Author: wmra_wp

“The meeting of the WMRA Council was held at the Hotel Marriott in Cap d&rsquo,Ail-Monaco on Saturday, January 9, 2016.
Following opening words and a short welcome from WMRA President Bruno Gozzelino, business got underway.&nbsp,
In attendance for the WMRA, Secretary Pierre Weiss (FRA), Treasurer Nancy Hobbs (USA), Tomo Sarf (SLO), Wolfgang Munzel (GER), Andrzej Puchacz (POL) and Galia Puhaleva (BUL).
Paul Hardy represented the IAAF and Carlos Cardoso attended in his role as IAAF Cross Country Committee Chairperson.
Apologies were received from Erhan Basoglu for his absence.
(There was a separate meeting for financial matters with Weiss, Munzel, Gozzelino, and Hobbs, as well as a review of working regulations by Weiss and Sarf, on Friday, January 8, at the IAAF offices. The outcome of these meetings is included in this recap.)
For the IAAF, Paul Hardy provided an update stating at the outset, &ldquo,The IAAF ship is not sinking, but&nbsp, we are in very rough waters.&rdquo, One of the key items to share was the suspension of the Russian Federation and its athletes (a list of some 4,000 viewable on the IAAF website), which will affect upcoming WMRA championship events as long as the suspension remains in place. WMRA Council was in full agreement to support the IAAF decision regarding this ban and will implement it at the international WMRA mountain running events.
Newly elected IAAF President Sebastian Coe has brought in an expert to evaluate the current administration and the IAAF is undertaking a review of the governance structure. There shouldn&rsquo,t be a marked change, but perhaps some restructuring of staff along with the appointment of a CEO most likely in the spring.
Carlos Cardoso is not new to the WMRA as he was involved for a decade as a liaison to the WMRA starting in 1989. His return to the WMRA family was enthusiastically welcomed by the council.”
“

There was positive news regarding financial matters.
At the end of 2014, the reserves were nearly depleted, and 2015 showed savings in various budgeted line items (newsletter printing and travel among them), to reverse the trend and create reserves over $10,000. The goal by 2017 is to have $25,000 in reserves.&nbsp, There was discussion to raise the annual dues by $50 in 2017, and this item will come before Congress in September.&nbsp, Although no sponsors are secured for 2016, this point is a key item and relates to marketing, promotion, and brand visibility (our brand being &ldquo,mountain running&rdquo, and the associated championship and cup events). Some key outcomes of the council follow.
The rule 144.3 b) regard &quot,assistance to athletes&quot, and interesting question arised because a FIDAL letter of days ago explained that this rule is valid only for &quot,stadia&quot, event and not for &quot,no-stadia&quot, event.&nbsp, This could means that runners in mountain running (like in marathon or in cross country or other out stadia events) could use radio, radio transmitters or similar: of course top runner don’t use this kind of radio but a lot of runners in mass competition could use this. This situation could be dangerous because these persons could not listen advertising or clacson of car or other runners but only the radio that they have!!!!&nbsp, So this seems to be a situation to clarify by deputy IAAF Commission and WMRA proposed to keep in consideration our comments.
Always regarding rules, regards &quot,drinking station&quot, WMRA Council noted that in the IAAF rules there are different procedure for adopting sanction in case that one athlete receive drinks out drinking station…. but in particular is not clear which action by the Jury&nbsp,must be taken in this case, specially in cross country and mountain running: first Yellow card (waming), second red card (disqualification)? or other procedure??? So this point must be clarify in next time.
Equality of course distances for men and women as well as team category sizes was a lengthy discussion point resulting in several changes which, now approved by Council will be put forth to the WMRA Congress for consideration. Should the Congress approve the changes, they would go into effect in January 2017 and be part of the 2017 World Mountain Running Championships program.
Those changes include:
1) Senior men and senior women will run an equal distance course of 10 kilometers (+/- 10%) The course is approximated based on the ramifications of the venue, which changes from year to year.
2) Junior men and junior women will run an equal distance course of approximately 5 kilometers. (+/- 10%)&nbsp,
3) in both cases, the course will have 10% ascent/descent difference.
4) The team makeup by category will be the same across all categories. Up to five athletes can be included on an entry per category, with 4 to start/race and 3 to score. One of the reasons for this change is to reduce the cost of accommodations for the LOC, who will be responsible for the 3 scoring members and team staff, while the federations will bear the cost of non-scoring athletes.
Another topic of interest was the new Rule 252 for Trail Running, and further a discussion of what constitutes trail running, mountain running, cross country and other activites (likefor&nbsp,sample&nbsp,vertical running or similar). At the present time, trail doesn&rsquo,t appear anywhere within IAAF as a committee. With other matters facing IAAF, the discussion of the out-of-stadia events has been put on hold, but it is certainly important to have a global view of non-stadia events.
The WMRA regulations are reviewed regularly to reflect any changes dictated by the Council and/or the Congress. Much of the updating is simply to adjust working for a more clear understanding and precise interpretation.&nbsp, Some of these &ldquo,housekeeping&rdquo, items include deadlines from the LOC for PEF and FEF distribution to the federations. Another related to the precise definition of accommodations &ndash, full board or partial board. Included with the FEF, was the suggestion to add anti-doping controls signed by the federations on behalf of the athletes. Legal ramifications were considered and it was decided that this would be a good first step in the right direction.
The Congress will also be invited to accept additional paragraphs in the Constitution related on &ldquo,how to guarantee the election of at least one woman&rdquo,&rsquo,.
Proposed by Tomo Sarf was the potential inclusion of a mountain running relay event in the championships program. The idea is to create an event that is more interesting to sponsors, media, and spectators. There are many options for the format, (perhaps 1 SM &ndash, 1SW &ndash, 1JM &ndash, 1JW or 2 SM – 2 SW&nbsp,or other possibilities), hosting on the same weekend as the World Championships. This type of event is already in the IAAF Rule Book under Mountain Running. There is potential to start with an exhibition-type event and see what the response is from the athletes and the LOC.
During the Congress meeting in Wales, there was a desire from the attendees to enlist a working group to address issues within mountain running. There are various challenges in the quest to grow and expand. To respond to the wishes of the Congress, it was decided that Council would enlist a working group commission (as defined in the WMRA constitution), to address the following topics marketing, promotion, and developing WMRA brand. The five delegates who indicated interest in serving on the commission has been nominated as well two delegates proposed by the President who is an ex officio member off this Working Group. Nancy Hobbs will serve as the liaison to the group with the deadline of no later than May 31, to provide a report to the Council.
An important consideration was the date of the 2016 World Mountain Running Championships in Bulgaria. The new date requested by the LOC was September 11 due to a national holiday the prior weekend.&nbsp, The Council agreed to the change the date as requested by LOC.
No official candidature has been received for the 2017 World Championships, although a document of interest from FIDAL was received and reviewed. It is a new concept to have the World Mountain Running Championships and the World Long Distance Championships on back-to-back weekends. The Council was supportive of this proposal and will go back to FIDAL to discuss the timing of the proposed events, because proposed date in July are not acceptable due a lot of reasons.
Andrzej Puchacz was appointed as WMRA Delegate for 17th WMRA/WMA Master World Mountain Running Championships at Dubnica nad Vahom 2017.
The next meeting of the Council will be held in Sapareva Banya, Bulgaria on Friday, September 9, followed by the Congress meeting on Saturday, September 10.&nbsp, Business was concluded at 5:10 PM.

&nbsp,

Edited from Bruno Gozzelino (WMRA President) and Nancy Hobbs (WMRA Treasurer)

Source of the pictures (photos by Nancy Hobbs):
on front page:
– partecipants to the meeting,
on second page:
– one moment of the meeting.

&nbsp,

&nbsp,

“

“

Friday-Sunday, 12-13 November 2015 &ndash, Janske Lazne-Czech Republic &ndash,
Andrzej Puchacz, WMRA delegate, visited the venue of the World Youth Mountain Running Cup, that will be held on Saturday, 25 June 2016.
All organisational aspects of the event were discussed with the key personnel of the LOC along with a representative of the Czech Athletic Federation.

”

In 2013, the same race venue hosted the World Masters Mountain Running Championships, and for the Youth Cup, many of the same routes will be utilized, with the exception of the last 760 m before the finish.
It will be the first time in the history of the Youth Cup, that uphill courses will be featured.
The junior boys&rsquo, start will be adjacent to the bottom station of the cable car, while the girls&rsquo, start will be 2.1km uphill from the cable car.
The finish line will be at the upper station of the cable car near the Cerna Hora summit, 1250 m above see level.
Course details are as follows:

&nbsp,length&nbsp,&nbsp,start&nbsp,&nbsp, &nbsp,finish&nbsp,&nbsp,&nbsp,&nbsp, ascent&nbsp,&nbsp, &nbsp,descent&nbsp,&nbsp,total&nbsp,&nbsp,&nbsp, &nbsp,ascent
Girls&nbsp,&nbsp, &nbsp,2,6km&nbsp,&nbsp, 970m&nbsp,&nbsp,&nbsp, 1250m&nbsp,&nbsp, &nbsp,280m&nbsp,&nbsp,&nbsp, 10m&nbsp,&nbsp,&nbsp,&nbsp, 290m
Boys&nbsp,&nbsp, &nbsp,4,7km&nbsp,&nbsp, 690m&nbsp,&nbsp, &nbsp,1250m&nbsp,&nbsp, &nbsp,560m&nbsp,&nbsp,&nbsp, 20m&nbsp,&nbsp,&nbsp,&nbsp, 580m

The LOC will provide free transport from the Prague Airoport, 2-2,5 hours drive to the venue, as well as from the nearest train station which is in Svoboda n. Upou, 2 km from Janske Lazne.
All the teams will be accommodated in Janske Lazne wit easy access to the organisational office, ceremonies, meetings and boys&rsquo, start.
All team members will have free access to the cable car.
The event web page will be &quot,LIVE&quot, before the end of January and invitation letters with PEF and FEF forms will be sent to National Federations before the end of February.

&nbsp,

Edited from Nancy Hobbs (WMRA Treasurer) and Andrej Puchacz (WMRA Council member)

&nbsp,Source of the pictures (photos by&nbsp,&nbsp,&nbsp,&nbsp,&nbsp,&nbsp,&nbsp,&nbsp,&nbsp, ):
&nbsp,on front page:
– view of Jaske Lazne.

“The WMRA Council has confirmed the six-race World Cup 2016 calendar (see section Calendar 2016) .
The circuit represents five different host countries and offers a combination of old and new races, although the newcomers — Telfes and Bergen — are actually not new as both were part of the inaugural&nbsp, WMRA Grand Prix series in 1999, as well as founding members of the &ldquo,Berglauf Grand Prix&rdquo, in 1997.
”

Popular not only in European mountain running circles, Hochfelln-Berg-Lauf in Bergen also attracted the eyes of the world when it hosted the World Trophy in 2000.
Telfes is equally popular on the international mountain running circuit with Schlicker-Alm-Berg-Lauf as the only event hosting three major international events, the World Trophy in 1990 and 1996, and the European Championships in 2009.
The other four races are a World Cup standard as they have been part of the series for past 10 years: Grand Ballon in France, Grintovec and Smarna gora in Slovenia, and the World Mountain Running Championships which will be contested in Bulgaria in 1996.
Five of six events are typical Alpine-style uphill-only races while the Smarna gora race is a combination of uphill and technical downhill terrain.
The calendar allows oversees runners to combine some races in their schedule &ndash, like Grand Ballon and the Long Distance Championships which are held one week apart.
Likewise Bergen and Smarna gora are one week apart, with Smarna gora serving as the final World Cup race.

&nbsp,

Edited from Nancy Hobbs (WMRA Treasurer) and Tomo Sarf (WMRA Council member)

&nbsp,Source of the pictures (photos by Tomo Sarf):
&nbsp,on front page:
&nbsp,- Musobo and Tunstall, winners World Cup2015.

&nbsp,

“Sunday, 20 December – Podbrdo-Slovenia.
Wolfgang Munzel, WMRA delegate, visited the venue of the World Long Distance Mountain Running Championships, that will be held on Saturday, 18 June 2016.
Together with the LOC’s key leaders, Mr. Munzel visited the village center where most of the activities will be organized (welcome office, race office, technical meeting, start and finish area).
Thanks to the almost summer-like weather, the group was able to access sections of the course typically snow-covered at this time of year.
”
“As such, the team of five were able to consider alternative routes should there be any need to update the route on race day should bad weather ensue.&nbsp,
National Teams will be accommodated in cozy and friendly family run hotels in the neighboring villages.
The LOC will organize transportation for Teams arriving to the international Ljubljana Airport to the venue, which is a one-hour ride by bus.
The race venue is familiar to many as the area hosted the international mountain running competition in 2011 (at that time referred to as the WLDMR Challenge).
The course for 2016 is almost the same with the exception of the first part of the route and the race distance.
In 2011, race participants started on the saddle about 300m above the village and the course was 38,5km long.
Now, the start is in the village on the same place as the finish, the changed course has a marathon distance (42km) and +-2800m total elevation gain (course: http://www.gm4o.si/en/course-2015.html ).
This course was already tested in 2014 and 2015. The current course records is 4:03:14 / Teklay, 2013 (old men&rsquo,s record: 3:22:31 / Mitja Kosovelj, 2011). The men&rsquo,s winning time below 3:45:00 is expected at the World Champs (see the 2013/14 results: http://www.gm4o.si/en/statistics.html ).
The event web page will be &quot,LIVE&quot, before the end of January and invitation letters with PEF and FEF forms will be sent to National Federations before the end of February.
Mr. Munzel expressed his full confidence to the local staff and the LOC is looking forward to welcoming all national teams and runners to Podbrdo in June.

Edited from Nancy Hobbs (WMRA Treasurer) and Tomo Sarf (WMRA Council member)

Source of the pictures (photos by Tomo Sarf):
on front page:
– Munzel, Sarf and LOC members during the visit,
on second page:
– Pippa Maddams (GBR),&nbsp,woman winner LDMRCH 2011,
– Mitja Kosovelj (SLO), man winner LDMRCH 2011.”

“

WMRA has fixed the Mountain Running World Cup 2016 Regulations and the Application Form (see on this webpage section &quot,Documents&quot, and then &quot,Mountain Running World Cup&quot,).&nbsp,&nbsp,
Potential organizers are invited to send us their fully signed Application Form&nbsp,no later than 15 December 2015.&nbsp,
Decision about the final World Cup Calendar will be taken by WMRA Council on 9th January 2016 or, if possibile, also before this time.

&nbsp,

&nbsp,

”
Edited from Bruno Gozzelino (WMRA President) and Tomo Sarf (WMRA Council member)

Source of the pictures (photos by Tomo Sarf):
on front page:
– men medal’s set of World Cup 2015.

“After receiving entries of the current World Champion, several outstanding athletes, as well as three top Eritrean runners (who did not run at the World Championships due to prohibitive costs for the Eritrean Athletic Federation), the LOC for the 36th Smarna Gora Race &ndash, the final race in the WMRA World Cup &ndash, expected intense competition for podium spots and they were afraid they would lose lots of money in payouts to athletes since the race rules designated 10&euro,/second for improving the course record and also bonuses other finishers&nbsp, if they were faster than the old course record.
In the final registrations, the Eritrean runners were unable to get visas to travel to Europe, and the LOC fear became a moot point. Coupled with the sudden downpour just two hours before the race &ndash, after clear skies and no rain for ten days prior &ndash, the previously dry course became soggy and slippery and ideal conditions were no longer present.
”
“In spite of the mud-soaked course, Uganda&rsquo,s 2015 world mountain running champion Fred Musobo continued his fine form around the mountains of Europe when he was victorious at Smrana Gora on Saturday, October 3.
Musobo, who had taken the world title in Wales just two weeks ago, dominated the sixth and final race in this year&rsquo,s WMRA World Cup.
He had an eight-second lead over Great Britain&rsquo,s 2015 world championships bronze medallist Robbie Simpson at the first check point at the top of the first summit just before the halfway point on the challenging 10km course, with Italy&rsquo,s Alex Baldaccini another three seconds further back.
The Ugandan extended his lead over Simpson to 13 seconds at the second checkpoint two kilometres later, after a steep descent, with Baldaccini drifting back slightly and now six seconds further back in third.
Musobo crossed the finish line in 42:46 but Baldaccini came through strongly over the final uphill stretch and overtook Simpson to take second place in 42:51, with the Briton falling away in the final two kilometres but still holding on to finish third in 43:29.
Switzerland&rsquo,s David Schneider, the runner up 12 months ago, had to settle for fourth place this time in 43:50 while Simpson&rsquo,s compatriot Andrew Douglas finished a distant fifth in 44:31.
Nevertheless, the points garnered by Douglas were enough to give him the 2015 World Cup title with 285 points over the course of the six races, the first British man to win the Cup.
Simpson finished second overall with 235 points and Schneider third with 230 points. Musobo&rsquo,s was fourth with 225 points having won the only two races in the World Cup he contested &ndash, the last two , the world championships and Smarna Gora &ndash, and without doubt would have had a very good chance of challenging for the World Cup crown if he had run in any of the first four World Cup races earlier in the season.
Tunstall on top in Smarna Gora and World Cup
Sarah Tunstall took the women&rsquo,s race in Smarna Gora and also secured the World Cup title, making it a double Cup win for Great Britain, only the second time runners from the same nation have won the Cup in the same year since it’s inception in 1999.
She started the day in second place in the World Cup standings and just 30 points adrift of leader Timea Merenyi, but with the Hungarian not competing in Smarna Gora, Tunstall was able to emerge as Britain&rsquo,s first World Cup winner since Angele Mudge took the third of her three titles in 2002.
Like Musobo, Tunstall made her intentions know quickly from the gun and at the first checkpoint she had a huge 44-second lead over Italy&rsquo,s 2013 world champion and Smarna Gora winner Alice Gaggi.
Gaggi closed the gap on the descent to 30 seconds by the second checkpoint but then Tunstall reinforced her expertise as she pulled away on the second ascent.
Tunstall crossed the line in 52:59 with Gaggi second in 54:03 and Poland&rsquo,s Dominika Wisniewska-Ulfik, who had run a solitary race in third almost since the opening couple of kilometres, next home in 54:27.Tunstall&rsquo,s tally in the World Cup rose to 350 points after the victory in Slovenia, with Merenyi hanging onto second place with 280 points and Wisniewska-Ulfik finishing third overall with 205 points.
Getting the World Cup title was partial compensation for Tunstall after just missing out on the medals when finishing fourth on home soil at the world championships two weeks ago.

&nbsp,

Edited from Nancy Hobbs (WMRA Treasurer) and Tomo Sarf (WMRA Council member)

Source of the picture (photo by LOC of Smarna Gora):
on front page:
– Tunstall winner women,
on second page:
– Musobo winner men,
– podium men,
– podium women,
– winners of World Cup 2015.

&nbsp,

“

“The International&nbsp,Smarna Gora Mountain Running Race&nbsp,remains one of the highlights of the mountain running season, and its rich tradition will continue on Saturday, October 4, with its 35th edition.
In the fall season of 1979, running enthusiasts from Ljubljana &ndash, Slovenia&rsquo,s capital &ndash, decided to organize a race to the top of one of the most popular mountains in Slovenia at Smarna Gora.
Nobody envisioned that it would become such a massive event with worldwide popularity.
The mountain running champions of the world will again be crowned this Saturday at this magnificent mountain peak.
In the early 1990s the event was the first national championships in the new state of Slovenia and later that decade, world champion Lucio Fregona (ITA) made the Smarna Gora race an internationally recognized event.
After the millennium, the Smarna Gora race became one of the founding members of the WMRA World Cup and since then it has been the final World Cup event on thirteen occasions.”
“In the last 35 years many world championships medallists have been tested on the demanding course that takes&nbsp,runners 360 meters uphill to the first summit, followed by 300 meters of technical descent before a 300-meter climb to the finish.
The top men will race just over 40 minutes for this 10-kilometre course.
This Saturday, the best mountain runners will again meet to test their strength, speed and skills. This will be the first official WMRA meeting after the World Championships and many will strive to climb the famous podium at Smarna Gora.
This will be a tall order, as the top female runners will include Sarah Tunstall (GBR) and Alice Gaggi (ITA), 4th and 5th at the World Championships just two weeks ago in Wales, GBR.
Alice wan this race in 2013 and last year they finished 4th and 3rd, an interesting combination.
In the men&rsquo,s event, Ugandan only 19 years old Fred Musobo, the actual senior World Champion, will test his skills on the Smarna Gora course for the first time.
Eritrean Mamu Petro, 2014 &Scaron,marna Gora winner and World Champion 2012 will do his best win the race again. His fellow runners Azeira Teklay and Abraham Kidane will also try to earn a spot on the podium.
Alex Baldaccini (ITA), returns to defend his Smarna Gora title from 2012, in 2013 and 2014 he finished 3rd, on the same position as European Championships 2015.&nbsp,
David Schneider (SUI) raced &Scaron,marna Gora five consecutive years, always finishing in the top four positions, but never as the champion.&nbsp,
Robbie Simpson and Andrew Douglas, both representing GBR, are two of the strongest mountain runners of this season, they finished in top positions wherever they raced. Robbie finished 3rd and 4th respectively at the World and European Champs, Andrew won the first World Cup and finished 5th and 6th respectively at ECh and WCh. A strong England team will again be present with their upcoming stars (U23 team).&nbsp,
Lucio Fregona, 1995 World Champion and first international class runner who took the name of Smarna Gora race abroad, is coming back with his son &ndash, also a prospective runner (do you mean podium finisher?).
In this strong international competition, Slovenian runners will try to use the benefits of home soil.
The weather forecast promises excellent running conditions and maybe even course records.

&nbsp,

&nbsp,

Edited from Tomo Sarf (WMRA Council member)

Source of the picture (photo by LOC of Smarna Gora):
on front page:
– sprint at finsh line of the edition 2012,
on second page:
– top runners on downhill section (edition 2013)

“

“293 runners of 32 Nations were present at the 31st World Mountain Running Championships 2015 held at Betws-Y-Coed, (Conwy – North Wales).
Seven nations took the 24 medals distributed at the end of the competitions.
Leader in the medal table was Uganda with 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze, in front of Turkey that won 2 gold and 2 silver.
Four Nations gained a world title: USA was third in the medal table with 1 gold and 3 silver, Great Britain &amp, N. I. fourth with 1 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze, then in fifth position in the medal table were Czech Rep. and Italy both with 1 gold and 1 silver.
Last Nation that kept&nbsp, medal was France with 1 bronze.
Perfomances of the runner were really wonderful, thousands of spectators on the track clapped their hands for the fantastic runners in a beautiful sunshine day!
Many people were involved in the organisation of the Championships, making it a great success: Officials from the County of Conwy and from the Welsh Athletics were able to do all the best!
”
“USA&rsquo,s Allie Ostrander (19:44) romped to victory in the junior women&rsquo,s race, almost a minute ahead of the Czech Republic&rsquo,s Michaela Stranska (20:23) in second position (Stranska&nbsp,finished third last year at the World Championships in Italy).
Elsa Racasan (20:31) from France was third with Brecon&rsquo,s Heidi Davies performing well for Great Britain &amp, NI as she finished fifth.
Just before her, Teresa Korvasova, from Cezch Rep. finished in fourth position: so&nbsp,their team won gold medals with 6 points. Czech Republic claimed the junior women’s team title, with hosts Great Britain &amp, NI second (points 13) and Turkey third. Very closed the team result specially for third position where three Nations finished with same point (20) and Turkey was third, Italy fourth and France fifth. Poland finished sixth with 22 points.
15 Nations had full team in the result.
Turkey&rsquo,s Ferhat Bozkurt, who was bronze medal at the World Championships last year in Italy, was in excellent form as he won the junior men&rsquo,s race clocked 33:56, by almost two minutes from USA&rsquo,s Levi Thomet (35:50). Bozkurt&rsquo,s fellow countrymen Mustafa Geksel (35:53) and Abdullah Yorulmaz (36:12) were third and fifth respectively to hand Turkey team gold ahead of the USA (29 points) and GB &amp, NI (30 points). Italy finished fourth just two points behind third (32 points).
14 Nations had full team in the result.
In the senior women&rsquo,s race over 8.9km the winner was Ugandan Stella Chesang (clocked 37:52), despite her young age: she last year won world junior women title in Italy and this year she won the title in the senior women race.
Only one women runner in the past years was able to do the same: Italian Rosita Rota Gelpi won world junior title on 1992 and world senior title on 2004, but Stella Chesang repeat these wonderful performances in two following years: really great!
Great Britain debutant Emily Collinge (38:23) took silver , with early leader Emma Clayton finishing in third in 38:33.
They were backed up by Kendal&rsquo,s Sarah Tunstall (39:05), who finished just outside the medal positions in fourth, as Great Britain &amp, N.I. (with 9 points) comfortably won the team gold medal from USA in silver (points 27) and Uganda in bronze (points 28). Fourth place, once more, Italy with 33 points.
16 Nations had full team in the result.
Collinge said: &ldquo,I&rsquo,ve never fought so much in my life. I&rsquo,m ecstatic to win a medal and I&rsquo,m so happy for Emma (Clayton) and I wish Sarah (Tunstall) could have got a medal as well, she deserved it. &ldquo,It&rsquo,s amazing to win the team gold, I&rsquo,m so proud.&rdquo,
In the senior men&rsquo,s race over 13km, the winner of the world title 2015 was Fred Musobo (49:00) from Uganda. Italy&rsquo,s Bernard Dematteis (49:42) taking silver medal after that in the past he finished for fourth times in fourth position at the World Championships: 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2014.
Robbie Simpson (50:31) from Great Britain won bronze.
Italy took the team gold medal with ahead of Uganda and Great Britain &amp, NI claimed bronze.
Simpson said: &ldquo,I&rsquo,m absolutely delighted, it was really tough all the way. I started quite fast but I actually felt quite comfortable, just in the rhythm I wanted to be in. &ldquo,Coming off the second lap I was fourth but I could see the Italian in front was tiring so I just pushed and pushed and caught him by the top and managed to hang on during the descent.&rdquo,
Next year the 32nd WMRA World Mountain Running Championships 2016 will be held in Bulgaria, on 4th September 2016, at Sapareva Banya.

&nbsp,

Edited from Tim Lewis (Press and PR Officer Welsh Athletics) and Bruno Gozzelino (WMRA President)

Source of the picture (photo by SportpicturesCymru):
on front page:
– start of men race,
on second page:
flower ceremony of:
– junior women,
– junior men,
– senior women,
– senior men.

“

“Leading mountain runners from around the globe descend on North Wales this Saturday (19 September) for the 31st World Mountain Running Championships.
Competition is expected to be fierce once again after 2014&rsquo,s hugely successful event in Casette Di Massa, Italy, with 32 countries taking part and more than 300 athletes expected.
”
Among them will be a 17-strong team from Great Britain and Northern Ireland hoping to make the most of home advantage to win individual and team medals.
Senior men compete over a 13km course (two laps), with senior women and junior men over 8.9km (two laps) and junior women racing 4.7km (one lap). There is more than 250m of elevation gain on each lap for the competitors to tackle.
The GB &amp, NI men&rsquo,s team is made up of GB trails winner Robbie Simpson, fellow Scot Andrew Douglas, Tom Adams, Tom Addison, Ben Mounsey and Chris Smith. The team has genuine medal prospects with Simpson looking to emulate the form which saw him take a silver medal at the European championships in 2014.
Defending champion Isaac Kiprop from Uganda returns to defend the crown he won on the uphill-only course in 2014 and while his teammates haven&rsquo,t raced the Championships in the last two years they will be favourite to take gold.
USA arrive in Wales will ambitions to win team gold in the men&rsquo,s competition, led by 2:14 marathon runner and former World Cross Country Championships runner Ryan Bak.
Italy are once again expected to be strong having finished second behind Uganda the last time the race was run up and downhill and Bernard Dematteis will be aiming to be top European and break the Ugandan domination.
In the women&rsquo,s senior race GB &amp, NI&rsquo,s Emma Clayton, a silver medallist at the championships in 2013, will once again have her eyes on the top prize. A bronze medal in Porto Moniz at the European Mountain Running Championships in July has given the Yorkshire woman great confidence as she heads into her next major international for Britain.
She will be joined by Sarah Tunstall, who showed her class to win the trial race, GB debutant Emily Collinge and Hatti Archer, who returns to a British team for the first time since the European Championships in 2012.
Britain are likely to be challenged by a strong American team and although largely unknown, Uganda are also expected to challenge at the front of the field.
Alica Gaggi from Italy won the event two years ago and should be among the leading contenders but Austria are without Andrea Myer, a potential gold medallist, which will weaken their team.
GB &amp, NI&rsquo,s Max Nicholls and Jacob Adkin, 5th and 6th respectively at the European Championships last month, will be aiming high in the junior men&rsquo,s race. They will be joined by John Spill and Jacob Boyle who will both make their maiden appearances in a British vest.
The junior teams from Italy, Turkey, Czech Republic and USA are tipped to battle it out for the gold medal.
A trio of athletes have been selected for the junior women&rsquo,s event for GB &amp, NI including trial winner Heidi Davies, former European champion Georgia Malir and Scarlet Dale, who is added to the fold for the first time.
Other activities have included film screening and talks featuring six-time world champion Jonathan Wyatt and ultra-distance mountain runners Nicky Spinks and Steve Birkinshaw, school races, open races, which included an uphill only race to the summit of Moel Siabod on Wednesday and an international mountain running coaches&rsquo, forum.
The WMRC is the finale to a week-long festival of activities in Betws-y-Coed, which got underway with the World Masters Mountain Running Championships last Saturday.

&nbsp,

Edited from Tim Lewis (Press and PR Officer Welsh Athletics)

Source of the picture:
on front page:
– logo of the World Mountain Running Championships 2015.

“424 runners finished their race at the 15. WMRA /WMA Master Mountain Running Championships at Betws-Y-Coed.
Great Britain and Northern Ireland Team thriumped winning a total of 48 medals (28 gold, 10 silver and 10 bronze).
Other five nations won one gold medal: Italy, Germany, Ireland, USA and New Zealand (in the order in the medal table). Finally Norway kept 2 silver medals and 1 bronze.
The track was perfect for this kind of competition very well prepared by LOC staff and Officials of the Welsh Athletics Association.
Also logistic and other important organisational aspects were very well organised by LOC staff under the guide of Alun Pritchard (Conwy Office)&nbsp, and with the contrrol by Tomo Sarf, WMRA Delegate for the event.
About weather, most part of the races were&nbsp, run under the sun but some moments of rain there was during the morning.
”
“Only one champion of last year were able to confirm the title this years.
She is Ann-Marie Jones who won the title also in 2013 and in 2014 (she is British and Swedish citizen and she won title 2015 and 2015 under GBR flag, instead last year she run for SWE flag!)
In the summary, winners in the men categories were: M35 Zac Freudenburg USA, M40 Morgan Donnelly GBR, M45 Karl Gray GBR, M50 Craig Roberts GBR, M55 Franz Prager GER, M60 Marino Portigliotti ITA, M65 Bernard Grant GBR, M70 Geoffrey Howard GBR and M75 Norman Bush GBR.
Instead in the women categories the winners were: W35 Anna Lupton GBR, W40 Helen Berry GBR, W45 Lucy Elliott GBR, W50 Sally Gibbs NZL, W55 Ali Keates GBR, W60 Ann-Marie Jones GBR, W65 Lou Lyness GBR and W70 Brenda Jones GBR.
None started in W75 and no teams finished in W75 and W70.
Best time were: on the track of km. 8.7 for the men Prager with 40 minutes and 35 seconds and in the women categories Keates with time of 47 minutes and 16 seconds, instead on the track of km. 10.6 the fastest men was Freudenburg with time of 42 minutes and 4 seconds, and the fastest women was Lupton with time of 49 minutes and 22 seconds.
In total were distributed 33 gold medals, 27 silver medals and 23 bronze medals.
Great Britain and Northern Ireland dominated &ndash, as already told – with 48 medals (of which 28 gold, 10 silver and 20 bronze).
Second in the nation medal table was Italy with&nbsp, a total of 11 medals: 1 gold, 7 silver and 3 bronze.
Third in the nation medal table was Germany that took a total of 9 medals: 1 gold, 5 silver and 3 bronze.
Ireland followed in fourth position with a total of 7 medals: 1 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze. –
USA won 2 medals: 1 gold and 1 silver.
New Zealand won 3 medals: 1 gold and 2 bronze and Norway also won 3 medals: no gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze.
22 countries had runners partecipating at the Championships.
The American&rsquo,s Zac Freudenburg won the opening race of the day, the men&rsquo,s V35 category. Mercia Fell&rsquo,s Simon Bailey built up an early lead but Freudenburg took control around the halfway mark and managed to extend his advantage before the&nbsp, finish line.
Borrowdale&rsquo,s Morgan Donnelly kicked off the British dominance with an excellent win in the men&rsquo,s V40 category. Italy&rsquo,s Giuseppe Antonini was in contention early on before England&rsquo,s Chris Greenwood moved into second place and that&rsquo,s how the top three finished with Donnelly taking the victory. &ldquo,Us Brits were very happy that it rained overnight which really helped us out,&rdquo, said Donnelly. &ldquo,I enjoyed the course, I managed to get clear on the second climb and hold on to the lead.&rdquo,
WMMRC debutant Karl Gray enjoyed an excellent battle with Salford&rsquo,s Martin Cox in the V45 category, with less than 10 seconds separating the pair at the halfway stage. But it was Gray who produced the stronger second half of the race to take the victory. He said: &ldquo,Martin (Cox) had me on the ropes for a bit but I hung on in there and managed to push on and get a small lead. &ldquo,This is something I have been building towards this year, I wanted to see where my fitness was before I entered but I am very happy I did and it&rsquo,s an incentive to race again next year.&rdquo,
In the combined women&rsquo,s V35 and V40 race Barrow and Furness&rsquo, Anna Lupton was 17 seconds ahead of Helen Berry (V40) at the 5.6km marker and showed no mercy over the second half of the race, coming home in 49:22, almost a minute ahead of Berry. &ldquo,It was a fast and furious start to the race but I felt good and managed to push hard throughout the race,&rdquo, said Lupton. Berry said: &ldquo,It feels very, very good to be world champion. I went into the race hoping to get a medal but to come away with gold is brilliant.&rdquo,
Katie Beecher won Wales&rsquo, first medal of the day with a silver in the V35 race, with Shona Robertson taking fourth overall and second in the V40 category.
Kendal&rsquo,s Craig Roberts secured his fourth world masters title with victory in the M50 category, having won in 2009, the M45 category in 2011 and 2013 before beaten into second place in 2014. He made no mistake this year with a superb display to take the title in 44:17, ahead of Ben Reynolds in second and Alan Bowness, who had led at 5.6km, in third. Roberts said: &ldquo,I knew Alan (Bowness) had a lot of track speed and would try to burn us off early but I was pretty comfortable and kept him in reach.&ldquo,I thought I had blown it on the second climb when he (Ben) began to catch me up but when I was in the lead on the downhill I knew no-one was going to catch me.&rdquo,
Former inter-counties cross country champion and seasoned GB international Lucy Elliot won the women&rsquo,s V45 gold, 31 seconds ahead of Germany&rsquo,s Elke Keller. &ldquo,It&rsquo,s a bit of shock to finish first but a fantastic experience,&rdquo, said Elliott. &ldquo,The last decent really took it out of my legs but I managed to hold on.&rdquo,
Sally Gibbs from New Zealand won the women&rsquo,s V50 just a week before she is due to take part in the World Mountain Running Championships. She said: &ldquo,The conditions were tough but I&rsquo,m stoked with the win. I&rsquo,m really looking forward to next week and hopefully with a bit more training I&rsquo,ll be able to do well.&rdquo,
Germany&rsquo,s Franz Prager won the first of the contests over the shorter 8.7km course, taking gold in the V55 age group.
Italy&rsquo,s Marino Portigliotti then claimed an impressive victory in the V60 age group.
English athletes took a clean sweep of titles in the combined men&rsquo,s V65, V70 and V75 races, with gold medals for Bernard Grant, Geoffrey Howard and Norman Bush. In the final championship race of the day, there were gold medals for Ali Keates (V55), Ann-Marie Jones (V60), Lou Lyness (V65) and Brenda Jones (V70).
It is interesting underline that Nancy Hobbs, WMRA Treasurer, won silver medals in W55 category.
The prize ceremony closed the event with the presence of various Autorities: first of all Graham Rees, Cabinet Member for Tourism, Marketing and Leisure Conwy County Borough Council, and Steve Brace for Welsh Athletics Association.
At the end of the prize ceremony LOC Betws-Y-Coed pass the WMRA flag to Bruno Gozzelino, WMRA President, and then to Adriano Aschieris, Chairman of LOC Master Ch. 2016.
Next 16. edition of WMRA/WMA Master World Mountain Running Championships 2016 will be held at Susa (ITA) on 27th and 28th August 2016.

Pictures of the event are available at following link: http://woodentops.org.uk/index.php?topic=home&amp,subtopic=morephotos&amp,photoyear=2015 and http://www.sportpicturescymru.co.uk/pages/gallery/2015-gallery/running-photographs/fell-running.php.

Edited from Bruno Gozzelino (WMRA President)and from Tim Lewis (Press and PR Officer Welsh Athletics)

Source of the pictures.
On first page:
– start of W55 and other following categories (photo by Patrizia Longo),
on second page:
– start of M35 (photo by Patrizia Longo),
– W55 5. Furhmann (1011) and 7. Bergler (1015) (photo by SportpicturesCymru)
– M35 battle for the victory: 1. Freudenburg (118) and 2. Bailey (107) (photo by SportpicturesCymru)
– M55 winner Prager (743) (photo by SportpicturesCymru).

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