Author: Tomo Sarf

New Book About Giir de Mont By Filippo Fazzini

Written by Tomo Sarf on 09/01/2021. Posted in Latest News.

Filippo Fazzini, the race director of Giir di Mont for the last 20 years, has written the definitive book about this iconic race, pouring over years and years of stories, images and documents and bringing them together in this great new publication.

Initially intended to be a small book to serve as a gift for friends of the Giir di Mont committee for Christmas 2019, once Filippo started sifting through 20 years of photos and documents he couldn’t contain himself. A year later he published ‘Giir di Mont: Beyond the Race’ (in Italian), the story of the race behind the scenes, as well as a country and community that, together, made the history of skyrunning.

“The idea was born after the Giir di Mont 2019. Slowly, without saying anything to anyone, I started looking in the archives and in my documents for all the information on the history of Giir”, says Filippo Fazzini, “Needless to say, I found myself having to line up a huge amount of stories, documents, photographs, rankings … it was getting too big, Christmas 2019 has passed and the project has remained there. With the lockdown in March for the book it was the turning point: there was no shortage of time to work on it and so I took it back in hand. The idea was still to do something for friends, but when I realized that there was so much to tell, I asked for a hand and the book you see today came out”.

“Giir di Mont – Beyond the Race” is a volume of over 270 pages that collects old documents and images of the time, it’s full of photographs. You will find in the book the long list of those who contributed, several images are by Alberto Locatelli, who was one of the guardian angels in this adventure: “I had an abundance of material, it was a matter of putting everything in order because everything was catalogued for this, which was used to organize the race, but not to write a book. I did a lot of research on the charts even though some, especially the older editions, could not be found or were incomplete. Then, thanks to an aunt of mine who kept all the editions of ‘Il Corno’ from the 1960s, I was able to sift through all the issues and extract the articles that talked about Giir “.

What message would you like to get across with this book? “There are two aspects: first of all I would like to let my country know what Giir di Mont out of Premana means. We don’t have this perception fully and when I talk to fans and organizers of other important races, I have been told several times that we don’t realize what we have created. From the outside, however, I would like this book to be the starting point to talk about a union between skyrace and mountain running because this is the only way to think about the Olympics for this specialty”.

The book is available in sales outlets of the Premana Consumer Cooperative, Sabidea by Fazzini Sabina (Premana), Pensieri e colori by Combi Beatrice (Introbio). The entire proceeds will be donated to charity to support the work of the Premana Sports Association and Run2gether. Info: www.giirdimont.it.

Translated and adapted from an article in Italian by Marco Milani. See the original article here: Un libro sul Giir di mont, Filippo Fazzini racconta la storia della corsa di Premana – Lecco Notizie

The Athletes’ View of 2020

Written by Tomo Sarf on 31/12/2020. Posted in Latest News.

Normally at this time of year we’d be looking back at race highlights from the year, remembering the World and European Championships and World Cup winners. However, there was little normal about 2020. Some of the classic mountain races did take place in the second half of the year, much to the excitement of athletes, but opportunities to stand on a start line were limited. It was a year of adaptation for everybody – athletes, race organisers and the WMRA.

We spoke to the runners on our athletes’ commission about their experiences of 2020, the highlights (if there were any), the positives they can take away from it, and what their hopes are for 2021.

Loss of freedom

Julien Rancon of France, where the lockdown was more restrictive than many, voiced the thoughts of many runners by saying “2020 will obviously be a year that will go down in history. The first thing that comes to my mind, apart from the fact that the sport’s movement has almost been in standby, is that this virus largely deprived us of the freedom to run in our mountains or restricted this practice.” Julien also had an injury that prevented him from running for a while once his lockdown was over, but all of this made the freedom to run again in the mountain so much sweeter when it was possible. “In the autumn, I had great pleasure to run and above all to meet my friends to share good moments in training camps, and in the French Championship and in the Trofeo Nasego and Trofeo Vanoni. These will remain for me the highlights of the season, because living your own passion remains an essential thing.”

Taking the positives

Trofeo Nasego and Trofeo Vanoni were also highlights of the year for Andrew Douglas from Scotland. But these were two of very few races he was able to compete in in 2020. As he says, this was “a complete contrast to 2019 when I took a sabbatical from work and I was regularly racing most weekends.” But being a positive kind of person he was able to take some good things away from this strange year too: “the thing I’m most positive about was that I was finally able to set some time aside to run in different places around Scotland that I had never been to before. A particular highlight was heading up to the north west Highlands and spending a few days there running up and down some glorious Munros with some friends.”

Joseph Gray won our men’s WMRA GOAT (greatest mountain runner of all time) vote in 2020

Over in the US, Joseph Gray could also appreciate some positives from the year, saying “it was great in terms of being able to spend bonus time with the family and kiddos”, but he was also disappointed by the lack of opportunity for travel and competition. But 2020 was a huge year for FKTs and Joseph made the most of his fitness where possible: “I only had a few races but highlights would be winning my first USA National title in Snowshoe racing, setting the Boulder Skyline FKT and Enchantments Alpine Lakes FKT!”

Furloughed from his job (earning him the nickname of ‘the furlough pro’ in his native Ireland), Zak Hanna definitely made the most of the additional time he had to train. He says “2020 turned out to be a great year for me, which to many may sound silly but I made a point of enjoying it rather than listening to all the negativity that has surrounded this year. Since the lockdown started I managed to compete in 10 races, one at home here in Ireland, eight over in Italy and last week I finished the year off with a five mile road race. Piz Tri Vertikal, Fletta Trail, Vertikal Nasego and Trofeo Vanoni stand out as highlights for me, as I left these races really happy with my performances and it has left me wanting more for 2021.”

Zak Hanna

A chance for a reset

But for some, 2020 ended up being less about racing and more about resetting. For Sarah Tunstall it provided an opportunity to address an injury issue. “I finished last season pretty decrepit and I wanted a break to get on top of injury issues and refresh myself. 2020 has been tough for all kinds of reasons, however, having no pressure of races has greatly helped me focus on the long-term health of my heels. I’ve also enjoyed exploring lots of new areas within the UK’s Lake District.”

Sarah Tunstall

Sandor Szabo of Hungary used 2020 as an opportunity to focus on his mental and physical health. “Unfortunately covid was only the start of my problems (injuries, family bereavements, money problems, etc.) but by the end of 2020, I can say, I got stronger mentally. I did not run a lot races this year – mostly because I couldn’t – but I’m not sad about it. I needed this year to be well prepared what’s coming next.”

Adapting

Fujio Miyachi of Japan did race, but the atmosphere made it feel more like training: “I participated in a race that runs around an old temple in Japan. Some temples in Japan have a history of running and training in the mountains. I ran on that old road. Although it was a race, my feelings were calm as I ran silently in the mountains like training.”

Fujio Miyachi

Francesco Puppi of Italy achieved some good success in races, winning the Fletta Trail and Dolimitenmann, setting impressive PBs at 10k and half marathon, and coming 7^th in the Golden Trails Azores, but he too felt that “it was the right year to focus on training rather than racing. I am proud to have had the chance and the willingness to adapt to circumstances and find different ways to stay fit and build something useful for me and for our future. Because it’s not just me, among my goals I want to leave a legacy to this sport and I’m actively working for that.”

Looking to 2021

And what are our athletes’ hopes for 2021? Obviously they were unanimous in hoping for some sort of return to ‘normality’, and a safe return to racing. Many expressed a lot of excitement for the World Cup and its exciting line-up of races next year. Sandor Szabo says “in this new system, it will be interesting to compete in the World Cup. I would like to finish higher in the top 10, and I’ll do everything I can to do my best. I’m looking forward mostly to Broken Arrow, which was my favourite World Cup race in 2019, and Sierre-Zinal”.

Sandor Szabo

Francesco Puppi is eager to take part in a race which is new to the World Cup for 2021: “I am looking forward to running La Montée du Nid d’Aigle, organized by my friend Elise Poncet”

One newly-announced championship which our athletes are particularly enthusiastic about is the first ever World Mountain and Trail Championships, which will take place in Chiang Mai, Thailand in November. Andrew Douglas calls it “the mouth-watering prospect of competing in Thailand at the newly combined World Trail and Mountain Running Championships!”

Andrew Douglas

Francesco Puppi says “The first world mountain and trail running championship is obviously a main target and it will be a turning point for our sport: the joint efforts of WMRA and ITRA with the direct support of World Athletics will finally take effect. The fact that the WMTRC will take place every other year will give it more credibility and visibility, while allowing athletes to focus on other races and projects.”

Francesco Puppi

Undoubtedly 2021 will still have significant challenges for athletes and race organisers. One short-term problem could be different travel restrictions in different countries. Joseph Gray says “I just hope for a safe return for us all to racing high level races once again. Really hoping all athletes have equal access to major events again as well so as to keep the level competitive as in past years.”

It’s unlikely that many of us will move forward into 2021 without our attitudes to running and racing being changed in some way. For Andrew Douglas “having missed racing and the social side of mountain running, there’s going to be a much deeper appreciation to being involved in the sport”, a sentiment that was echoed by others.

Everybody is undoubtedly eager to get back racing more regularly again, but, having been through this year that has had such an impact on so many people, that may look slightly different. As Francesco Puppi puts it: “I just hope we can take the best we’ve learned from this pandemic and leave the rest, keep moving forward, finding new, sustainable ways for our future.”

Announcement of 2021 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships

Written by Tomo Sarf on 23/12/2020. Posted in Latest News.

Chiang Mai, Thailand will host the inaugural World Mountain & Trail Running Championships on 11-14 November 2021. It will feature 40KM and 80KM trail races, classic mountain races for Seniors and Juniors, and a vertical uphill race. World Athletics President Sebastian Coe: “we encourage runners of all kinds to explore everything our sport has to offer”.

The First Edition of the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships (WMTRC) will be held 11-14 November 2021, in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Over the four days, the action-packed championships program will include vertical uphill mountain races, short and long trail races for senior athletes and the classic mountain races for both seniors and juniors.

Situated 700km north of Bangkok, on the banks of the Ping River, Chiang Mai offers the unforgettable scenery of the most beautiful and the largest tourist spot in the northern part of Thailand. The mountainous surroundings and the city’s growing reputation for outdoors mass sporting events make it the perfect place to host the first-ever combined World Championships.

This new biennial event further develops the partnership between the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA), the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) and the International Trail Running Association (ITRA), with support from World Athletics.

Building on the creation of a single definition for mountain and trail running within the athletics family, it replaces the successful separate World Championships held respectively by WMRA and IAU/ITRA. This new global festival is designed to attract the best elite trail and mountain runners, as well as provide opportunities for mass participation runners to test themselves on the same courses. It is an exciting development that aims to provide athletes, brands, athletics associations, media and fans of the sport with a clear, recognizable product in the global calendar of this burgeoning running discipline.

Minister of Tourism and Sport of Thailand, Pipat Ratchakitprakarn, said: “I am delighted that the Tourism Authority of Thailand under the Ministry of Tourism and Sport is ready to support and to be a part of the 1st edition of the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships. We are looking forward to being able to host athletes and countries from all over the world for what we believe will be a special event that will showcase the best of Chiang Mai and mountain and trail running, I would like to thank you for giving us this opportunity to host such a new and exciting world class event.”

Deputy Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Thapanee Kiatphaibool said: “We would like to use ‘Amazing Thailand’ as the naming of this event. Amazing Thailand has always been associated with Major Sports events in our country. We are proud to be a part of WMTRC2021 and hope that the world-class event will attract thousands of competitors and families to join us as we believe that this event will be one of the most unforgettable in The Land of Smiles, Thailand“.

Welcoming the announcement, Presidents of the WMRA, IAU, and ITRA – Jonathan Wyatt, Nadeem Khan, and Bob Crowley said: “We are delighted to be able to end such a difficult year as 2020 with the announcement of our first-ever joint mountain and trail world championships. Chiang Mai has a growing reputation for hosting quality off road running events, and we are sure it will provide excellent courses to enable the best runners to test themselves against one another. Working with World Athletics, we know that mountain and trail running has a massive part to play in getting more people physically active, and we look forward to working with the local organizing committee to develop a truly global festival of running for both elite and mass runners”.

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said:“The announcement reflects the common interests and growing collaboration of our four organizations, who share the ambition of promoting running in all its guises. Our closer ties will create more opportunities for distance runners to compete in varying environments and take on different challenges, whether it be in the spectacular natural settings that mountain and trail events offer, or in more traditional events on the road or the track. That versatility and range of opportunities are one of running’s great attractions and we encourage runners of all kinds to explore everything our sport has to offer.”

The event schedule will be:
Friday 12th November – 40km trail race, followed by the vertical uphill races in the evening
Saturday 13th November – 80km trail race
Sunday 14th November – Classic up and down mountain races for seniors and juniors
Plus mass participation events, expo and running clinics

All races will be held under World Athletics Technical Rules, with the final details of the course to be confirmed in early 2021:

Race	Distance	Ascent	Descent
Vertical uphill	3 – 6 km	1000m
Classic up and down senior	10 – 12 km	500 – 700m	500 – 700m
Classic up and down junior	5 – 6 km	250 – 350m	250 – 350m
Short trail senior	35 – 45 km	ITRA factor 45 – 74
Long trail senior	75 – 85 km	ITRA factor 115 – 154

Spanish National Team Trail Running Championships: Blanes and Alonso Win

Written by Tomo Sarf on 13/12/2020. Posted in Latest News.

The Spanish National Team Trail Running Championships took place this weekend in Ibiza. The race was in the style of a Classic WMRA Mountain Race over 21k with 872m of ascent. This is somewhat of a departure for Spanish mountain racing, which traditionally prefers the vertical uphill or long distance races.

As Juan Carlos Granado of RFEA noted during the event, this event has served to identify athletes with the potential to be in the Classic test in European and Worlds 2021. At the 2019 World Cup, Spain won three medals in Long Distance, but were not as competitive in the Classic Distance.

With good weather and a quiet day, the runners’ start times were staggered. Every 30 seconds they were set off, with maximum groups of 10 people, one per team present. Athletes had to carry with the usual mandatory kit including whistle, mobile phone, chip, thermal blanket and bib, as well as a mask. The mask was not necessary in competition, but on the finish line and after crossing the finish line.

The men’s race

In the men’s category, ten Autonomous Federations competed in Ibiza: Andalusia, Aragon, Canary Islands, Castile and León, Catalonia, Valencian Community, Balearic Islands, Madrid, Murcia and Navarra. A year ago, in Murcia, Catalonia, Andalusia and Castilla y León completed the first podium in the history of this Championship.

The team gold went to VALENCIA, with Andreu Blanes as winner, hot on the heels of his 1.03 at last weekend’s Valencia Half Marathon. He won with a spectacular 1h21m27s. He was accompanied by another proven elite, Antonio Martínez, who finished in the top 10 of the 2019 World Cup and recently won the 16k at Canfranc. He finished in the top 5 with a time of 1h25m40s. Ricardo Cherta tied the Gold with 8th place and a time of 1h27m01.

Silver was for a solid ANDALUCIA that repeated podium after 2019. The white-green team was led in a great career of two of its components. First a combative Mario Olmedo, who finished fourth with 1h25m28s fighting bronze to the end. And after him, with the sixth place the young Juan Javier Jiménez Oller with 1h25m59s. The 12th place of Alvaro Gomez with 1h20m03s finished tying the second drawer for Andalusia.

The bronze was for a brilliant MURCIA selection of Alejandro García, Zaid Ait Malek and Santiago Pérez the three pillars of the revelation of the day. A success that also consolidates Alejandro García among the elite of Spanish mountain racing, following the good results noted in previous races.

Image copyright RFEA

The women’s race

CATALONIA was the favourite to keep the women’s title and it did just that, with an outstanding gold. The Catalan team was a dream team with enormous depth. There were two medalists from the last Spanish Trail Running Championship: Spanish champion Gisela Carrión, who won silver today and bronze in El Paso, Marta Molist who added bronze here again. In addition, they are also part of the Anna Commet team, fifth today. But it was Sara Alonso, who was running out of competition by not presenting the Basque national team, who took the overall victory in the women’s race.

A well-deserved silver went to CANARIAS, who are becoming a strong force in mountain races. Runners such as Aroa Merino, sixth, Elsa Padrón (12th) and Estela Guerra (13th) are the ones who have made this achievement possible today.

MADRID won the bronze today. The Madrid national team set out to offer this race to athletes with extensive experience in other tests. Thus, the Madrid triplet in goal was composed of runners over thirty years old all, but not well known in mountain races. Thus, Elena García Grimau finished in the top 10, along with veteran Charlotte Coton (11th) and Elena Lorenzo (17th)

Image copyright RFEA

Article by Carreras de Montana. Read the original in Spanish and view interviews here.

Sierre-Zinal Announce Plans for 2021

Written by Tomo Sarf on 30/11/2020. Posted in Latest News.

In 2020, faced with unprecedented circumstances, the Sierre-Zinal organising committee maintained its resolve to keep the race flame going, crafting a different version of the event. It was held as a free form month-long event, abiding by the restrictions imposed by the health situation.

However, the organisers recognise that a month-long event in no way creates the same thrills and euphoria for the runners as the iconic one day race. Which is why the organisers want to resume the regular Sierre-Zinal format as soon as the situation allows. As the public health situation remains unpredictable, they are announcing a project that will enable all mountain race fans to live as exciting a Sierre-Zinal experience as possible in 2021. As it’s going to be part of the 2021 World Cup we’re keen to see an exciting race too!

The Covid 19 pandemic and its ramifications have sadly become part and parcel of our lives. As such, the organisers assume that participants in the 2021 race can equally adapt to the evolving health situation and go along with a race format that is also liable to change.

THE CONCEPT

From the organisers:

Registrants to the 48th edition of Sierre-Zinal must be fully conscious of the fact that the race format is liable to change:

A one-day race is our priority: Sierre-Zinal will be held on August 7th 2021.
New: Please note that Sierre-Zinal is taking place on a Saturday (a small departure from the traditional second Sunday in August).
A free form month-long event will be organized if and only if the health situation is such that large gatherings are not permitted. This event would take place from Wednesday 2 August to Sunday 12 September 2021. The organising committee will make a decision by June 30th 2021.

FEES AND REFUND

Should the committee change the race’s classic format into a month-long event, registrants may expect partial entry fee refunds. However, a format change does not warrant a full refund.

REGISTRATION CALENDAR

For runners who opt for hotel and training clinic packages (4%) registration opens on Monday 1 February at 12:00 pm (midday).
For Sierre and Anniviers residents (8%) registration opens on Sunday 14 February at 12:00 pm (midday).
For all other entrants (88%) registration opens on Friday 2 April at 12:00 pm (midday). TBD. Registration details will be published in due time.

They explain it all in this video:

Keep checking their website for more information.

First WMRA Virtual Congress

Written by Tomo Sarf on 28/11/2020. Posted in Latest News.

In the first ever virtual WMRA Congress there was a very pleasing turnout of 25 delegates and participation from honorary president and council members Bruno Gozzelino and Pierre Weiss. Also present was World Athletics Road Competitions Manager Alessio Punzi, who informed the Congress about developments of the first edition of the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships due to take place in November 2021, with an announcement on the venue to be made in the next 2-3 weeks.

News about the current year and future competitions was well received by the delegates including the launch of the 2021 World Cup venues with a record number of applications and the World Mountain Running Ranking due to be launched before the end of the year.

Also unveiled was the 4 year strategic plan for mountain running taking into account a new vision by the WMRA to have more people from all backgrounds positively benefiting from running in the mountains in an environmentally responsible way.

We established 3 key strategic directions. The first is enhancing the athlete experience through competition events, the Mountain Running World ranking, social media and high quality news items as well as delivering the World Championships in partnership with World Athletics. The second is to make education and promotion to further develop the sport and increase knowledge about Mountain Running a priority. And the third is to use our technical expertise to add value to race events.

It was a very productive session and the WMRA members were able to both interact and learn about these and other future plans for Mountain Running. A pleasing result in a year of difficult times!

Jonathan Wyatt

here is a list of the participants today…

Kenyan Mountain Running Championships

Written by Tomo Sarf on 28/11/2020. Posted in Latest News.

The Kenyan Mountain Running Championships took place last weekend, with top runners from all over the country travelling to compete. Many athletes were recent converts to mountain running, which is growing in Kenya.

The championships took part at Navasha and the routes certainly weren’t easy. Runners took on Mount Longonot on a steep and tough course, finishing in Kenton at 2685m. Senior men took on a 10k route and senior women and junior men an 8k route.

Francisca Kanda emerged victorious in the women’s race in 48.11. Beatric Cheserek was second and Judith Korir third. See the top 10 results.

In the men’s race Patrick Kipngeno took the win in 50.37. Titus Kimutai was second and Michael Kamau in third. See the top 10 results.

In the junior men’s race Emmanuel Maru won in 37.19, followed by Matthew Rutto in second and Henry Mwangi third. See the top 10 results.

300 athletes in total took part, and the sport is certainly growing in Kenya. Many athletes taking part were newer to the sport and Athletics Kenya anticipate that more athletes will go on to represent the country in international mountain running competitions.

Photo by Erick Barasa

World Cup 2021 Races

Written by Tomo Sarf on 25/11/2020. Posted in Latest News.

The 2021 World Cup has something for everybody – 8 countries, 12 locations, some old favourites, some new soon-to-be favourites. Let’s take a closer look at the 16 races which make up next year’s competition.

The World Cup kicks off on 18 June with a race which made its debut in the 2019 World Cup, Broken Arrow. This time there are 2 races, a short uphill only race of 5.1k with 900m of ascent on the Friday, then the 26k race with 1700m, which featured in the 2019 competition, on the Sunday. The race describes itself as ‘European-inspired mountain running characterized by off-trail scrambling, steep terrain, and massive amounts of vertical gain and loss’ and the majority of it takes place at over 6000 feet. https://www.brokenarrowskyrace.com/

Next is a new race for the World Cup and the first of 2 visits to Poland for us, Tatra Race Run on 26 June. This is our second long mountain race, at 24k with 2019m of up and down running. We’re really looking forward to exploring the Tatra Mountains, which look stunning. They are part of the Tatra National Park and part of UNESCO’s World Network of Biosphere Reserves. https://tatrafestbieg.pl/

From there we head to familiar ground when we return to Grossglockner Berglauf in Heilenblut, Austria on the 11^th of July for our next classic mountain race. Runners will take on the 13k race with 1265m of uphill (no down) against the stunning backdrop. http://www.grossglocknerberglauf.at/berglauf.html

Then it’s over to another new World Cup event in France on 17 July, La Montee du Nid d’Aigle. This takes place in beautiful St Gervais in France and it’s our next classic mountain race at 19.5k with 2000m of ascent, up to Refuge du Nid d’Aigle, and just 100m of descent. Could this be the year that the women’s record is broken? Isabelle Guillot has held it since 2006! https://trailpei.run/course/montee-du-nid-daigle/

Next we take our second trip to the Tatra Mountains for Tatra Sky Marathon on 24 July. This is our next long mountain race at 42k and runners will take on a huge 3300m of ascent and descent. This race looks epic, but don’t take our word for it, watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suMTd2kKhAI

It’s back to an old favourite for another long mountain race next – it’s the one and only Sierre Zinal! Who could forget the level of competition at the 2019 race when both the men’s and women’s records fell? Could we see something like that again in 2020 with athletes itching to return to competition? We’ll find out over 31k with 2200m of ascent from Sierre to Zinal. https://www.sierre-zinal.com/

Then it’s on to the most northern part of the Czech Republic for the Krkonossky Half Marathon, which had to wait an extra year to debut in the World Cup. This race is just a week after Sierre-Zinal and it will be our next classic mountain race, at 21k with 1200m of climbing. http://www.maratonstav.cz/

Next we travel to northern Italy for Vertical Nasego and Trofeo Nasego. On 4 September the short uphill race will take place, over a distance of 4.2k with 1000m of ascent and the following day the classic mountain race will be contested over a 21.5k course with 1336m of climbing. http://www.trofeonasegocorsainmontagna.com/

Then we head to another race which had to wait a while to make its World Cup debut – Canfranc-Canfranc in the Spanish Pyrenees. This rugged race will take place on 11 and 12 September and the runners will have a choice between the 45k (and an incredible +3910m) long mountain race or the classic mountain distance with 1195m of ascent. https://canfranccanfranc.com/

From there we head to a race which served as the World Mountain Running Championships for Masters runners in 2019, Trofeo Ciolo. This race on 26 September isn’t in the mountains, it’s along the stunning, jagged coastline in Gagliano del Capo, Puglia, but at 11k with 496m of short and sharp ascent this classic mountain race will be a fast test for athletes. http://www.trofeociolo.com/

Then it’s out second trip to Spain of the World Cup for Zumaia Flysch Trail Mendi Maratoina on the 3 October. There will be a long mountain race, with 42k with 3000m of ascent, and also a classic mountain race of 14k with 425m of ascent. http://www.zumaiaflyschtrail.com/

Lastly, we round out the 2020 World Cup with one more short uphill race on the 10^th October – the Kilometro Verticale Chiavenna-Lagunac in Italy. This classic of Italian mountain running has already been a WMRA affiliated race and it’s known as the ‘vertical race of the records’. Will it live up to that reputation in 2021 with the added attraction of inclusion in the World Cup? We hope so! http://www.kilometroverticalelagunc.it/

The global Covid-19 pandemic may yet create some adaptations or even cancellations of events and the individual race organisers, as well as the WMRA, will continue to monitor the situation going forward. Local restrictions will be observed and athlete and volunteer safety will be paramount.

The 2021 World Cup in numbers:

8 Countries

12 Event locations

16 races in 3 categories

10,000+ participants

World Cup 2021 Announcement

Written by Tomo Sarf on 22/11/2020. Posted in Latest News.

The USA, Poland, Czech Republic, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, France and Austria. These are the locations that will be staging the 2021 World Cup. It is really pleasing to be able to present today the 2021 World Cup Calendar!

What is especially pleasing is the level of interest and positivity from our races and athletes about the possibilities of racing next year. We know and expect the challenges of Covid-19 to be with us during 2021 and with new measures of safety and adapting to travel restrictions the WMRA is ready to work with the races in order to run the series and have exciting opportunities for our Mountain Running athletes to race each other on some exciting courses in spectacular locations. Being adaptable and working together has been the concept for next year’s event as well as an earlier launch to allow for best planning possible. It has been a pleasure seeing how all of our race applicants are committed to the sport.

We are also very excited to see such great support from long time World Cup supporters as well as new races wanting to join us on our World Cup journey. WMRA have decided to continue the format of offering 3 race categories with category champions as well as overall World Cup champions that was proposed in 2020.

We have 12 event locations in 8 countries with 16 races across the 3 categories. There are 3 Vertical Up races, 7 Classic Mountain races and 6 Long mountain races that offer an incredible variety of terrain and landscapes.

The World Cup points rules have been modified to take account of the number of races we are offering.

We have a great mix of iconic, new (to the World Cup) as well as very experienced race events in the 2021 edition of the World Cup that the Mountain Running Community can enjoy and share.

Two iconic mountain races at Sierre-Zinal (Switzerland) and Grossglockner (Austria) come back in 2021.

There are races that join the World Cup for the first time. Here we have under the shadow of Mt Blanc in the French Alps La Monte’e du Nid d’Aigle join us. We welcome three new events for the World Cup in the eastern area of Europe where we have two of these in the Tatra Mountains of Poland (Tatra Sky Marathon and Tatra Race Run) and then the experienced Mountain event organisers at the Krkonosky half marathon in the Czech Republic. Italy has more competitions than ever before with Lagunc in Chiavenna who will host the final race of the year in October, we visit southern italy with the Trofeo Ciolo. Nasego with many years of mountain running experience hosts two races. The World Cup will travel to Spain for the first time in 2021 with two venues and four races. One in the Basque region (Zumaia-Gipuzkoa) where the passion for sport is always very strong and then Canfranc that is in the beautiful Pyrenean mountains. So it’s an exciting line-up kicking off on June 20th and running through until October 10th!

The races are all open for every runner to participate and join in the World Cup competition. The more races you run, the more points you will get towards a higher World Mountain Ranking! WMRA would like to wish all people involved the best of health in these difficult times.

Summary 2021 World Cup key facts:

8 Countries

12 Event locations

16 Races in 3 categories

10,000+ participants

Venue no	Race no	Date	Race name	Venue	Country	Distance	Up	Down	Event
1	1	Sunday 20 June	Broken Arrow Skyrace	Squaw Valley	USA	26km	1700m	1700m	Long Mountain
	2	Friday 18 June	Broken Arrow	Squaw Valley	USA	5.1km	900m	0	Short Uphill
2	3	Saturday 26 June	Tatra Race Run	Tatra Mountains	POL	24.2km	2019m	2019m	Long Mountain
3	4	Sunday 11 July	22nd Grossglockner Berglauf	Heiligenblut	AUT	13.4km	1265m	142m	Classic Mountain
4	5	Saturday 17 July	La Montee du Nid d’Aigle	St Gervais	FRA	19.5km	2000m	100m	Classic Mountain
5	6	Saturday 24 July	Tatra SkyMarathon	Koscielisko	POL	42km	3300m	3300m	Long Mountain
6	7	Saturday 7 August	Sierre-Zinal	Sierre-Zinal	SUI	31km	2200m	1100m	Long Mountain
7	8	Sunday 15 August	Krkonosky Half Marathon	Jasnke Lazne	CZE	21km	1200m	1220m	Classic Mountain
8	9	Saturday 4 September	6th Vertical Nasego	Nasego	ITA	4.2km	1000m	0	Short Uphill
	10	Sunday 5 September	20th Trofeo Nasego	Nasego	ITA	21.5km	1336m	1039m	Classic Mountain
9	11	Saturday 11 September	Canfranc-Canfranc	Canfranc-Estacion	ESP	45km	3910m	3910m	Long Mountain
	12	Sunday 12 September	Canfranc-Canfranc	Canfranc-Estacion	ESP	16km	1195m	1195m	Classic Mountain
10	13	Sunday 26 September	Trofeo Ciolo	Gagliano del Capo	ITA	11km	496m	374m	Classic Mountain
11	14	Sunday 3 October	12th Zumaia Flysch Trail Mendi Maratoina	Zumaia-Gipuzkoa	ESP	42.5km	3000m	3000m	Long Mountain
	15	Sunday 3 October	12th Zumaia Flysch Trail Mendi Maratoina	Zumaia-Gipuzkoa	ESP	22km	850m	850m	Classic Mountain
12	16	Sunday 10 October	22nd Kilometro Verticale Chiavenna-Lagunc	Chiavenna	ITA	3.2k	1000m	0	Short Uphill

A Tribute to Chris Smith

Written by Tomo Sarf on 30/10/2020. Posted in Latest News.

All at the WMRA are incredibly saddened by the loss of GB mountain runner Chris Smith.

Chris had gone for a run from Invervar in Perthshire, Scotland, on Tuesday and failed to return that evening. Well loved in the running community, many who knew him had helped to search and spread the word about his disappearance, but unfortunately his body was found on Thursday.

Chris regularly represented Great Britain in the European Mountain Running Championships and World Mountain Running Championships between 2011 and 2017. He finished 8th in the European Championships in 2013 and 10th in the World Championships in 2015. He helped the Great British men’s team win two silver medals in European Championships and a bronze in the 2015 World Championships.

Fellow GB team member Sarah Tunstall says of Chris, “I am overwhelmingly saddened by the tragic news of Chris’s death. It is hard to put into words, his infectious enthusiasm for the sport and impact that would have on inspiring the team and individual athletes. He was a true gent, selfless team mate and fantastic athlete who always left everything out there on race day. I have countless fond memories of Chris and am privileged to have shared poignant moments in both our running careers, that will forever make me smile. It is a tremendous loss for anyone who knew him, and all my thoughts are with his wife and family at this devastating time.”

Andrew Douglas, who also served on GB teams with Chris, says, “Chris was one of those athletes you really looked forward to being in a team with. He already had a wealth of experience before I joined him for the first time in a GB team at the 2015 European Mountain Running Championships in Madeira. He was just so approachable, down to earth and unassuming; and always up for a laugh (a fine drinking buddy post-race!). But when it came to racing he was a fierce competitor, always put it all out there on race day. His longevity at the top level of the sport is something I really admire and should be of inspiration to all involved in mountain running. He’ll be sorely missed, one of life’s genuinely special people.”

Sarah Rowell, former team GB manager and current member of the WMRA Council, adds, “The British mountain running family is devastated today at the loss of Chris, he was not only a great runner, but more importantly a very special person. A massive family man, he made time for all on the team, no matter who they were. He will be missed massively by all, I am just privileged to have been part of those who supported him for the years he ran for GB”.

WORLD MOUNTAIN RUNNING ASSOCIATION