World Mountain Running Championships - Preview
Posted Thursday, 22 September, 2005
Buzz Burrell
9/21/2005
Boulder, CO
Colorado Runner
The World Mountain Running Championships will take place this weekend, in Wellington, New Zealand. Here is a special Preview of this remarkable event, and information on how you can learn more and read live updates as the races progress.
WHAT IS "MOUNTAIN RUNNING"?
In the United States, Marathon road racing features huge prize purses, great competition, and extensive media coverage. Trail Racing on the other hand, is quite popular with significant participation numbers, but as a competitive sport, it sometimes seems like a nice, relaxing way to spend a Saturday morning jogging thru the woods.
This is not true in the rest of the world!
All other countries use the term "mountain running" instead of "trail running", indicating the distinction being made, as they do not emphasize "ultra" distances, and instead feature steep, technical, and tight courses, that lend themselves to fun, fast and competitive running that is exciting to watch.
Bernie Boettcher, of Silt CO, just returned from the World Masters Mountain Running Championships in England. He wrote,
"In the USA, trail running is pitifully far behind. These guys (and girls) love to run downhill...and uphill. The depth of good runners was remarkable to see."
THE 2005 COURSE
Wellington, New Zealand was chosen to host the 21st annual Trophy Race (the term used to denote the Championships). The choice of this city dramatically increases the excitement, as the Kiwi's are crazy about sport in general, love their mountain (or "bush") running, and are going all out to make sure this is a great event. Runners from 30 countries were in the "Parade of Nations" today, as the city rolls out the red carpet.
Can you imagine going to a trail race in the United States, and having literally 10,000 spectators lining the course, cheering wildly? Welcome to Wellington.
http://www.mountainrunning.org.nz/welcome.html
The Trophy Race alternates between uphill-only on even numbered years, and up-down courses on odd years - this is significant, as some runners are great climbers, while others specialize in fast descending. 2005 is an up-down year.
The Women run 2 laps of the tough Mt Victoria course for 9.1 km, while the Men run 3 laps, for 15.4 km. Each laps gains and loses 310 meters (over 1,000 feet).
http://www.mountainrunning.org.nz/maps.html
Galen Burrell of Boulder spent three months this winter training in New Zealand, and ran the course with some of the top Kiwi runners.
"Wellington is the perfect venue for the first World Trophy hosted in an urban environment. Mt. Victoria is situated directly over the city, and the course climbs right out of the sands of City Beach, making it easily accessible to spectators and the media. The loop course is quite compact and steep, but features several fast moderate grades that will test the leg speed of the true mountain runners."
HANDICAPPING THE RACE
Wellington also just happens to be the hometown of two of the most famous mountain runners in the world, Jonathan Wyatt and Melissa Moon.
Melissa is the 2001 and 2003 World Champion. She had practically retired from the sport, but with the World Championships coming to her hometown, she raced back into top form this summer, including a tune-up tour into Colorado. She battled Anna Pichrtova of the Czech Republic at the North American 10km Trail Championships in Vail this June, narrowly losing to Anna who overtook her on the downhills made treacherous by the blinding snowstorm. Two weeks later at the Mount Washington Road Race, the two were running literally stride-for-stride for 7.5 miles, again far out of sight of any other women, with Melissa out-kicking Anna in the last 75 meters, denying Anna her 5th win in a row, to even things up.
Anna was 2nd in last years Trophy Race and along with her terrific 21st at the Athens Olympic Marathon, won the European Championships that year, so it will be a real showdown in Wellington. Anna lived and trained in Boulder this spring as a member of the La Sportiva GoLite Running Team, winning the Citizens Bolder Boulder race in the process, and her extremely charming personality has made her a local favorite. Peter Vail of Boulder, running for La Sportiva GoLite and Team Canada, wrote yesterday from Wellington,
"It has been quite wet and very windy the first 2 days, with gusts over 60mph! I spoke with Anna for a while today, it seems she is quite raring to go!"
The women's field is literally the best for any race in history, as Angela Mudge of Scotland, 2000 World Champion and 2nd to Melissa in 2003 will join Anna and Melissa. Angela also has Colorado roots, as she came to Boulder specifically to train in 2003, going out every Tuesday on Tempo Runs with the Boulder Trail Runners.
"We thought she was pretty good", said Jed DeOrsay, one the BTR runners. "But we didn't know how good until she crushed us at Pikes Peak!" (Angela ran a scintillating 4:19:38 at Pikes Peak for 4the overall!)
Rounding out the incredible women's field will be Andrea Mayr of Austria, who beat Anna at the European Championships this year after finishing second to her last year; Emma Murray from Australia, winner of the world mountain marathon title, and Jackie Fairweather double World Triathlon and double World Duathlon Champion.
The latter entry is an example of the commitment and interest other countries put into the Mountain Running.
As Galen says,
"Mountain running in New Zealand is not considered quite so "fringe" as it is in the States. Instead, the distinction between road and trail running is blurred, and many of their top international road runners are found competing in local trail races and even intense mountain races such as the World Trophy (i.e. Jonathan Wyatt, Phil Costly). In New Zealand, running is running, be it road, trail or mountain."
The Men's Race will be just as interesting, but is much simpler to handicap.
No country can match the Italians in the Team Competition, as they have year -round support, take the sport very seriously, and show up at the races with a full compliment of Physical Therapists, coaches, even a cook ... the envy of every team. But one man definitely can match the Italians - Jonathan Wyatt. Another Wellington native, "Jono" was also at the Olympic Marathon in Athens, and has the distinction of literally never having lost any uphill mountain race, and won the Trophy four times (but only in the uphill years).
His one visit to the US came last year, as he annihilated the Mount Washington Road Race course record by 1 minute 40 seconds. La Sportiva Golite's Paul Low of Amherst, Massachusetts, who finished second, six and a half minutes behind Wyatt, summed up the New Zealander's talents. "Jonathan is the best uphill runner in the solar system. Probably in several solar systems."
Wyatt's time would have won the Mt Washington bicycle race the same year.
But can he keep up with the fast Italians on the technical downhills? Wyatt spent the summer in Europe competing in the Mountain Running circuit, and the bets are that he does not intend to lose in front of the hometown fans.
COLORADO RUNNERS
The US Team is led by Teva's Simon Gutierrez of Alamosa, and Anita Ortiz of Vail. Anita has been hampered by a year's worth of injuries, while Simon is in outstanding form, winning this years Mount Washington Road Race and the New England Trail Championships. Paul Low of Amherst, MA has a tremendous amount of international experience, and newcomer Eric Blake of Plattsburg, NY, also on the La Sportiva GoLite Team, has been one of the best American men this year. Tim Parr of Gunnison is another of the top Means Team contenders, and Laura Haefeli of Del Norte, CO won the Wind Turbine Run in Wellington on Saturday, a tune-up for the Trophy Race, showing the US Team is really ready to go, and Colorado is sending a strong contingent.
Additionally, Geoff Williamson and Peter Vail both live in Boulder, and are running for Team Canada.
JUNIOR TEAM
The World Championships also host races for Juniors. Nice bios on the Junior Team and comments from Team Members can be found at http://www.youthrunner.com .
START TIMES - LIVE COMMENTARY
The Trophy Race takes place this Sunday, and the times are listed below. However, live updates can be read here Saturday evening!
7:30am - Open race (not team affiliated)
10.00am - Junior women - 4.7km
11.30am - Junior men - 9.1km
1.00pm - Men - 13.5km = Live updates at 7:00 PM Saturday MDT
3.00pm - Women - 9.1km = Live updates at 9:00 PM Saturday MDT
http://www.mountainrunning.org.nz/supporters.html
LINKS
US Team Bio's:
www.usatf.org/groups/MountainUltraTrail/news/2005MtnTeamAnnounce d.asp
Full Entry List:
www.mountainrunning.org.nz/entrylist.html
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