Canada’s Rémi Leroux scales podium twice at Slovenian mountain races
His silver and bronze finishes at the 2023 Smarna Gora have shot the Quebecer to third place in the World Mountain Running Association World Cup standings
Photo by:
Rémi Leroux/Strava
Canada’s Rémi Leroux has shot to third place in the World Mountain Running Association World Cup standings after taking silver and bronze in races at the 2023 Smarna Gora in Slovenia over the weekend.
Leroux, from Bromont, Que., ran 11:24 for second place in the Smarna Gora’s kick-off event last Friday night, a short and sharp 1.85-kiliomtre race with 360 metres of elevation gain in the mountains just outside the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana. Joining him on the podium were winner Luka Kovacic (11:12) and fellow Slovenian Klemen Spanring (11:25).
On Saturday, Leroux ran 43:31 to finish third in the Smarna Gora 10K race, a course with 710m of ascent and 350m of descent that includes an initial climb to the summit of Grmada at the 4-km mark, followed by descent over 2 km before a final climb that spirals around the mountain to reach the summit finish at Gostilna Ledinek Inn.
Leroux was the only runner to podium in both of this year’s Smarna Gora races. Taking gold in the 10K was Italy’s Isacco Costa (43:13). Lengen Lolkurraru of Kenya finished second in 43:21.
In a post-race Instagram post, Leroux wrote this year’s Smarna Gora encapsulated what he enjoys about mountain running.
“Less than a minute separated the top 6 runners and that demonstrates one of the many things I love about mountain running: Even though the races are relatively short, so many things happen during the race and you have to be 100% focused all the time, because a little distraction and not following a move can cause you to lose many positions at the finish,” he wrote. “It was another very cool week meeting runners from around the world and experiencing a new culture in Slovenia.”
Leroux’s standout performances in Slovenia came just one week after his second-place finish in the 10.2-km Premiero Dolomiti Trail race in northern Italy, where he crossed the finish line in 43:56. He was joined on the podium by Xavier Chevrier (43:22) and fellow Italian Henri Aymonod (43:58).
His results from Slovenia have launched Leroux into third place in the World Cup standings with 152 points, behind Kenyans Philemon Kiriago with 280 points and Patrick Kipngeno with 230 points.
The final set of races in this year’s World Cup series take place this weekend on Spain’s Gran Canaria Island. The action begins Friday with the 6.6-km vertical uphill race, including 947m of ascent, continues Saturday with a 35-km long mountain race with 2,736m of ascent, and concludes Sunday with the 21-km classic mountain race featuring 740m of ascent and 1,970 metres of descent.
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