Canada’s Loutitt second at IAU 70K trail champs

Canada’s Jason Loutitt, a former elite marathoner, is now proving himself in the sport of ultra trail-running, finishing second at the the world 70K trail-running championships in Ireland, July 9.

Loutitt, who lives in Vancouver and runs for North Face, completed the course, which featured five steep climbs, in 6:40:32. He was less than two minutes behind France’s Erik Clavery, the winner in 6:39:07.

There were 121 competitors from 20 different countries in the event that is nowhere near as big as IAAF cross-country, road or track races. But the sport of ultra trail-running appears to be growing.

At the 40K mark, Loutitt had a five-minute lead over Clavery, but the French athlete made up the gap, and stayed in the lead. Loutitt faded to fourth at one point, before clawing his way into a silver medal position in the final 5K.

In the women’s competition, Team Canada finished third in aggregate time, behind France and Italy.

There’s more information about the race on the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) website, and the IAAF website.

Loutitt has been a regular fixture in Canada’s road racing scene for the past decade, having run a marathon best of 2:24:37 in 2009. He has also represented Canada at the world mountain running championships.