Contenders

Marek Chrascina returns this year and will start as the favourite having won the Czech mountain running championhip in early June. The 3rd and 4th place finishers from that race, Petr Pechek and Ond?ej Volák will also line up in Janské Lázn?, as will many of the top 10 from Czech championship and the 2021Krkonošský Half-Marathon; Ond?ej Fejfar, Šimon Beránek, Mat?j Zima and Tomáš K?ivohlávek.

Barbora Macurová also returns after last year’s 2nd place. She’ll have strong competition from Adéla Stránská, this year’s Czech champion who also claimed a brillian 3rd place at Grossglockner Berglauf, a Gold Label race in the Valsir Mountain Running World Cup this year. Pavla Schorná and Hana Švestková Stružková will look to build on their silver and bronze medals at the national championships. Gabriela Veigertová and Ta?ána Metelková, 4^th and 6^th in 2021, will also contest the race.

The results for last year’s race can be found on the World Mountain Running Ranking. 

Photos: Ji?í Kottas, 2019.

For the first time in 3 years athletes from 14 countries stood in the streets of Premana, Italy this morning. Before them lay the 32km of Giir di Mont, the 5^th Gold Label race of the 2022 Valsir Mountain Running World Cup.

In the race’s 28^th edition, runners would be looking to write their names alongside those of legends like Ricardo Mejía, Kasie Enman and Kilian Jornet on the honour roll of this classic long distance test.

From the start in Premana’s main square, the route takes runners on a circuit through the twelve meadows in the mountains above, alternating hard climbs and even harder descents. With 2,400m+, the most elevation of any race on the World Cup circuit this year, the race is a real bruiser!

The day before saw the first edition of Giir di Mont Uphill, also a Gold Label race in the World Cup. Joyce Njeru and Patrick Kipngeno continued their domination of the series, the Kenyan pair each taking their 4^th win from 5 starts. But with neither of them on the startline of Giir di Mont the stage was set for different athletes to compete for the top step of the podium.

Early on in the women’s race it was the American Hillary Gerardi, champion at Trofeo Kima in 2018, who led the way. The ultra athlete, racing at the short end of her range, was persued by an athlete racing at the long end of hers; two time World Champion Lucy Murigi was never more than a minute back, while further down many-time Italian champion and Worlds medallist Elisa Desco was running a patient race, more than 2 minutes behind the lead after 5km.

As the race moved into its middle third the gaps began to narrow. Murigi closed on Gerardi, passing her somewhere around half way and coming into Alpe Rasga at 19km ahead. Meanwhile Desco closed on them both. Her timing was perfect; only 19 seconds behind Murigi at the final checkpoint at Alpe Deleguaggio, Desco made the definitive move on the descent to Premana, arriving at the finish line in 4:00:57 to take the win. Murigi followed just 44 seconds later, 4:01:41, all the more impressive after finishing 7^th in the uphill race the day before.

Gerardi held on to take 3^rd in 4:06:06, comfortably ahead of Chiara Giovando in 4^th and Guilia Campagnoni in 5^th.

The men’s race saw a fantastic duel between 2015 winner Petro Mamu and Cristian Minoggio, 2^nd here in 2018. Clear of the rest of the field from early in the race, the two traded the lead a number of times, never seperated by more than a few seconds. At Alpe Deleguaggio, by now more than 7 minutes clear of everyone else, Minoggio held an advantage of just 10 seconds over Mamu; this race too would be decided on the final frantic descent towards town.

In the end the speed of the Eritrean was too much; Mamu returned to the streets of Premana to take the win in 3:11:29 to Minoggio’s 3:11:42. Mattia Gianola completed the podium in 3:20:20, ahead of Lorenzo Beltrami and Andrea Rota.

In the 18km race, Madalina Florea and Camilla Magliano put in impressive performances for 1^st and 2^nd after 3^rd and 9^th place finishes in Saturday’s uphill race. Abraham Ekwam took the win for the men.

Next weekend the Valsir World Cup heads to the Czech Republic for Krkonošský Half-Marathon, a Silver Label race, before returning to the Alps the weekend after for the one and only Sierre-Zinal!

Full race results: https://www.endu.net/en/events/giir-di-mont/results

World Cup standings after 7 races are here.

All photos by Marco Gulberti. See more here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mountainrunning/albums/72177720300949807