Author: Tomo Sarf

The 2022 World Cup is a mix of the old and the new; established classics, events making their World Cup debuts, and 3 countries that the series will visit for the first time. Over the coming months we will be looking at each of them in turn; the mountains, the people and the history that make them special.

We start with this year’s World Cup opener, the Seven Sisters Skyline on May 21st in the stunning Derryveagh Mountains of County Donegal, Ireland. A Silver Label event for 2022, it is not only the race’s first appearance in the WMRA World Cup but the World Cup’s first ever visit to Ireland. 

“We are absolutely thrilled and delighted to have our event on the WMRA World Cup calendar,” said race director Eunan Quinn. “We look forward to welcoming everyone to Dunlewey, Donegal for our amazing route across the Seven Sisters in the Derryveagh mountains.

“Participants say our course is the best in Ireland so we are very proud of that, and hopefully will push on for a gold label event in coming years.”

First staged in 2018, the Seven Sisters Skyline has previously offered distances of 27km and 55km. While the 55km remains, the 27km has been tweaked to produce the 30km, 2,100m+, Long Mountain race which features in this year’s World Cup, a point to point traverse of the range from north to south.

The climb up the first mountain, Muckish, sets the tone. Following the Miner’s Path, runners pass the remains of an old quarry as they zig-zag steeply upwards on their way to the summit at 667m. From there, they continue on over the summits of Crocknalaragagh, Aghla Beg, Ardloughnabrackbaddy, Aghla More and Mackoght, past Heart Attack Hill and Altan Castle, before climbing the north ridge of Errigal, Ireland’s most iconic mountain and the highest in Donegal.

It’s a real sting in the tail, the hardest climb on the course, and runners who have measured their effort will be rewarded here. From there it’s just a matter of safely navigating the final 650m quad-smashing descent, before hanging on through the race’s cruel, runnable final kilometres.

Although this race may not have the thin air of some of its counterparts in mainland Europe, reaching its highest point on the final summit at 751m, it has an open, exposed feel and packs a punch that belies its altitude. From soft, boggy ground, to abrasive quartzite boulders and scree, this is unforgiving terrain that will punish those whose legs are not up to the task.

But the rewards are significant. On a clear day there are spectacular views not just of the mountains themselves but out to the Atlantic coast and the islands of Donegal in the north and west.

Ireland’s most northerly county, Donegal is a part of the Gaeltacht, those areas of Ireland where the Irish language is still widely spoken and where the traditions surrounding Irish music and folklore also remain strong.

Anyone considering building a holiday around the race might consider a final pre-race tune-up or a post-race recovery run up Donegal’s other most famous mountain, Slieve League, where some of Europe’s highest sea cliffs connect the summit directly with the Atlantic ocean, 601m below.

Elsewhere, visitors should avoid being put off by the place names; Bloody Foreland and the Poison Glen are much, much nicer than they sound. And although it feels isolated, Donegal is relatively accessible, just 2.5 hours from Belfast.

It’s a big year for Mountain Running in Ireland as the World Masters Championship heads to County Waterford in early September.

With 12 Gold Label races across 6 countries and 9 locations, and a further 5 Silver Label races in 5 different countries, the 2022 WMRA World Cup promises 5 months of quality racing in the mountains.

 “I’m delighted to announce the new 2022 WMRA World Cup calendar,” said World Cup Manager, Justin Maxwell. “We start with a relatively new but exciting race in Montemuro and we finish at Chiavenna-Lagunc KV, a race steeped in history. In between we have an array of classic mountain running events, some new, some old, but all unique in one way or another. A true mountain running test for any aspiring World Cup Champion.

“I’d like to thank all of the race organisers who applied to be part of the 2022 WMRA World Cup, we are very grateful for your support.”

All World Cup events are World Athletics Permit Mountain Races.

Races fall into one of 3 categories; Short Uphill, Classic Mountain and Long Mountain. As well as the overall World Cup standings, calculated from an athlete’s best 6 results, there will also be a classification for each category, calculated from an athlete’s best 3 results in that category.

In 2021 the winners were…

The Races

The 2022 World Cup kicks off on June 19^th with its first ever visit to Portugal for Montemuro Vertical Run, a race making its first appearance on the circuit in only its second edition. Although it comes in the Classic category it’s short and sharp. At just 9.5km and 980m+, it will be an hard race for anyone who comes into the World Cup season at anything less than 100%.

From a new addition, we go to an established classic. On July 10^th it’s the 23^rd edition of Großglockner Berglauf. This is a spectacular race, climbing 1,265m+ in 13.4km against the backdrop of Austria’s highest mountain. From the valley, it first follows the river, then passes the Pasterze glacier, before a savagely steep final climb takes the runners to the finish at the Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe.

Next we go to France La Montée du Nid d’Aigle on July 16^th, a race which made its first appearance in the World Cup in 2021 and returns for 2022. From Saint Gervais to Refuge du Nid d’Aigle, runners climb 2,000m in 19.5km with only 100m of descending. In 2021 we saw furious racing and fast times; a new men’s course record for Xavier Chevrier and Lucy Murigi coming within 2 seconds of Isabelle Guillot’s long-standing mark.

Two weeks later we have the first double-header of the World Cup at Giir di Mont in Premana, Italy. The short uphill race on Saturday 30^th July is a new addition but its double status as a World Cup race and the Italian uphill championship is sure to draw a quality field. Sunday 31^st sees the classic long race, which hosted the World Long Distance Mountain Running Championships in 2017. At 32km with 2,400m+, it’s the longest race in the World Cup this year.

Then on 13^th August we go to Switzerland for The Race of the Five 4000s, Sierre-Zinal. Despite attracting the deepest field in mountain running, Maud Mathys and Kilian Jornet have had a stranglehold on this race in recent years, racking up consecutive wins and breaking course records in the process. Will 2022 be the year Maud and Kilian are finally beaten? Would-be successors have 32km with 2,200m+ and 1,100m- to make an impression. 

September brings 2 more double weekends. First, on the 3^rd and 4^th, it’s Vertical Nasego and Trofeo Nasego. The uphill race climbs 1,000m in 4.2k, while the long race is 21.5k, 1,336m+. We saw some fantastic racing here in 2021 with Grayson Murphy and Andrea Mayr going toe to toe on consecutive days and coming away with a win and a second place each. You can be sure these classic races will provide similar excitement in 2022.

Then we head to Canfran-Estación in the Aragonese Pyrenees for Canfranc-Canfranc. Again, there are 2 races here but this time the athletes get a day off in between. The uphill race, 4.4km and 927m, appears in the World Cup in its very first edition on Friday the 9^th, while the classic 16km, with 1,195m of climbing, is on Sunday the 11^th. These are hard races on rough, technical terrain. Will the extra rest time tempt athletes to try the the double?

October comes around and only 2 races remain. First, on the 2^nd, we say goodbye to the high mountains and kaixo to the Basque Country for Zumaia Flysch Trail, 22km and 850m+. The only coastal race in the calendar this year is an opportunity for the athletes to experience the stunning scenery of a UNESCO Geopark and the overwhelming Basque enthusiasm for mountain running.

The season closes, as it did last year, with KV Chiavenna-Lagunc on the 8^th of October. Climbing 1,000m in just 3.2km, this is the place to come for a fast vertical kilometre times; Bernard De Matteis and Andrew Mayr’s course records, 30’27” and 35’40” respectively are positively eye-watering. With bonus points on offer in the last race of the season, athletes have every incentive to give it everything here.

Silver label races

In addition to the 12 World Cup Gold Label races, this year we are introducing 5 World Cup Silver Label races, giving athletes further opportunities to earn World Cup points in countries such as Peru, Czech Republic, Ireland, Slovenia and Portugal.

The 5 Silver Label races are:

22/05 Seven Sisters Skyline (IRE) Long

02/07 One Hundred Douro-Paiva (POR) Long

07/08 Krkonossky Half Marathon (CZE) Classic

25/08 Andes Race (PER) Long

01/10 Smarna Gora (SLO) Classic