Author: wmra_wp

Favourites prove victorious.
235 mountain runners took part in the first WMRA 2007 Grand Prix event, organized in the famous Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana.

235 mountain runners took part in the first WMRA 2007 Grand Prix event, organized in the
famous Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana. The race, which was also a Swiss national championships, started in the Rhone Valley in the town Sierre. The picturesque 12.7 km long course with 1040 m altitude difference took the runners passing vineyards and through the medieval village of Venthone (the women starting point) All runners finished the race in the centre of Crans-Montana

European champion, Marco Gaiardo (ITA) and World Silver medallist, Martina Strachl (SUI) maintained their fine 2006 form, both justifying their positions as pre race favorites .
Gaiardo had a comfortable winning margin of more than two minutes over 25 year old David Schneider, a Swiss orienteering international, in a winning time of 60 minutes 35 seconds.
Twenty year old Strachl won by 50 seconds from fellow countrywoman Bernadette Meier and Italian international Maria Roberti three minutes behind in 3rd position. The ladies course was 8.5km with 600m of ascent.

Marco Gaiardo praised the race organization and the course. He classed the route difficulty as moderate, with a mixture of some very steep and fairly flat sections, requiring athletes to manage many rhythm changes. He thinks that the winning time in the 2008 World Trophy over the same course will be between one and two minutes faster.

The second WMRA Grand Prix event will be on 15th July in Austria on the famous Grossglockner mountain.

The second WMRA Grand Prix event will be on 15th July in Austria on the famous Grossglockner mountain.

WOMEN
1. STRÄHL Martina / 87 / SUI / 46.35
2. MEIER Bernadette / 72 / SUI / 47.25
3. ROBERTI Maria / 66 / ITA / 49.31
4. ROMANENS Marie-Luce / 73 / SUI / 49.51
5. WILKINSON Victoria / 78 / GBR / 50.26
6. RUEDA OPPLIGER Fabiola / 63 / SUI / 50.48
7. BUCKLEY Anne / 67 / GBR / 51.09
8. OBERSON Estelle / 86 / SUI / 51.25
9. ROBINSON Rebecca / 82 / GBR / 51.48
10. HREBEC Laura / 77 / SUI / 52.01

MEN
1. GAIARDO Marco / 70 / ITA / 1:00.35
2. SCHNEIDER David / 81 / SUI / 1:02.43
3. KRÄHENBÜHL Jacques / 64 / SUI / 1:02.50
4. ABATE Gabriele / 79 / ITA / 1:03.49
5. GEX-FABRY Alexis / 73 / SUI / 1:04.39
6. SYMONDS Joe / 83 / GBR / 1:05.06
7. MEYSSAT Emmanuel / 80 / FRA / 1:05.17
8. SUTZ Andy / 81 / SUI / 1:05.42
9. EPINEY Sébastien / 67 / SUI / 1:05.45
10. ZARNIK Sebastjan / 77 / SLO / 1:06.17

With the melting of the Alpine snows the serious mountain running season in Europe commences with the first of four Grand Prix races on Sunday 10th June.
The venue is Sierre (Switzerland) and the mountain Crans-Montana which is, famous for it skiing facilities.

The 12.7 km course (men) and 8.5km (women) are the same as the ones which will be used for the 2008 World Trophy so providing a good opportunity for athletes to preview that event.

Last years Grand Prix winners Jonathan Wyatt and Anna Pichrtova are both missing from the entry list. Wyatt with a friends wedding, and Pichrtova, in training, but still recovering from her serious car accident in Nigeria last November.
Therefore, the favourite will be Marco Gaiardo (ITA), last years Grand Prix runner-up and European champion, challenged possibly by teammate Gabriele Abate (ITA) and ex European champion Alexis Gex-Fabri (SUI)
In the absence of Pichrtova, the clear favourite for the womens race is 2006 World silver medallist, Martina Strachl (SUI).

The 2007 Grand Prix series consists of four races, with athletes counting three results towards the final rankings

Danny Hughes

Event organiser sought.
The 2009 European mountain Running Championships is scheduled to be an uphill only event to be held on the first or second weekend of July.
The European Athletic Association (EAA) has invited applications to stage the event and the date for these has now passed. Here is therefore an urgent need for interested organisers to make their interest known.
EAA have recently introduced new regulations whereby the event organisers are no longer responsible for paying for accommodation of competing teams. This was always the major item in the budget and was proving a great disincentive for organisers to offer their services. This change in regulations puts mountain running on the same footing as other EAA championships
The procedure for expressing interest and making an application is that the interested local organising committee contacts their athletic federation who in turn request an application form from the EAA.
If there is an interested organiser out there, and you want to know more particulars, Danny Hughes (WMA President) a member of the EAA Mountain Running Commission will be pleased to advise. Contact details are on the WMRA web page.

Commonwealth championship scheduled for 2009
PRESS RELEASE 1

18.05.07

NEW COMMONWEALTH CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT FOR ULTRADISTANCE AND MOUNTAIN RUNNING TO BE HELD IN ENGLAND IN 2009.

The International Association of Ultra Runners (IAU) and the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) are pleased to announce that their proposal to stage a joint Commonwealth Championships for ultra distance and mountain running has been accepted by the Commonwealth Games Federation.

The championships will take place in scenic Keswick, Cumbria (Lake District), UK, in 2009. The time of year has still to be decided and will fit in with other major event dates in the town.

The two ultra distance events will be a 100k road race probably involving scenic laps around Derwentwater and a 24-hour event held in the centre of Keswick.

The Commonwealth Championship Weekend will utilise the extensive facilities in the town centre.

An uphill only mountain race and an up/down race mountain race will be staged on the surrounding mountains providing both fascinating competition and scenic spectator opportunities.

The four events are will be open to all 71 Nations and Territories of the Commonwealth for both men and women, selected by their national federations and as such continue to broaden the horizons of Commonwealth Sport.

Issued jointly by
International Association of Ultra Runners (IAU) World Mountain Running Association (WMRA)

Growth in International Mountain Running
Those of you interested in the growth of international mountain running under WMRA should visit the WMRA web site. There on the home page you will see some graphics, prepared by Tomo Sarf, of the numbers of countries and numbers of athletes competing in the World Trophy since the first event in 1985 up to the 2006 event in Turkey in 2006.

New WMRA Regulations
Please take note that a new sub-page has been added to the WMRA web page entitled Anti-Doping.
Here you will find the new WMRA anti-doping regulations which come into effect immediately. They have been drawn up by the WMRA Anti-Doping Commission with the assistance of IAAF.
All athletes and organisers are advised to familiarise yourselves with the main elements of the Regulations.

Newsletters for sale.

The 2007 WMRA Newsletter is published and circulated to 2006 World Trophy participants, either directly if I know the address, or to the team manager. If you do not receive a copy contact your last years team manager.
For all others wishing to receive a copy of the full colour, 24 page 2007 edition, send either $5.00 or 5.00€, bills or £2,50 cheque (made out to D.Hughes) to Danny Hughes, and you will be sent a copy by return of post.
IAAF will be sending copies to all member federations.

Calendar, World Masters, Grand Prix updates.
Please note that the following updated documents have been posted on the WMRA web page.
2007 International race Calendar
2007 WMRA Grand Prix regulations.
2007 World Masters regulations.

Those interested in any of the above should visit the web page and read the relevant pages.

Candidates sought.
The European Athletic Association (EAA) are inviting mountain race orgnisers to apply, via their National Federations, to stage the 2008 Championships (up/down) and the 2009 Championships (uphill). We are well past the application date for the 2008 championships but the vacancy has occured due to a hoped for venue deciding against applying. Regulations concerning the championships can be seen on the WMRA web page www.wmra.info under ‘Rules’

WMRA Commission members.

At their recent meeting in Monaco, WMRA Council appointed an Anti-Doping Commission who will be responsible for implementing the WMRA Anti-doping regulations. These regulations will be finalised in the near future.
Members of the Commission are Danny Hughes (GBR), Tomo Sarf (SLO) Bruno Gozzelino (ITA) Dr Sonja Ambrosy (GER) and Thomas Capdevielle (IAAF).
The first meeting of the commission will take place on 9th March when the final text of the regulations will be agreed and arrangements for both ‘in competition’ and ‘out of competition’ anti-dope testing will be announced.