World Mountain and Trail Running Champs: Canada finishes strong despite humid conditions
Team Canada overcame challenges to take home one top-10 and seven top-40 finishes
Photo by:
courtesy of Sasha Gollish
Ugandan athletes finished off a successful week of racing on Sunday at the inaugural World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Samuel Kibet, Rebecca Cheptegei and Leonard Chemutai won three of the four titles on offer on the final day of the competition. (You can read our results recap of Friday’s competition here.)
Kibet and Cheptegei won the senior men’s and women’s up-and-down mountain races, respectively; both raced over 11.2 km, with 475 metres of ascent. Chemutai took the junior men’s up and down title, and Jessica Bailey led a British one–two in the junior women’s race, competing over a 6.4 km course (224 metres ascent).
1️⃣2️⃣ individual medals were shared between athletes from 9️⃣ different nations on day 2️⃣ of @wmtrc2021th in Chiang Mai ?? #WMTRC#AmazingThailand
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) November 5, 2022
More than 900 athletes from 46 member federations took part in five races for men and women, including one for U20 athletes. The inaugural WMTRC was a collaboration between World Athletics, the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA), the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) and the International Trail Running Association (ITRA).
Canadians overcome challenges for a solid finish
Despite heat, humidity and a flu bug impacting several members of team Canada, the 17-member group left Chiang Mai, Thailand with one top-10 and seven top-40 finishes, Athletics Canada reports.
“The heat, tough terrain and difficult course made for some challenges for some of the Canadian trail runners, but overall, the team had solid performances that set the bar for the next World’s,” said head coach Adrian Lambert.
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On Friday, Squamish-based Alexandre Ricard and Quebec’s Rémi Leroux took the 10th and 14th positions in the men’s uphill vertical running challenge, which were the best results ever achieved by Canadian men in a world mountain running championship. The pair, along with Kristopher Swanson in 37th place, managed to secure seventh place overall in the event.
Over the weekend, Ricard also captured a 30th-place finish in the classic up-and-down race on Sunday.
On the women’s side, Kerri Labreque led with a 30th-place finish in the women’s uphill mountain race. Sasha Gollish, who, along with Ricard, was registered for both the vertical challenge and classic up-and-down, was unable to compete, after becoming ill on her way to Chiang Mai.
How to replicate yesterdays 40k Trail World Championships:
Lock yourself in steam room with treadmill, stairmaster, and tumble dryer.
• Mile at MP
• 1h stairs
• 45’ inside tumbler
• 45’ stairs
• 1h tumbler
• 15’ stairs
• 15’ tumbler
• Mile at MPhttps://t.co/1WwiR8bElJ pic.twitter.com/D8kvtyKglD— Calum Neff (@CalNeff) November 6, 2022
Despite the challenge the team faced, Lambert said he was proud of the versatility they displayed across events. Lambert noted JP Thibodeau and Jeffrey Campbell’s taking the 31st and 33rd positions in the men’s 80K long course and 40K short course as two of the weekend’s highlights.
The championship was the first of its kind, as the mountain and trail running championships were previously held separately. The next edition of the world finale will take place in Innsbruck, Austria in June 2023.
For full results, head here.
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