Author: wmra_wp

“The first scoring event of the WMRA Grand-Prix 2009 will be held at the Grand-Ballon Race in France on May 21st.

This is a season-opening race where top runners like race favorite Jonathan Wyatt assess their fitness and French citizens prepare for their National Championships.

The New Zealander is back on the top of the Vosges after his first success here in 2004 when he set a course record (58:19) on the 13,5km route that offers more than 1241m of elevation gain. Defending champion Emmanuel Meyssat is in good form having just won the second race of the French Mountain Cup in Seyssin-St-Nizier.”
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Meyssat will lead a solid French team with Julien Rancon, Said Jandari and Edouard Burrier. Two other runners to watch are Robert Krupicka (second last year at Sierre-Zinal) and Tarcis Ancay, the Swiss winner of Sierre-Zinal 2006. In the women’s race a duel is expected between Anna Frost of New Zealand and last year’s winner and course record holder (46:42 over the 8,5km and +830m course) Martina Strahl of Switzerland.

Last week volunteers from the local organizing committee were working to remove snow from the race course. Near the finish line the snow was piled between 1,50 to 1,80m high! – see the photo herewith.

Tomo Sarf

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“We congratulate Jonathan Wyatt on his recent marriage to Antonella Confortola
and wish them much joy and happiness.
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“A Mountain Running Seminar was held in the Bulgarian tourist centre of Sapareva Banya, which is also the venue of the European Mountain Running Championships in 2010.

Athletic Federations from 18 Eastern European Countries were represented by 76 participants who wanted to gain more knowledge about this new athletic discipline.

Seminar was organized by the Bulgarian Athletic Federation chaired by the president Dobromir Karamarinov and supported by the International Athletic Foundation and technical cooperation of WMRA.
Mountain running experts were available to present their experiences and specific expertise gained from 25 years of mountain running development.

The following items were presented by the lecturers:”
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Day one	&nbsp,	&nbsp,
Introduction of participants, Welcome and aims of the seminar	Bulgarian Fed.	&nbsp,
Short presentation of Sapareva Banya Municipality	Sap. Banya	&nbsp,
&nbsp,The history of mountain running	Gozzelino	.ppt presentation
&nbsp,Origin and development of WMRA &ldquo,The first 25 years&rdquo,	Gozzelino
&nbsp,Mountain running and the IAAF member	Gozzelino
&nbsp,International mountain running calendar	Gozzelino
&nbsp,A definition of Mountain Running	Sarf	.ppt presentation
Developing mountain running inside the national athletic federation	Sarf
Rules governing international competition	Sarf	.ppt presentation
&nbsp,Organizing a mountain race	Sarf
Designing a mountain running course	Sarf
Environmental impact (Altitude, Weather)	Sarf
Equipment	Sarf
&nbsp,WMRA web site	Sarf	.ppt presentation
Day two	&nbsp,	&nbsp,
&nbsp,Marketing and promotion	Woods	.ppt presentation
&nbsp,Technical aspects of mountain running	Woods	.ppt presentation
Coaching implications for mountain runners	Woods
Training for mountain running: a) Men b)Women	Woods
&nbsp,Medical &amp, Anti Doping	Ambrosy	.ppt presentation
Short presentation of Russian Mountain Running	Alexanr Popov	&nbsp,

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“On 24th and 25th April 2009 in the city of Sapareva Banya, Bulgarian Athletic Federation, together with the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) will conduct a Mountain Running Seminar for participants from Eastern Europe and the Balkan Region. The project will come true due to the financial support of the International Athletics Foundation (IAF).”
Mountain Running races are steadily gaining popularity among athletes all around the world. They are recognized as a true test of endurance, ability, skills and wise preparation and are considered best practice for an athlete to excel in distance races. Mountain running is a worldwide sport and branch of traditional athletics, though it is still unknown to the most part of the coaches and Federations’ officials in the Balkan region and Eastern European countries. It is often disregarded due to insufficient information and lack of traditions. Therefore a Seminar confined for participants from this region would certainly help change the opinion and replace ignorance with a well-founded knowledge and understanding.

The project aims to provide Federations officials and coaches with the knowledge and skills necessary to raise their competence in Mountain Running and recognise it as a modern and precious part of athletics which helps improve the athletes’ performances in all endurance races. Participants will compare MR to other endurance races like cross country, will learn how to organise a MR race and design a course, promote and develop national races in accordance with the International mountain running calendar, choose equipment, prevention from injuries, what is the coach’s role in motivating and inspiring an athlete, training for the mountains and what is the environmental impact. Lecturers of the seminar will be leading specialists in mountain running – Bruno Gozzelino (ITA) – WMRA General Secretary, Tomo Sarf (SLO) – WMRA Director of Development, Adrian Woods (GBR) – WMRA Director of Marketing, Dr. Sonja Ambrosy (GER) – WMRA Antidoping commission Member.

Another major aim of the project is to promote Sapareva Banya as the venue of the 9th European Mountain Running Championships 2010 and a natural Mountain Running centre suitable for training and preparation of athletes from all age groups.

There will be 80 participants from 17 European countries such as Russia, Armenia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Poland, Czech Republic, Greece, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Turkey and Bulgaria.

Danny was born in Seaforth, Liverpool, the oldest of four boys. His early memories were those of war time – sheltering under the table when the alarm sounded. When he was five the family moved to Penketh to escape the worst of the bombing.

Danny grew up surrounded by green fields, with the canal and River Mersey close by spending time playing football, cricket, and other sports. At the age of 13 he joined Warrington Athletic Club. While there he met Les Bristow, who was to become his greatest rival and best friend. Les introduced Danny to the wonders of the Lake District which included climbing the mountains in the Langdale Valley. At the age of 15 Danny moved to Wigan Technical and Mining College to do his O and A levels before going to Liverpool University in 1954 to study electrical engineering. Liverpool University opened up many more opportunities for athletic competition and Danny immediately joined the cross country team, which was very successful during those years, and took part in track athletics, holding the mile and half mile record for several years. He made many friends during this time and some of his cross country friends were members of the Christian Union. They invited Danny to some of their meetings and, during his final year there, he became a committed Christian.

On finishing university in July 1958 with a BA in Electrical Engineering, Danny applied for a job at Sellafield with UKAEA, as his one desire was to live in the Lake District which he had fallen in love with in his teens.

Danny continued to run cross country for Warrington Ac when he moved to Cumbria, but it was a long distance to travel and he finally joined the Barrow AC. There were few opportunities for track races in the summer so de decided to have a go at fell running, which mostly took place during the summer months.

In the 60s, Danny met Norma Wilson whilst Scottish Country Dancing at Greengarth and the next week invited her to go to Carlisle with him to a road race from Brampton to Carlisle which was on her eighteenth birthday. Danny and Norma were married at Muncaster Church in 1963 and started their married life at High Eskholme, Muncaster. Danny became a confirmed member of the Church of England and took an exam to become a Lay Reader in the church, a position he was to hold for the rest of his life.

Norma well remembers Danny’s first fell race – the 1964 Vaux Mountain Trial in Wasdale. The runners set off in the direction of Great Gable, disappearing into the mist almost immediately. It was an orienteering type of race and runners chose their route between checkpoints. Danny got hopelessly lost finding the first checkpoint and retired! Joss Naylor, the already famous fell runner who lived and farmed in the Wasdale Valley, also got lost on Seatallen and retired. The experience didn’t dampen Danny’s enthusiasm for the sport and he was soon back taking fell running very seriously, and it became his favourite sport.

Danny also participated in orienteering, which had moved across the north sea from Scandinavia and was becoming popular in the UK. He became one of the ten founder members of the W. Cumberland Orienteering Club and also joined Frank Travis and Jo Long on the Cumberland Fell Running Association committee who organised the annual Ennerdale Horseshoe race. Having run for Barrow AC for a few years, he then moved to Kendal AC who had an active fell running team and started competing in other long distance races like the Ennerdale Horseshoe.

Danny always had a vision for the future in all the organisations he became a part of and soon the CFRA were organising not only the Ennerdale Horseshoe but six other races, namely – Wasdale Horseshoe, Muncaster Fell Race, Bake Fell Race, Copeland Chase, Northern Counties Fell Race (from Buttermere) and the Kinniside Fell Race. In 1986 a new fell running club was founded – Cumberland Fell Runners – with Joss Naylor as Chairman and Danny as Secretary. Danny also joined the Fell Runners Association and was Chairman from 1980 – 1984.

It was during this time that he met up with the Italian mountain runners and the International Committee for Mountain Running (ICMR) was formed with Angelo Biasi as President and Danny as Secretary, and the first Mountain Running World Trophy was organised in Italy in 1984. This organization later became the World Mountain Running Association and Danny became President in 1993. Danny hadn’t competed in races himself since 1996, when he had a serious illness, but still jogged three or four times a week to keep himself fit.

As we celebrate 25 years of the WMRA this September, we also celebrate one of the projects Danny worked tirelessly toward – the Championships designation for the World Mountain Trophy.

Danny will be remembered not only by his family – to include sons David and John, daughter Rachel, and five grandchildren – but also his mountain running family throughout the world. As Norma relates, &quot,Danny’s all-consuming interest was mountain running and he has travelled all over the world helping to organise mountain races.&quot,

The WMRA Council looks forward to continuing on the path that Danny helped form – one that will surely include continued growth in our sport, further worldwide participation, and opportunities for athletes and administrators to share ideas and their love of mountain running.

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“It is with deep regret that we report the sudden death of Danny Hughes on Monday morning (9th February) of a heart attack aged 72 yrs. Danny was born in 1936 and lived in Cumbria, GBR. After graduation from university he worked as a nuclear engineer for 36 years.

He was a lifelong competitor on the hills and became English Masters (50) Champion in 1987 and 1988, and British Masters (50) Champion in 1988.

In the early 1980s it was Danny’s vision to make mountain running an international sport. In 1984 he was one of the founder members of the ICMR and he became the first General Secretary. After the tragic death of president Angelo De Biasi, he became president of the ICMR, which later became the WMRA. Danny’s tireless work has led to the recognition of mountain running by the IAAF and the acceptance of Championship status for the World Trophy.

The World Mountain Running Association will this year celebrate its 25th anniversary – sadly without its figurehead, Danny Hughes.

WMRA Council

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Slovenia have announced &nbsp,their intention to bid for World Long Distance Mountain Running Challenge 2011.
WMRA Council will consider all bids and make a decision in January 2010

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The 2009 World Mountain Running Championships is included in this years Grand Prix
&nbsp,

The withdrawal&nbsp,by Puchberg (AUT) of their Schneeberg race from the 2009 Grand Prix series prompted a re-think of plans for series. The WMRA Council, at its meeting in January, decided to replace this race with the 2009 World Championship, thus keeping the same number of races (7) and considerably increasing the profile of the Grand Prix. With their heavy expenses load the World Championship LOC will not be asked to contribute to the overall GP prize money. A small increase in the amount contributed by each race and a larger amount by the final Smarna Gora race will ensure that the total prize money remains the same as last year.

The World Championship will remain open only to those selected to compete for their country. Examination of previous results leads us to the conclusion that it is unlikely that many in a position of potentially winning Grand Prix prize money would fail to be selected for their country.

In recognition that it will be more difficult to acquire Grand Prix points in the World Championship, that race will attract enhanced points the same as the final Grand Prix race.

The 2009 Grand Prix regulations now appear under &lsquo,Grand Prix’ on the &lsquo,Regulations’ page

“Jon Tvedt, Norwegian mountain runner died on January 11th 2009 during a training run.

The run went up to a mountain called Gullfjellet, just outside Bergen, together with his brother &Oslash,yvind and his training partner Jan Fj&aelig,restad. It is normally a three hour run and one Jon did most Sundays. It was extremely bad weather with lot of wind and an mixture of rain and snow. After passing the top at about 1000 m, on the way down again, Jon got very tired and startet to totter.

Photo: Danny Hughes”
“

Both his brother and Jan had to support him, but this slowed them up considerably&nbsp,and Jon got extremly cold and wet (the wind made it feel like&nbsp,minus 6 C).&nbsp,This temperature made it dangerous and it startet&nbsp, to get dark. His brother &Oslash,yvind therefore ran to try to find a mobile connection&nbsp, and get help, while Jan stayed with Jon and tried to keep him warm.After a&nbsp, while Jon passed away, and Jan tried hard for about 30 – 45 minutes to bring&nbsp, him back to life with heart compression, unfortunately with bad result. There and&nbsp, then Jon lost his life about 500 m above his hometown Bergen. Extremly sad…..&nbsp, Jon Tvedt leaves to daugthers and one multihandicapped son after him (his&nbsp, wife and their mother died for about ten years&nbsp, ago). Photo: Christian Prestegard Jon represented his country in mountain races on many occasions with the following results
2005	21st World Mountain Running Trophy	Wellington/NZL	Men individual	&nbsp,	DNF
2005	4th European Mountain Running Championships	Grossglockner-Heiligenblut/AUT	Men individual	20	1:16:02
2006	22nd World Mountain Running Trophy	Bursa/TUR	Men individual	30	1:01:45
2007	6th European Mountain Running Championships	Cauterets/FRA	Men individual	28	1:14:32
2008	24. World Mountain running Trophy	Sierre – Crans Montana /SUI	Men individual	35	59:13:00
2008	5th World Long Distance MR Challenge	3 Peaks Race/GBR	Men individual	18	03:08:53

Jon won the Norwegian mountain running championship on four occasions 2005-2008
Jon was also the Norwegian orienteering champion on ten occasions&nbsp, “

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2008 Obudu Ranch Mountain Race - Andrea Mayr leading at the 3km point with Tufa on her elbow poised to break up the leading group (Danny Hughes) , ,

There were mixed fortunes for mountain running's World champions, New Zealander Jonathan Wyatt and Andrea Mayr of Austria in Saturday's Obudu Ranch Mountain Race which was held in Cross River state, Nigeria (29).

The hills of Obudu Ranch dawned clear of mist which promised a warm day for the fourth edition of this 11.5km, 800m climb, Mountain Race.
WOMEN

Andrea Mayr (AUT)

After a cautious first 500m World champion Andrea Mayr took the lead and a pack of eight soon broke away from the rest of the field. Tracking her were Ethiopia's Mestawat Tufa, the 2008 World XC silver medallist and 2007 All-Africa Games 10,000m champion, and Aselefech Mergia, the silver medallist in the recent World Half Marathon Championships in Rio, Brazil.

Reaching the 3km point, Tufa injected a remarkable burst of speed, shattering the group apart. She rapidly established what appeared to be an unassailable lead. Running beautifully smoothly up to the 8km point she had established a 600m lead. In the meantime, Mayr, having dropped to the back of the following group was slowly working her way ,back into second position.

From the 8km point onwards Tufa began to weaken, her style disappeared but even though Mayr was rapidly closing the gap Tufa was still odds-on to win. Tufa put everything into a 400m downhill section but then as the course began to climb again towards the finish it suddenly became apparent that she was in severe difficulties. Her run became almost a walk and she knew that Mayr, with her mountain running experience was powering her way into a position to challenge. With 400m to go Mayr took the lead. Even then Tufa made a brave attempt to keep in contention but she had lost the race. Just 50m to the finish line with Mayr celebrating a remarkable victory worth US$50,000, Tufa collapsed, unable to finish the course due to severe dehydration, and was taken on a stretcher to the medical room. Mayr's time was a new course record of 51:14. Just over a minute later, Angelina Mutheu Mutuku (KEN) ,took scond place and 2006 winner Rehima Kedir (ETH) ,third. Half marathon silver medallist Mergia had to be satisfied with fourth position which she secured by the narrowest of margins from Kenyan Pauline Wangui and another Ethiopian , Ashu Kasim.

MEN
The winner of the US$50,000 first prize was Ethiopia's Abebe Dinkesa who set a blistering pace from the start winning in 41:45.

Abebe Dinkesa (ETH)

The men's race also saw the course record beaten, this time by the first three finishers.

Dinkesa was fourth at the 2005 World Cross Country Championships (long course), fifth at the 2005 World Half Marathon championships, and is one of world's best track runners with a 10,000m PB of 26:30.74 (2005).

Uganda's Geoffrey Kusuro (UGA), the 2007 World Junior Mountain Running champion finished 50 seconds behind, and last year's winner Awash Habtamu Fikadu was close behind in third place.

New Zealand's World Mountain Running champion, Jonathan Wyatt, struggling in the heat, finished in a disappointing fourteenth position.

Danny Hughes

Leading Results

Women
1 , , Andrea Mayr (AUT) 51:14
2 , , Angelina Mutheu Mutuku (KEN) 52:17
3 , , Rehima Kedir (ETH) 52:51
4 , , Aselefech Mergia (ETH) 53:02
5 , , Pauline Wangui (KEN) , 53:03
6 , , Ashu Kasim (ETH) 53:05

Men
1 , , Abebe Dinkesa (ETH) 41:45
2 , , Geoffrey Kusuro (UGA) 42:36
3 , , Awash Fikadu (ETH) 42:42
4 , , Tilahu Regassa (ETH) 42:47
5 , , Lishan Yigezu (ETH) , 42:48
6 , , Rolando Ortizcelis (COL) 43:40

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