Author: Tomo Sarf

WMRA COUNCIL ELECTIONS

Written by Tomo Sarf on 13/11/2021. Posted in Latest News.

The WMRA will be holding elections at the annual congress meeting to be held on Saturday February 17th at 18.00 (6pm) Central European Time. They would like to invite nominations from individuals who would be interested to join and help shape the future of the sport of Mountain Running.

There will be elections for the full Council where the term is 4 years (2022-2025). Please note that the deadline to submit nominations is 28 December and your nominations will need to be submitted by the Athletics Federation from the candidates country.

The WMRA are looking for the postitions of Secretary, Treasurer as well as President to lead the organisation. More information can be found by reading the WMRA constitution.

For any further information or enquiries use the Contact form from this website.

WMRA Media Manager position available

Written by Tomo Sarf on 10/11/2021. Posted in Latest News.

World Mountain Running is looking to employ a Media Manager for the work involved with making social media posts and managing its online content activities.
The position requires approximately 8 hours per week of work and requires flexibility to make posts and update news quickly as and when it happens. Work will also be required during weekends when WMRA events are taking place to make social media posts and work with the WMRA Content creators.
See the following link JOB DESCRIPTION for further details and contact Jonathan at WMRA to make an application.

Postponement of the 1st World Mountain and Trail Running Championships

Written by Tomo Sarf on 03/11/2021. Posted in Latest News.

This joint statement by WMRA, ITRA and IAU follows on from the online conference on 3rd November 2021 hosted by World Athletics on mountain and trail running where the Thai Tourism Authority and ourselves updated Member Federations and other interested participants on the status of the 1st World Mountain and Trail Running Championships (“WMTRC”).

As per our last update on 19 August, we had previously hoped to hold the 1st WMTRC in Thailand in February 2022. This would have only been a short postponement from the original date in November 2021 which would have been easier for Member Federations already planning for taking part in the event.

Unfortunately, given the ongoing uncertainty of the current situation in both the host country and worldwide, we have reluctantly had to come to the decision to make a final postponement of the event until November 2022.

This decision has only been made yesterday, 2 November, since full details for the re-opening of Thailand to international tourists (i.e., the policy backdrop on which the existence of the Championships depends) were only announced on 1 November.

Taken as is, the current policy doesn’t allow for the event to happen in the way we feel it’s right for the sport. Athletes from certain countries, as well as unvaccinated athletes, may have had to be subject to long quarantines if not unable to enter the country.

While there likely is scope for exemptions, to work them out would further extend the timelines for a decision, and we have decided to stand by our commitment to inform Federations of the plans at the very beginning of November, without further delays.

In addition, we have not yet been able to access the host region of Chiang Mai for site visits as the country has been reopened for quarantine-free visits only on 1 November 2021 (and not on 1 October, as initially planned).

The following provisional dates will apply for the Championships in November 2022.
• July 2022 General Information Sheet with registration details
• August 2022 Preliminary entry form deadline
• September 2022 Team Manual release
• October 2022 Final entry form deadline

Age limits will now be shifted to 2022.
• Junior athletes must be aged 16-19 on 31 December 2022
• The lower age limit for the senior mountain races is 18 on 31 December 2022
• The lower age limit for the trail races is 20 on 31 December 2022

All other details – flights, travel, hotels, travel subsidy plan, prize money etc remain as previously detailed

We will confirm dates for the event along with provisional details of the trail and mountain courses soon and provide final confirmation as soon as it is possible following the necessary technical site visit.

We’d like to stress that Chiang Mai, Thailand remains the host for the inaugural WMTRC. Our desire to bring the sport to new territories remains strong, and we have total confidence in the abilities of the LOC, which we would like to thank for all the ongoing work in very difficult circumstances. We look forward to working with them even more closely in the next 12 months.

2023
World Athletics gave an update at the webinar on the bid status for WMRC 2023 which will be in a similar format to that for 2021/2 with a similar schedule for the championship races. We look forward to receiving the full bids in the next months

The WMTRC Partnership
3 November 2021

Victory for Ghelfi and Abraham at the Nations Cup

Written by Tomo Sarf on 31/10/2021. Posted in Latest News.

When the World Mountain Running Championships in Thailand was postponed to February 2022 the WMRA were keen to make an international competition happen at the end of the 2021 season. The seed of an idea for the Nations Cup was planted!

In his comments at the opening ceremony WMRA President Jonathan Wyatt thanked the organisers of Val Bregaglia Trail for staging this special edition of the race and for pulling the whole thing together in just over 6 weeks. Just as importantly he also thanked the athletes for their commitment to training and qualifying for the competition and for travelling to Chiavenna. Together they all made it happen.

So we’d waited a long time for another international competition to come around and expectations were very high. Could the Nations Cup live up to them? 100 athletes from 15 countries stood on the start line, eager to compete at the highest level on this fast 19k course with 660m of ascent.

In the women’s race it was Scotland’s Scout Adkin and England’s Kate Maltby who struck out at the front. At the 4.5k point Scout was narrowly ahead and they were being chased by Italian Francesca Ghelfi, who was around 40 seconds behind. Similarly, in the men’s race two athletes tried to stamp their authority on it from the start and it was Lengel Lolkurraru of Kenya and Filimon Abraham of Germany. At this point they were neck-and-neck, with Czech athlete Jachim Kovar 40 seconds back.

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At the 10k point little had changed at the front. Adkin and Maltby were together and Italian Alice Gaggi had caught up to Ghelfi, 30 seconds behind the leading pair. The chase was definitely on. Lolkurraru and Abraham remained at the front of the men’s race, with Kovar still leading the chase but by this point Timotej Becan of Slovenia and Chris Richards of England were also pushing hard for the podium.

It was the next time check at 15.8k where things had started to change. It was now Ghelfi who was leading the women’s race and she had started to stretch out a gap of 45 seconds over Adkin. Maltby was still in touch with Adkin, just 10 seconds behind her, and Gaggi was also still in contention for the podium just 12 seconds behind Maltby. In the men’s race Lolkurraru was leading by a very narrow margin of 5 seconds from Abraham and it was Becan who lay in third, a minute and a half back. All nail biting stuff!

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So who would we see arriving in the town square in Chiavenna first? It was Abraham who was first to arrive, having stretched out a lead of just over a minute from Lolkurraru in the final 5k. He won in 1.18.29, Lolkurraru took the silver in 1.19.48 and Becan bronze in 1.22.10. Becan beat fourth placed Daniel Pattis by just one second in a sprint finish! Richards was 35 seconds behind for fifth place.

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In the women’s race Ghelfi hung on to take the gold for Italy in 1.34.01. Adkin took the silver in 1.35.14, with a great breakthrough performance, and it was Hanna Grober of Germany who came through for the bronze in 1.35.51. Gaggi was just 5 seconds behind in fourth and Maltby claimed fifth in 1.36.59.

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In the team competition it was a win for England’s women, with Italy second and the Czech Republic third. Italy’s men took the gold, with England second and Romania third.

A quote from Jonathan Wyatt: “It is with great pleasure that the WMRA are able to put together an event in the space of only 6 weeks where athletes could compete for their country and our WMRA and World Athletics members can join after 2 years without a World Championships for our senior athletes. The races have been hard and the competition exciting and it is a pleasure to hear again the National anthems of the winning teams and individuals once again for a senior mountain running competition. The WMRA would like to thank the services of the town of Chiavenna and their superb organisation team as well as the support we have received from the Italian Athletics federation (FIDAL).”

Full results can be found here from: Nations Cup, World Mountain Rankings and Nations Cup National team and individual only results.

Be Cordial Beyond the Coast Sky Tour Gran Canaria

Written by Tomo Sarf on 28/10/2021. Posted in Latest News.

The Romanian runner Lionel Cristian Manole and the Canadian athlete Claire Heslop were winners of the ultra distance race in the fourth edition of ‘Be Cordial Beyond the Coast Sky Tour Gran Canaria’.

The 88k Ultra Sky AAA82 started at midnight on Friday 15th October from El Pajar beach in Arguineguín, to cross the island passing through Pico de Las Nieves, Cruz de Tejeda, and Artenara, before reaching the finish line in Puerto de Las Nieves, in Agaete, the same spot as for all three courses.

The men’s winner, Lionel Cristian Manole, dominated from start to finish. He finished with a total time of eight hours, thirty-one minutes.A very exciting fight for second and third position in the men’s race took place. Both local runners, Ricardo Trujillo and Alejandro Mayor, maintained gaps of between two and three minutes before reaching Artenara, km 61.4, where they were neck-and-neck. But in the last 20 km, Trujillo gained an advantage of about eight minutes from Mayor.

In women’s race, the Canadian Claire Heslop dominated from the very beginning of the race, with local runner Sandra Moreno hot on her heels. At the km 61.4 Moreno took the lead and built up a gap of just one minute. But in the last 20 km the Canadian overtook the Canarian runner, gaining three minutes by the finish line, with a total time of eleven hours, fifty seven minutes. Third position would go to Latvian Elina Kabalina.

The Trail Sky TAA50, a medium course of 50 km, started at Plaza de Tunte. All the finishers can attest to the harshness of this race, with temperatures that exceeded thirty degrees and haze prevailing during the whole day. There was a tough fight for the final victory between Ramón José Roger and Enric Gómez in the men’s race. They passed together by Pico de Las Nieves, Cruz de Tejeda and Artenara. The final victory went to Roger, with Gómez second. In women’s race, the win went to the Slovenian Ana Flasker.

Finally in the Mini Sky AA21, with a distance of 21 km, the winners were Samuel Santana and Yazmina Castro.

The ‘Be Cordial Beyond The Coast Sky Tour Gran Canaria’ race is organized by MOVE RUN, and has announced that its fifth edition will take place on October 15, 2022.

Trophy Vanoni Races signal autumns arrival

Written by Tomo Sarf on 25/10/2021. Posted in Latest News.

France take the men’s relay and Lucy Murigi takes the Women’s individual title at this weekends Vanoni. Some runners using it as a final tune up before this weekend’s Nations Cup to be held close by in the same region of Italy’s Northern mountains.

Despite being at the end of a long season, Kenyan athlete Lucy Wambui Murigi lived up to expectations. At the top of the Dosso Barnabà, at the high point GPM, she reached the top of the hill in 13’02” with a 20″ lead over Alice Gaggi (La Recastello Radici Group) and the Italian junior Luna Giovanetti (Atl. Valle di Cembra), just back from the European U20 Championships in Tallin. On the downhill the Murigi increased her lead to 30″. At the finish line in via Vanoni Murigi crossed with a time of 22’04”, not a record, but still a great race. Behind her, the 2013 World Champion Alice Gaggi took home an excellent 2nd place in 22’36”, in front of Giovanetti, who only entered at the last minute and she finished in 22″47.” Two other youngsters completed the top five: Spela Gonza from Slovenia (23’07”) and Vivien Bonzi (Gr. Escurs. Falchi Olgi23″27).
Enthusiastic at the finish line Murigi: “I’m sorry I didn’t run hard enough to set a record, but the season has been long and I’m a bit tired. Winning is always a great satisfaction, especially at the Trofeo Vanoni, which is a beautiful race”. Rounding out the top ten 6th place went to Corinna Ghiradi (US Malonno), 7th Samantha Galassi (La Recastello), 8th Samantha Bertolina (Atl. Alta Valtellina), 9th Erica Schiavi (Pool Soc. Atl. Alta Valseriana), 10th Beatrice Bianchi (La Recastello)

Later in the day and after last year’s 3rd place and the silver medal at the Italian Relay Championships, SA Valchiese started immediately at full speed with Alberto Vender who dominated his stage and took home the best time of the day (29’00”). This after having climbed to the high point in 19’56” having already broken away from the rest of the first lap runners.

In the first lap WMRA World Cup winner Henri Aymonod arrived at the GPM in second position, but on the descent, he was caught by Slovenian Timotej Becan (the best of Vanoni 2020) and the course record holder Alex Baldaccini, while Alexandre Fine crossed the line in fifth position. On the second stage, Luca Merli had a good advantage to manage, but the top French mountain runner Sylvain Chacard reduced it gradually, bringing it from 45″ at Dosso, to 15″ at Bellini checkpoints. At the changeover SA Valchiese are still in the lead but hopes of victory were taken away by Klein Theodore who, despite being at his first Vanoni at Dosso alto, had already taken 15″ over Filosi, a gap that rises to 40″ at the GPM in Arzo. But Filosi used all his energy and skills as a descender and in the downhill reducing the gap to 20″. France score their seventh victory, after those of 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2020, with a final time of 1h30’02”. SA Valchiese is second in 1h30’14”, just 12 seconds behind in the end, with Luca Merli (30’27”) who is the best Under 23 and receives the prize in memory of Felice Bottani as the fastest downhill runner on the day. Surprise of the day with a third-place was the solid trio comprised of Luca Del Pero, Daniel Antonioli and Lorenzo Beltrami in 1h 32’11”. Fourth were Slovenia that after the initial strong performance of Timotej Becan consolidated their position with Miran Cvet and Klemen Spanring (1h32’42”). The top five was completed by Recastello Radici Group in 1h33’18” (Cagnati, Brasi, Ruga). In the top ten, there were five Italian relay teams (in addition to those already mentioned, the US Malonno captained by Emanuele Manzi and the GS Orobie of Baldaccini) and five foreign teams.

We tried our best, but it wasn’t enough,” was the comment by the second placed local team. “We came third last year, second this year, and who knows what will happen next year? The French team trained by coach Jean Claude Louison was very happy: “It’s always a pleasure to come and race at the Vanoni Trophy, also because of the friendship that we have built over many years. This year I lined up a young team, they performed well and set good times. We won by a small margin but we are very happy”.
A master category. went to the team US Malonno, while in the master A category the UK’s Roberts Matthew, Gray Karl and Ben Mounsey (Sportshoes.com) won. “Also this year has been a great Vanoni Trohy – the words of the president of GS CSI Morbegno Giovanni Ruffoni – thanks to all those who have contributed to this success”.

Photos: Roberto Ganassa and Giacomo Meneghello

The Nations Cup: Fifteen Countries to Compete

Written by Tomo Sarf on 22/10/2021. Posted in Latest News.

We’ve waited a long time for a global mountain running competition involving national teams but now the wait is finally over! Next weekend runners from all over the world will come together for the Nations Cup!

Over the past few months countries have been holding trials to pick their teams for the event, which will give much-needed experience and competition for athletes who’ve trained hard but haven’t had the opportunity to compete at the highest level.

The venue for the event is the Val Bregaglia Trail, which starts in Promontogno, on the Swiss border, and finishes in Chiavenna, the scene of our final World Cup event. But it isn’t the standard route for this established race, it’s a specially designed route for this competition, with steep climbs and long descents. The 19km course, with 660m of ascent should provide a stunning backdrop for the athletes to do battle.

There are 15 national teams taking part: Italy, Canada, Denmark, Wales, Germany, England, Ireland, Kenya, Czech Republic, Romania, Spain, Scotland, Slovenia, Switzerland and Hungary. In total there will be 100 athletes: 55 men and 45 women. We’ve seen some of them in this year’s World Cup but others have been focussing on racing at home or on other types of race. There are some incredible athletes who will be on the start line and we should see some exciting racing.

In the women’s race we are looking forward to seeing the mountain running debut of Valeria Straneo (ITA). She is the current Italian marathon record holder with an Tatra race 2021 040 incredible time of 2h23’44” and won silver in the marathon at the 2013 World Championships. It’ll certainly be interesting to see how she gets on in this different discipline. Other Italian athletes to watch include Alice Gaggi, who finished 3rd in this year’s World Cup and Francesca Ghelfi, the most successful Italian of the year with two absolute national titles (classic and long distance). But they will face strong competition from athletes including Adela Stranska (CZE), who was 4th in the 2019 World Championships, Simone Troxler (SUI), winner of the legendary Jungfrau Marathon 2019, Lucjia Krko? (SLO), who won bronzes in the World Championships in 2011 and 2013, Scout Adkin (SCO), winner of the British trial for the classic distance, Sara Alonso (ESP) who’s had recent podiums at Skyrhune and Chiemgau Trail, and Nuria Gil (ESP), winner of this year’s Spanish Mountain Running Championship and 2nd at Canfranc Skyrace.

Tatra race 2021 033 The men’s race is also similarly stacked. Lengen Lolkurraru (KEN), who won Grossglockner Berglauf this year, will be toeing the line alongside Marek Chrascina (CZE), bronze medallist from the 2019 World Championships. Sandro Szabo (HUN), who finished 2nd in this year’s World Cup is always one to watch, as is Timotej Be?an (SLO), who just won Smarna Gora and consistently finished in the top 10 of a number of World Cup races this year. The young Zak Hanna (IRE) has had a breakthrough year, particularly with VK races and it will also be exciting to see other young athletes like Joe Dugdale (European and World Junior Champion) and Jan Margarit (ESP), who just won Skyrhune and won this year’s Spanish Mountain Running Championships. Finally, Filimon Abraham (GER), who has stood on the podium of more mountain races than we can count, will always be among the favourites.

We look forward to bringing you all the action from the Nations Cup on the 31st October. More details will follow during the next week.

Trofeo Vanoni preview

Written by Tomo Sarf on 15/10/2021. Posted in Latest News.

The 64th edition of the legendary mountain race, Trofeo Vanoni, will take place on 24th October in Morbegno, Italy. This race is always one of the highlights of the mountain running calendar.

The Trofeo Vanoni machine has been rolling for a while now, with route testing, race planning and those all-important team selections.

To help set the scene for this year’s race the organisers have put together a great video of the course, complete with drone shots:

They also organised runs along the routes for runners to test them out. There are different routes for the men’s and women’s teams, a 7.5km course with 435m of ascent for the men and a 5km route with 248m for the women. Both races are run in a relay format, with 3 runners taking part for each team.

A new element for the race this year was the fact that the press conference took place in an exciting location: the Tempietto. It’s a symbolic places of the race as the athletes pass through it both uphill and downhill. The organisers explained, “Thanks to the valuable collaboration of ANA Morbegno and the Municipality we thought this year to propose something new – explains the president of GS CSI Morbegno Giovanni Ruffoni – the idea was received with great enthusiasm. The Tempietto is the symbol of Morbegno and also a symbol for the Vanoni Trophy. A double link because the first club of the Minivanoni is awarded by the Alpini with the Trophy in memory of Mons. Edoardo Danieli and Battaglion Morbegno”

Registrations are still open at www.trofeovanoni.it until noon on Thursday 21 October. The website is also a mine of information with programs, regulations, routes, list of awards, past results, rankings, statistics, and a gallery. For the latest updates see their Facebook and Instagram (@trofeovanoni).

Mayr and Aymonod crowned champions at Chiavenna-Lagunc

Written by Tomo Sarf on 11/10/2021. Posted in Latest News.

The grand finale of this year’s World Cup at Chiavenna-Lagunc lived up to all expectations. This historic vertical kilometre race was a fitting setting to decide the winners of the short uphill category and the overall World Cup. See FINAL WORLD CUP for the full list of results.

This course was the world’s first certified vertical kilometre and it’s seen some incredible performances over the years. The course records to beat were Bernard De Matteis’s 30’27” and Andrea Mayr’s 35’40”. Would they be beaten this year?

The list of athletes taking part certainly looked like the course records could be threatened. For the women we had Andrea Mayr (AUT), Sarah McCormack (IRE), Joyce Njeru (KEN), Charlotte Morgan (GBR), Alice Gaggi (ITA), Lucy Murigi (KEN), Timea Merenyi (HUN), Francesca and Erica Ghelfi (ITA), Charlotte Cotton (BEL), Mojca Koligar (SLO), Camilla Magliano (ITA) and Kitti Posztos (HUN). For the men two-time winner Henri Aymonod (ITA), Sandor Szabo (HUN), Geoffrey Ndungu (KEN), Raul Criado (ESP), Petro Mamu (ERI), Timotej Becan (SLO), Alberto Vender (ITA), Tiziano Moia (ITA) and Nadir Maguet (ITA). A mix of short uphill specialists and athletes more comfortable with longer races, but committed to adding to their World Cup points totals. Andrea small web

The women set off first, at 20 seconds intervals, with the top ranking athletes going last. It was an exciting morning seeing the top 3 change as the competition progressed. Eventually it was Andrea Mayr who won by a huge margin, but an agonising 2 seconds outside of her own course record in 35.42. In second place it was Francesca Ghelfi in 39.17 and in third last year’s winner Sarah McCormack in 39.57.

Henri web small Then it was time for the men, also at 20 second intervals. This was an incredibly close race, with the top 6 all within 90 seconds of each other. It was no surprise to find Henri Aymonod coming out on top – his third victory here in a row – in 31.41. Tiziano Moia was second in 32.19 and Nadir Maguet completed the Italian clean sweep in 32.41.

Full results can be found here.

So our short uphill winners in this year’s World Cup are Andrea Mayr and Henri Aymonod! And now that the final race has taken place and all of the results and bonuses calculated we can also announce that the World Cup champions for 2021 are Joyce Njeru and Henri Aymonod! Congratulations!

Joyce World Cup

Henri World Cup

World Cup Stage 16: Chiavenna Lagunc

Written by Tomo Sarf on 08/10/2021. Posted in Latest News.

For our final World Cup race of 2021 we head to the north of Italy for Chiavenna-Lagunc. On Sunday runners will take part in this famous short uphill race, starting in the historic old town of Chiavenna and finishing in Lagunc.

Chiavenna Lagunc is a very fitting race to act as a grand finale for this year’s World Cup. It would be hard to find a town that’s as steeped in mountain running history and tradition. The track which winds up from Chiavenna at 352 metres to Lagunc at 1352 metres was actually the world’s first official, certified vertical kilometre.

We’re asking all our races this year about what they’re doing to promote sustainability. Chiavenna Lagunc is quite unique in this regard as it’s part of the ‘orange flags’ initiative, which recognises its sensitivity to sustainability. The ‘orange flag’ status is awarded to towns which preserve their historical areas and also make their architectural, artistic and naturalistic resources accessible to and usable by the people. Essentially it celebrates uniqueness and preservation.

As well as the short uphill race there’s also a series of trail races in the area and one of these, Val Bregaglia Trail, will serve as the venue for this year’s Nations Cup on October 31^st.

Going into this final (of 3) short uphill race of this year’s World Cup it’s Allie McLaughlin and Andrea Mayr who lead the women in this race category, both with 50450413301 26dff674ab b 100 points from 1 race, and Ondrej Fejfar leads the men’s ranking with 110 points from 2 races. Darren Thomas and Henri Aymonod are on 100 points from 1 race each. And let’s not forget that this race will also decide the overall World Cup winners. But who will we see in action in Chiavenna?

In the women’s race we will see all of the top 5 runners in the World Cup rankings. These are (in order) Joyce Njeru (KEN), Charlotte Morgan (GBR), Alice Gaggi (ITA), Lucy Murigi (KEN) and Timea Merenyi (HUN). But we will also see Andrea Mayr (AUT), who seems in unbeatable form this year, Francesca and Erica Ghelfi (ITA), Charlotte Cotton (BEL), Mojca Koligar (SLO), Camilla Magliano (ITA) and Kitti Posztos (HUN).

50450582672 24eba5daec b 1 In the men’s race we will also see the full top 5 on World Cup points: Sandor Szabo (HUN), Henri Aymonod (ITA), Geoffrey Ndungu (KEN), Raul Criado (ESP) and Petro Mamu (ERI). We will also see Timotej Becan (SLO) and Alberto Vender (ITA), among many others including great runners from this local area.

So it looks like it’s going to be a fantastic race, with many of the top short uphill mountain racers in the world taking part, and a very exciting finale to the World Cup, deciding who will be crowned overall champions. Remember that there are still rules and bonuses to be applied to the athletes’ scores (additional points are available for runners taking part in Chiavenna-Lagunc, for those taking part in 5 or 8 races, and for those taking part in at least 1 race in each category). Final winners will be announced as soon as possible after Chiavenna-Lagunc.

Find all the current World Cup rankings, and information about the rules regarding final scores here: https://www.wmra.info/files/world_cup/2021_WORLD_CUP/Wcup_Positions/WCUP_15from16c.pdf

WORLD MOUNTAIN RUNNING ASSOCIATION

Author: Tomo Sarf