At the 26th World Mountain Running Championships slated for Sunday, September 5 in Kamnik, Slovenia, a record number of countries are expected to participate. Approximately 360 athletes representing 41 countries will participate.
The juniors (who must be at least 16 in the year of competition and not yet 20) will have nearly 80 in the men’s category and 19 full teams (maximum of four to run with the top three to score) and over 50 in the women’s category and 17 teams (maximum of three to run with the top two to score). On the senior side, there will be 156 men and 22 full teams (maximum of six to run with the top four to score) and 73 women and 16 full teams (maximum of four to run with the top three to score).
Expected to be strong this year are the traditional uphill scoring teams – Italy, Uganda, Eritrea, Turkey for the men; Austria, Czech Republic, and Russia for the women. USA is considered one of the favorites to medal in both the senior women and junior women categories, but don’t count out the senior men and junior men who also have their sights set on the podium.
There will be three course distances. The junior women will run approximately 4 kilometers, the junior men and senior women will run approximately 8 kilometers, and the senior men will run approximately 12 kilometers. The courses are uphill-only as opposed to odd-numbered years when the courses are up/down in nature. The terrain will include tarmac (for the senior men’s course), gravel road, single-track trail, open meadows, and lots of climbing.
The USA Mountain Running Team will arrive in Kamnick by Thursday, September 2, and preview the course on Friday. The opening ceremony, which includes a parade of nations, will be held on Saturday, September 5.
Representing Team USA will be Eric Blake, 31, New Haven, CT, Joe Gray, 26, Lakewood, WA, Rickey Gates, 29, Aspen, CO, Max King, 28, Bend, OR, Tommy Manning, 34, Colorado Springs, CO, and Chris Lundstrom, 34, Minneapolis, MN, will compete for the senior men; Kristin Price, 28, Raleigh, NC, Brandy Erholtz, 33*, Bailey, CO, Nicole Hunt, 40, Deer Lodge, MT, and Megan Lund, 26, Basalt, CO, will compete for the senior women. The junior men's team includes Chase Caulkins, 18, Ketchum, ID, Paul Petersen, 18, Broomfield, CO, Cody Wells, 18, Snowflake, AZ, and Chris York, 19, White Post, VA. The junior women's team includes Laura Beresford, 18*, Dana Point, CA, Hannah Jumper, 17, Chattanooga, TN, and Hannah Valenzuela, 17, Apple Valley, CA. (*age at time of competition). Follow the team blog at this link, and results at this link.
Comments