Author: wmra_wp

“14 days before the 30th Mountain Running Championships in Casette di Massa (ITA), the international top stars of the mountain running came from 19 countries to a final form validation in Saalfelden Leogang.
The conditions were not ideal: Saturday&rsquo,s rain had made the course especially in the middle part extremely muddy and slippery, but cold foggy weather with no rain was still better than summer hot.
The results are witnessing how strong the competition was: in men&rsquo,s&rsquo, race 27 runners finished the race below 55minutes (in 2013 just 16) and 9 women below one hour (in 2013 only 2).
In the men&rsquo,s race the World&nbsp, Cup leading 8 runners were on the start and in women&rsquo,s race five from top seven!
Both winners improved the course records, Petro Mamo, his own from 2013, for almost one minute and Andrea Mayr, the current European Champion, for almost five minutes!”
“In the men&rsquo,s race, three African runners started dictating high pace and after 1km, where the course turns into the forest and became steeper, they have already a decent advantage. Experienced mountain runners, Kiwi Wyatt and Suisse Schneider did not even try to follow, because they knew that they are stronger on the steep upper part.
The two Kenyans were caught at &frac34, of the course, above the tree-line.
Only Eritrean Petro Mamo, the 2012 World Champion, this moment one of the strongest mountain runners in the world, did not allow any surprise and he crossed the finish line almost 2 minutes before the second &ndash, Jonathan Wyatt, six time world champion, who announced his come-back at the age of 42 years.
Two races before the end of the World Cup, the situation in the men&rsquo,s competition is completely open &ndash, there are lots of runners who can still enter the top 3 positions. If Petro Mamo will run the World Championships and the final Smarna gora race, nothing could stop him to win the World Cup 2014.
Solo racing with the ladies
In the women&rsquo,s race, multiple World and European champion Andrea Mayr run solo race.
Mateja Kosovelj of Slovenia was her closest opponent, but still 2 and half minutes behind &ndash, they finished first and second like in July on the European Championships.
The third, Kenian Murigi, as excellent road runner started very fast, but was not competitive on the upper steep part. In March 2014 she finished Milano half-marathon in excellent 1:10:52.
It looks like Mayr and Kosovelj will fight also for the final win in the World Cup.

Edited from Tomo Sarf (WMRA)

Source of the pictures LOC
On front page:
– Austrian Andrea Mayr,
On second page:
– Eritrean Pedro Mamo,
– podium of winner men,
– podium of winner women

“

“For the sixth time the &quot,Asitz&quot, &ndash, the mountain of Leogang, becomes the site of the summit mountain run.
Also in 2014 the &quot,Asitzgipfelberglauf&quot, is connected again with WMRA- (World Mountain Running Association), IAAF status (International Association of Athletics Federations) and it is the fourth stage of the WMRA Mountain Running World Cup 2014.
The event organizers are Running Club Leogang, Saalfelden Leogang tourism and Andreas Tomaselli &amp, Max2.
This race is the last text for the top runners before the World Mountain Running Championships that will be held at Casette di Massa Italy, two weeks later.
”
In the women category there are Slovenian KOSOVELJ Matea, Kenyan MURIGI Lucy Wambui, Hungarian MERENYI Timea, Polish WISNIEWSKA-ULFIK Dominika, English TUNSTALL Sarah, Czechian MILESOVA Iva, the Italian GAGGI Alice, GALASSI Samantha, CONFORTOLA Antonella and RUNGGER Renate.and of course the stronger Austrian runners like MAIR Susanne, FREITAG Karin and MAYR Andrea.
In the men race Eritrean Pedro MAMO and Kenyan Isaac Toroitch KOSGEI and Francis Muigia WANGARI will compete with European runners like English Robbie SIMPSON, Slovenian Mitja KOSOVELJ and Nejc KUHAR, German Christoph SCHWARZ, Hungarian Adam KOVACS and Sandor SZABO, Swiss David SCHNEIDER and a group of strong Italian athletes like Alex BALDACCINI, Emanuele MANZI, Gerd FRICK, Riccardo STERNI e Giovanni TACCHINI. Important the presence of Japanese Iida YUJIRO. Of course
The Austrian runners want gain the victory in the race with for sample, Stefan PATERNOSTER, Andreas RINGHOFER, Simon LECHLEITNER, Robert GRUBER and Helmut SCHMUCK.
At the start about 150 runners in&nbsp, a beautiful venue, where top sports are ver y well known!
So LOC is waiting for a lot of spectators.

Edited from Bruno Gozzelino (WMRA)

Source of the pictures:
on first page (by LOC):
– logo of the Region.

&nbsp,

“Four gold medals for American runners at the 11th Annual WMRA World Long Distance Challenge held at the Pikes Peak Ascent in Manitou Springs, Colorado.
U.S.A. dominated both races, male and female, individually and by teams, winning in total 4 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals.
Italy (2 silver), Germany (1 bronze), Slovenia (1 bronze) and Eritrea (1 silver) won other medals.
There were 19 countries represented in the Challenge with nine scoring men&rsquo,s teams and seven scoring women&rsquo,s teams”
“Team USA led the way with a one-two-three sweep in the women&rsquo,s division for a combined finish of 7:49:49 with Allie McLaughlin posting one of the fastest times on record at 2:33:42.
Teammate Morgan Arritola (third place at the 2012 World Mountain Running Championships) finished second, and this year&rsquo,s Mount Washington Road Race winner Shannon Payne finished third.
Mateja Kosovelj (SLO) was the first non-USA women&rsquo,s finisher in fourth position with a time of 2:42:41 and helped secure a bronze medal for her team with a combined time of 8:54:35. Italy won the silver medal with Catherine Bertone posting the best finish for Italy with a time of 2:49:54.
On the men&rsquo,s side, Sage Canaday raced to victory in 2:10:03 to lead USA to the gold medal with a combined time of 6:33:58. His teammates Andy Wacker and Eric Blake (last year&rsquo,s Pikes Peak Ascent Champion), both ran under 2:13. Italy secured the team silver led by Tommaso Vaccina in 2:13:59. The combined score for Italy was 6:55:36, while Germany posted 7:13:11 to take the bronze.
Early in the race, Wacker led taking the pace out at brisk 5:40 in the first mile which was on a paved roadway. His second mile, after reaching the trail, was 7:40 and his third slowed to over nine minutes as the steeper sections of the trail were reached. Wacker led for much of the way and was not overtaken until the final mile when Eritrean Azera Teklay took the lead.
Canaday, running in third from the three-mile to the finish mark, ran a smart race from start to finish and passed Wacker 3/4 mile from the finish and Teklay, 1/2 mile from the finish.
McLaughlin, the petite runner from Colorado Springs who recently won the USA Mountain Running Championships, was leading the race as each of the splits was called in to officials. Payne ran a solid second place for much of the race while Arritola took the race out conservatively and didn&rsquo,t make it into the top three until Barr Camp, the halfway point. Between Barr Camp and A-Frame (3 miles to the finish), Arritola overtook Payne and went on to finish second.
The day was perfect for racing up the 13-plus miles from Manitou Springs to the 14,115-foot summit of Pikes Peak. At the 7AM start, temperatures were in the upper 50s and at the summit it was sunny and clear with no wind. Temperatures reached 45 degrees by the time Canaday reached the finish line.
There was a short ceremony at the top of the mountain with race director Ron Ilgen presenting medals to the top three men and women and Tomo Sarf, WMRA delegate presenting flowers to the men and Jim Estes, USA Track &amp, Field presenting flowers to the women. This ceremony will be followed by an evening ceremony to honour all of the competitors.
Complete results for teams are available at:
http://pprrun.org/results/2014_results/PPATeams.txt.

&nbsp,

Edited from Nancy Hobbs(WMRA)

Source of the pictures:
on first page (by LOC):
– women flower ceremony,
on second page (by LOC):
– Sage C. Canaday, the winner.

&nbsp,

“

“The 11th annual WMRA World Long Distance Mountain Running Challenge will be hosted by the Pikes Peak Ascent this Saturday, August 16, in Manitou Springs, Colorado.
This is the third time Pikes Peak has hosted the Challenge.
The first was in 2006, when the Pikes Peak Marathon served as the host race and more recently, in 2010, the Pikes Peak Ascent was the host event.
This year, entries were received from nearly 20 countries for the competition, with seven full teams in the women&rsquo,s division and nine for the men. The first team competition at the Challenge took place in 2009. Although five athletes may run for a country, the combined times of the top three members on the team are tabulated for scoring. There are awards for the top three men&rsquo,s teams and the top three women&rsquo,s team as well as individual medals for the top three men and top three women overall. ”
“

The course at Pikes Peak is 13.32 miles and starts in the town of Manitou Springs, elevation just over 6,300 feet, and ascends on the Barr Trail to the summit of America&rsquo,s Mountain Pikes Peak at an elevation of 14,115 feet. The weather forecast for Saturday&rsquo,s race is sunny and clear with a potential for afternoon thunderstorms which typically occur well after the athletes finish the event.
Prior to the race day, there is a welcome breakfast for all of the international competitors on Friday morning, August 15, hosted at the Glen Eyrie Castle which is where many of the teams are staying in advance of the competition. Later that day, there is a luncheon followed by a press conference. In the evening there is a pasta dinner and a program to welcome all of the athletes.
Tomo Sarf, WMRA Council Member from Slovenia, is at the event to serve as the technical delegate. WMRA Treasurer Nancy Hobbs will also be present at the event and will be on the jury of appeals along with Pikes Peak Marathon, Inc., president Ron Ilgen and Pikes Peak board member Bob Street.
The World Long Distance Mountain Running Challenge is regulated by the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) under the patronage of the IAAF.&nbsp,
The first World Long Distance Mountain Challenge was held at Sierre-Zinal in Switzerland in 2004.
In 2015, the Zermatt Marathon will host the Long Distance event on July 4 and 5.
Be sure to follow the WMRA on Facebook at this link: https://www.facebook.com/WorldMountainRunningAssociation

&nbsp,

Edited from Nancy Hobbs(WMRA)

Source of the pictures:
on first page (by LOC):
– logo of the race hosting LDMRCh. 2014

“

“223 runners from 10 countries gathered on the start line of the 16th Grintovec race in a beautiful valley of Kamniska Bistrica 25km north from Ljubljana.
The weather was unpredictable &ndash, the day before the race a thunderstorm made the 10km long course with almost 2000m elevation gain wet and slippery and rain was also expected in the time when the runners were competing on the steep slopes of 2552 m high Grintovec, in this case, the race would be stopped after 6,5km for safety reasons. Luckily, the weather was not so bad, some of the runners even enjoyed the chilly temperatures.”
“For the first time, the organizer welcomed strong Kenyan runners competing for Austrian team Run2gether.
The late winner Kosgei has showed his excellent performances in the last years, when he was successful at some strong races, including GrossglocknerLauf and WMRA Grand Prix race at Feuerkogel. His result is the second fastest time on this taught course, in spite of the fact that the course was this year little longer.
Nejc Kuhar, second in 2013 in third in 2012 finished again on the second position, he is an expert for extreme steep races like km-vertical and this course suits him. As of the best European extreme alpinist skiers he walked all upper part of the course whilst all the other top runners were running. In the top ten we can find also two excellent British runners and Mitja Kosovelj, the defending World MR long distance Champion.
A short view to the start list of the women&rsquo,s race shows only one candidate for the top position: Mateja Kosovelj, silver medallist from Gap did not disappoint her fans and finished clearly in fort of the others.
Both course records will remain a challenge for the next years, Anna Pichrtova and Jonathan Wyatt will stay on the top positions of the &ldquo,all times top results&rdquo,, but the winning times from this year were very close.
The organizers did a really great job, all the runners enjoyed the hospitality and excellent course preparation with lots of well supplied refreshing stations along the course.
In the World Cup, after the third race, the situation is still fully open. Just few runners run more than one race and the remaining there races will be deciding.
The next station of the WMRA World Cup will be the race in Leogang (AUT) on next 31.August.

&nbsp,

Edited from Tomo Sarf (WMRA)

Source of the pictures:
On front page (from LOC):
– two winners: Kosovelj and Kosgei,
On second page: (from LOC):
– Kosgei close to the finish.

“

“The Gorski tek na Grintovec at Kamnik, in Slovenia, is an extremely challenging uphill mountain race.
This race is a traditional appointment of the WMRA international calendar and this will be the 16th edition of the race.
Every season the race is one stage of the WMRA World Cup.
In 2014 the course has been changed in the first 2 km. It takes the runners along the Kamniska Bistrica river, passing the famous house &ldquo,Plecnikova vila&rdquo,, after 0,6 km the course joins the dusty road in it follows the road for 2km up to the lower cargo cable car station. Latter it follows the hiking trail passing the Kokrsko sedlo/saddle/ (1793 m) to the Grintovec summit (2558 m). The competitors run on steep mountain trails and on loose scree through unspoilt and spectacular high-alpine scenery.
The starting area is at an elevation of 600m in the Kamni&scaron,ka Bistrica gorge (approximately 35km north of Ljubljana). There are six aid stations on the course and one at the finish.
The 9.8km-long route includes almost 2000m of ascent.
Due bad condition of the weather it could be possible that the track will be cut: final decision will be taken by LOC on Sunday 27 July 2014, on the day of the competition.”
“

The Gorski tek na Grintovec at Kamnik, in Slovenia, is an extremely challenging uphill mountain race.
This race is a traditional appointment of the WMRA international calendar and this will be the 16th edition of the race.
Every season the race is one stage of the WMRA World Cup.
In 2014 the course has been changed in the first 2 km. It takes the runners along the Kamniska Bistrica river, passing the famous house &ldquo,Plecnikova vila&rdquo,, after 0,6 km the course joins the dusty road in it follows the road for 2km up to the lower cargo cable car station. Latter it follows the hiking trail passing the Kokrsko sedlo/saddle/ (1793 m) to the Grintovec summit (2558 m). The competitors run on steep mountain trails and on loose scree through unspoilt and spectacular high-alpine scenery.
The starting area is at an elevation of 600m in the Kamni&scaron,ka Bistrica gorge (approximately 35km north of Ljubljana). There are six aid stations on the course and one at the finish.
The 9.8km-long route includes almost 2000m of ascent.
Due bad condition of the weather it could be possible that the track will be cut: final decision will be taken by LOC on Sunday 27 July 2014, on the day of the competition.

This year LOC, with its Chairman, Dusan Papez, is waiting for the top runners in both categories, female and male, with the presence also of the best African mountain running which are ready to compete with top European runners!
About 300 athleted entried.
Last year, Azerya Teklay of Eritrea (1:22:14) and Mateja Kosovelj of Slovenia (1:40:09) led a field of 268 athletes across the finish line on the summit of Grintovec (2558m), the highest peak of the Kamnik-Savinja Alps: in case the race could be run on total track LOC is waiting for very good performances!
WMRA Council member Tomo Sarf will be present at the event.

Edited from Bruno Gozzelino (WMRA)

Source of the pictures:
On front page (from LOC):
– logo of LOC,
On second page: (from LOC):
– The mountain hut on the Kokra Saddle (Kokrsko sedlo, 1793m).

“

“At 11th NACAC Mountain Running Championships 2014 held on 20. July in Ajijic, Mexico, the men&rsquo,s team gold medal went to Mexico&rsquo,s A team while the women&rsquo,s race was won by Team USA.
Same situation in the individual race: NACAC title in the men race for Mexican Mario Alberto Ramiro Allende and NACAC title in the women race for USA Brandy Erholtz.
Without Canada in the mix, it was just two countries vying for NACAC Championship honors.
The Canadian selection race for the championships was held just a few weeks ago and none of the athletes were able to coordinate their schedules to make the trip to Mexico.
When travel plans failed to pan out for the selected athletes, there was little time to recruit replacements.
The race started and finished in the town square with the first and last kilometre on cobblestone streets.
The remainder of the course included dirt single track trails, rocky sections, with steep ascents and descents. The total ascending was 1150 meters, equal to the descent. The high point on the course was over 2400 meters.
A total of 700 runners participated in the event which celebrated its 18th running this year and included the 13.8-kilometer run as well as a shorter distance race of six kilometers.
Sunny skies prevailed throughout the race with temperatures reaching into the mid-seventies.”
“Leading the field to the finish line of the 13.8-kilometer race was Mario Alberto Ramiro Allende who finished with time of 1:21:20, well off the course record set three years ago by USA&rsquo,s Joseph Gray, but over two minutes ahead of countryman Enrique Camarena Camberos who posted a time of 1:23:50. The bronze medal went to Angel Orlando Quintero Ramirez with a time of 1:24:33.
Mexico&rsquo,s A team score was eight points with Allende&rsquo,s first place, Ramirez third place, and Said Diaz Ceron in fourth. Ceron&rsquo,s time was 1:27:22. Mexico&rsquo,s B team earned 16 points with Cameros finishing with two points, followed by Albaro Reyes Espinoza with 6 points, Fernando Azael Mejia Gonzalez with eight points.
Team USA earned the bronze medal with 21 points. Top American was Eric Blake in fifth position overall with a time of 1:27:38. Ryan Woods scored seven points, followed by Jordan Chavez with nine points.
For the women, Brandy Erholtz crushed the course record by more than seven minutes with a time of 1:39:01 to win gold and lead Team USA to the gold medal with a 1-2-3 sweep. Second for Team USA was former course record holder Maria Dalzot in a time of 1:42:05. Rounding out the top scoring members was Christine Lundy in third with a time of 1:43:34. All three women went under the course record.
Mexico earned the silver medal with 16 points. Top for Team Mexico was Carmen Trinidad Ramiro Allende who finished in fourth position. Her time was 1:44:55. Second for Mexico was Susana Bautista Villegas in fifth and Alex Raudayna De La Huerta Susilla rounded out the top three scoring members in seventh position.
Race organizer Ivan Romero Garnica did an outstanding job with logistic pre and post race and all of the NACAC team members enjoyed the time in Ajijic.

&nbsp,

For the WMRA, Nancy Hobbs, treasurer.

Source of the pictures:
On front page (from Nancy Hobbs):
– male winner Mario Alberto Ramiro Allende (Mexico),
on second page (from Nancy Hobbs):
– female winner Brandy Erholtz (USA).

&nbsp,

“

“The 11th North American Central American Caribbean (NACAC) Mountain Running Championships will be held on Sunday, July 20, at Carrera La Chupinaya in Ajijic, Jalisco, over a 13.8-kilometer course, the same venue which hosted the event in 2011.
&nbsp,Although the event is open to 31 member nations USA, Mexico, and Canada have traditionally been the only countries fielding competitors.
And, as in the past, teams from Mexico, Canada, and the United States are expected to compete this weekend.
Teams are comprised of up to four men and four women with the top two finishers scoring for their respective country. ”
Competitors will start in the principal square of town, head toward the mountains, cross two creeks and start ascending. The majority of the course is within the Sierra Madre Mountains offering amazing views of Chapala Lake, with a downhill finish back at the town square.
Says USA Team Leader Richard Bolt, &ldquo,Ajijic offers a truly unique and challenging mountain championship. In 2011, the local support was absolutely fantastic with people packing the town square where the start / finish was held.&nbsp, The course will be tough as the first and last mile are on very rough cobblestone streets and the upper course run over narrow, steep, muddy mountain trails. Combine this with the hot, humid weather in Central Mexico and this race will only be won by a tough and experienced mountain runner.&quot,
The NACAC Mountain Championships have been held since 2004, with the event rotating between the U.S.A., Mexico, and Canada.
This is the fourth time Mexico has hosted the event having previously staged the championships in 2006, 2008, 2011.
Canada hosted the championships in 2007, 2010, and 2012, while the U.S. hosted every other year with last year&rsquo,s NACAC Mountain Championships held at the Cranmore Hill Climb in North Conway, NH.&nbsp,
Joe Gray is the defending men&rsquo,s champion and also won the NACAC Mountain Running Championships in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012.
The defending women&rsquo,s champion is Morgan Arritola from Team USA.&nbsp,
There will be a new champion this year as neither Gray nor Arritola will compete in Mexico.

&nbsp,

&nbsp,

Edited from&nbsp,Richard Bolt.&nbsp,

&nbsp,Source of the pictures:
&nbsp,On front page (from USATF):
&nbsp, – banner of the event.

“216 runners coming from 26 European Countries were present at the 13. European Mountain Running Championships.
Italy dominated medal table of the competition winning 4 gold medals and one bronze, other four Nations had the honour of listening their national anthem: Great Britain won 1 gold medal and 4 silver medals, Turkey took 1 gold medal and 2 silver and 3 bronze (total six medals: no other Country won this number of medals), Czech Republic had 1 gold and silver and Austria won 1 gold and 2 bronze medals.
Two other Nations won medals: Slovenia won 1 silver medal and hosting Country France took 2 bronze.
All the four races were very exciting, with a lot champions of the discipline that tried to do their best! ”
“In the senior men, Italian Bernard Dematteis won in 56:10 – with his 28-year-old twin Martin third in 56:32 – and the pair were separated by Great Britain&rsquo,s Robbie Simpson who took silver in 56:19.
A year ago in Borovets when Bernard won the crown for the first time (he defeated Turkish star Ahmet Arslan who had triumphed on six occasions) and in 2014 he confirmed his title.
Now the Italian is creating a legendary status of his own after making it two in a row as he showed his power and strength in a race where Arslan was eighth in 58:22.
In the team senior men result Italy team (Bernard Dematteis, Martin Dematteis, Luca Cagnati and Alex Baldaccini) took gold medal with 11 points in front of Great Britain &amp, N. I. (Robbie Simpson, Andrew Douglas, Tom Addison and Shaun Dixon, also if he did not finished the race) silver with 27 points and France (Julien Rancon Renaud Jaillardon, Benjamin Bellany and Emmanuel Meyssat, also if he did not finished the race) bronze with 31 points. 15 Nations started with full team but only 14 teams was in the results because one of the Spanish runner did not finished the race and so the team became not complete.
The women&rsquo,s senior race looked like it would not be dominated by one person such was the quality throughout, but that was not the case as Austrian Andrea Mayr also won for the second year in a row.
Among those in the field were Alice Gaggi, of Italy, who won the world crown last year, but Mayr stayed in front at the end of each of the two laps before moving away to take gold.
After an interesting race Mayr won in 39:43 beating Slovenian Mateja Kosovelj (silver) in 40:53 and Austrian Sabine Reiner (bronze) in&nbsp, 41:03 whilst Italian Alice Gaggi finished fourth in 41:22.
In the team senior women result Italy team (Alice Gaggi, Elisa Desco, Valentina Belotti and Elisa Sortini) won European title with 20 points. Silver medal was taken by Great Britain &amp, N. I. (Emma Clayton, Sarah Tunstall, Katie Walshaw and Megan Crawford) with 31 point and Austria (Andrea Mayr, Sabine Reiner and Karin Freitag) won bronze medal with 36 points. 17 teams finished in the results.
The day had begun with the junior women&rsquo,s race which brought victory for Britain&rsquo,s Georgia Malir in 22:10 as she fended off the Turkey’s bid, with Bahar Atalay second in 22:20 and Burcu Subatan third in 22:42.
Turkey team won gold medal with 14 points, second and silver was Great Britain &amp, N. I. with 29 points whilst France and Czech Rep. took both 37 points but bronze was for France team, because third French counting runner finished 15.&nbsp, (Czech runner was 18.). 9 teams were in the team result.
And it was a similar outcome in the junior men for Turkey who took second and third as Dominik Sadlo, of the Czech Republic, won gold in 37:23. He was followed by Ferhat Bozkurt, in 37:42, with Ramazan Karagoz third in 38:19.&nbsp, Italy team won gold medal with 20 points, second and silver was Czech Rep. with 24 points and bronze and third&nbsp, finished Turkey with 26 points.
All the participants declared their satisfaction for the organisation of the event.
Local Organising Committee and town of Gap was very happy for hosting this event and FFA was present with a lot of Officials (Jean Gracia and some Vice Presidents). Also European Athletics Association was present with many people and with Dobromir Karamarinov, Chairman of EAA Mountain Running Commission.&nbsp,&nbsp,
At the end of competition EAA flag passed in the hands of LOC of next 14. European Mountain Running Championships 2015 in Portugal, at Porto Moniz, on Saturday 4.&nbsp, July.

&nbsp,

Edited from Bruno Gozzelino(WMRA)

&nbsp,Source of the pictures:
&nbsp,On front page (from EAA):
&nbsp, – Bernard Dematties, winner senior men,
&nbsp,On second page: (from EAA):
– Andrea Mayr. winner senior women.

&nbsp,

&nbsp,

“

“Gap, hosting venue of the next 13. European Mountain Running Championships, has a great mountain running tradition.
There will be 26 European countries present at the 13. European Running Championships.
Gap, the South Alps&rsquo, Capital, is located between Chamonix and Nice, between Mediterranean Provence and the high Alps and sits at an elevation of 750 meters with 42,000 inhabitants. Gap lives like a charming Proven&ccedil,al City in the heart of the Alps. Close to the &ldquo,Parc National des Ecrins&rdquo, with its 4.000 meters high mountains, Gap has an ideal location for mountain-related sport activities. In a few minutes you have access to hundreds of kilometres of excellent hiking paths and mountain biking routes. Ideal conditions for mountain runners!&nbsp,
In 1993, it was the host city of the 9th World Mountain Running Trophy and the local favourite Isabelle Guillot was the winner of the women&rsquo,s race. In her long and successful sport career from 1987 to 2008, she participated in 17 World and 11 European major events, she stood 10 times on the podium, 5 times on the highest position. Isabelle designed the course for the races this year. We are all convinced that the 4km long loop with 250 m ascents and descents will include all the elements of mountain running: steep ascents, technical descents and fast sections in the middle. Girls will have to run it once, boys and ladies 2 times and men 3 times.
In July 2013 on the same paths on the slopes of Charence mountain participants of WMRA Youth challenge tested the courses.
”
“A detailed view to the list of the entered runners tells a lot about the favourites, although it is not easy to predict the results on the basis of the results of the 2013 edition, where the course was an uphill one. To compare the 2012 results, where the course was similar to this one is also not the best. Maybe the best comparison would be with the results with the last year&rsquo,s World Championships.
Especially in the women&rsquo,s race, where all&nbsp, top ten women were Europeans&rsquo,, and from those ten, eight will start also in Gap. Italian Alice Gaggi, the World Champion against European Champion Andrea Mayr from Austria, who had a fantastic performance at the second World Cup race in Bludenz. Italian team with defending champion and Elisa Desco will be the favourite for team gold, but the British team with Emma Clayton and Sarah Tunstall could also be a front runner for gold. Mateja Kosovelj of Slovenia, third and fourth from European and World Championships 2013 and Grand Prix 2013 winner is also hungry for a victory. From the World Champs 2013 top ten, Sarah McCormack from Ireland, Dominika Wisniewska from Poland and Burcu Buyukbezgin from Turkey will&nbsp, also compete. Sabine Rainer from Austria had shown some excellent performances this year and will try to help her teammate Andrea Mayr secure a team medal.
In the men&rsquo,s race, the favourites are probably Turkish runners, who dominated in 2012 and Italian runners who dominated in 2013.&nbsp, Bernard Dematteis and Alex Baldaccini are the Italian top runners and six times European Champion Ahmet Arslan and silver medallist from Denizli, Muslu Ercan are Turkish favourites. Spanish Enriqe Meneses and Czech Robert Krupicka who were in the top ten in 2012 and in 2013 could be also be a factor. Of course local Julien Rancon and Emanuel Meyssat will do their best to earn a medal for France. Slovenian Mitja Kosovelj, twice World long distance Challenge winner and specialist for technical descents could also be a top finisher on this particular course. He will face Romanian Ionut Zinca, bronze medallist from ECh 2012 and silver medallist from Long distance Challenge 2013.
Junior races are always quite unpredictable.
In the boy&rsquo,s race, last year&rsquo,s top four Karagoz Ramazan (TUR), Manuel Innenhofer (AUT) and Domink Sadlo (CZE) seems to be the favourites.
In the girls&rsquo, race, Catriona Graves (GBR), Andre Piscu (ROU) and&nbsp,Michala Stranska (CZE) are the only ones who finished in top 10 World Championships 2013.

&nbsp,

&nbsp,

Edited from Tomo Sarf and Nancy Hobbs (WMRA)

&nbsp,Source of the pictures:
&nbsp,On front page (from EAA):
&nbsp, – logo of the event,
&nbsp,On second page: (from LOC):
&nbsp,- landscape and view of Gap (with zone of the race in the circle).

“