World Mountain Running Championships

Four BC athletes competed for Canada at the World Mountain Running Championships in Tirana, Albania on September 11.

In the men’s 12k championship, Kris Swanson placed 58th of 102 finishers, in 1:02:51. Kris had been the top Canadian after 8k, but suffered from heat exhaustion over the final lap. Not far behind at the finish was Shane Ruljancich in 68th place in 1:05:08. Canada’s top finisher was Alberta’s Adrian Lambert in 1:00:36, good for 37th place. Canada placed 11th of 17 teams.

In the women’s 8k championship, Melissa Ross was Canada’s first finisher, in 34th place and a time of 47:21. Sonja Yli-Kahila was Canada’s second finisher, in 48th place (53:27), helping Canada to 12th place of 12 teams.

Results: http://www.mountainrunning.ca/news.php?id=48

 

Swanson wins Emperor’s Challenge once again

By Greg Amos, Tumbler Ridge News

Look up the definition of “consistency” in a dictionary, and you might just see a picture of Kris Swanson winning the Emperor’s Challenge.

The 29-year-old Victoria based runner won for the twelfth time in 13 races with a time of 1:24:52, edging out his Canadian Mountain Running Team teammate Adrian Lambert of Edmonton, who finished with 1:27:43.

“I like this course – it’s one of my favourite of all the Emperor’s Challenge courses over the years,” he said. “It suits me – I like the tundra at the top and the soft moss, the rocks – and I just like the technical stuff.”

Despite an ominously rainy start to the day, weather was fairly good for the 20-kilometre half marathon, aside from a bitingly cold wind and some freezing rain at the summit. Despite that setback, many local people in the race improved their times significantly from previous years.

Dawson Creek’s Fiona Benson was blazingly fast on the downhill section, setting a new women’s record time of 1:43:40 and placing seventh overall.

The race reached its maximum of 800 entrants several weeks before last Saturday. A total of 656 people started the race, and all but 12 were able to finish.

Read more: http://www.tumblerridgenews.com/index.php/sports/8880-swanson-wins-emperors-challenge-once-again

Chasing mountains

By James Clarke, Parksville Qualicum Beach News

It was only a matter of time — and her time came out of left field.

Local runner Melissa Ross has been rewarded with her first international assignment, being named to the Canadian National Team bound for the 2011 World Mountain Running Championships in Albania.

Canada will be taking a team of 10 runners (six men and four women) to the 27th annual running of the WMRCs, which will be played out September 11 in Dajti National Park, situated 26 km east of the capital city of Tirana (pop. 800,000). The park, which encompasses 29,216 hectares, includes the Dajti Mountain (1353m), site of the championships.

The course is 4.49 kms in length and climbs 281 metres. 

“I have to do two loops,” Ross, 27, said as easily as if she was talking about a walk along the seawall. “I’m really excited. I wasn’t really expecting it (to make the team). I’ve done cross-country, I made it to the nationals last year, so yeah, I have that under my belt, but it’s not like mountain running … that’s a lot more challenging.”

Read more: http://www.bclocalnews.com/sports/126805948.html

Swanson qualifies for the World Mountain Running Championships, again

Two Victoria athletes qualified to represent Canada at the World Mountain Running Championships in Tirana, Albania on September 11th, by placing in the top 5 at the Canadian Mountain Running Championships in Canmore, AB.

Kris Swanson finished second to James Gosselin of Ontario, completing the approximately 14.5km course in 56:32.3, 20 seconds behind Gosselin. This will be Swanson’s fourth consecutive appearance at the World Championships, and he has improved his placing on each previous occasion, finishing 30th and top Canadian at the 2010 Championships.

Shane Ruljancich placed 5th in 59:37.8, to make the Canadian team for the first time.

 

Canadian Mountain Running Championships – July 9th, 2011

Registration is now open for the 2011 Canadian Mountain Running Championships.

The race will be held on July 9th, 2011 at the Canmore Nordic Centre in Canmore, Alberta. The Canadian Mountain Running Championships will feature Canada’s top mountain runners competing for spots on Canada’s national team.

Register online at: https://zone4.ca/onlinereg.asp?id=3940&lan=1

The Canadian Mountain Running Championships serves as the selection race for:
a) 27th World Mountain Running Championships: September 11th, 2011, Tirana, Albania
b) 2nd Commonwealth Mountain Running Championships: September 23rd-25th, Snowdon-Gwynedd, GBR

The full selection criteria can be found at : http://www.mountainrunning.ca/downloads/Selection_Criteria_for_2011_National_Teams.pdf

More information and updates can be found at : www.mountainrunning.ca

Note: Runners who wish to be considered for team selection to the World Mountain Running Championships and Commonwealth Championships must be members of CTMRA and their local Athletics Canada branch prior to the championships.

Team Canada wins mountain title

By Mihira Lakshman

The Canadian men’s mountain running team won the NACAC championship on July 9, in Canmore, Alta.

Team Canada, led by Taylor Murphy’s second-place finish, beat the Americans by one point. Murphy, of Napanee, Ont., Adrian Lambert of Edmonton and Victoria’s Kris Swanson were all in the top six of the 7.5K uphill race, which climbed about 600 metres in elevation, and included a 130m descent.

American Joseph Gray won the individual title. Olympic skier Ivan Babikov of Canmore, Alta., was third, but he didn’t include himself in the team competition.

Gray led for almost the entire race, winning by 23 seconds over Murphy. But the team title was decided on the final and most difficult ascent, when Lambert passed American Brandon Lord to secure the championship.

In the women’s race, the United States easily won the team title over Canada. The Americans took the top two spots, with Emily Solsberg of Vancouver finishing fourth, to lead the Canadian team.

Brandy Erholtz won the women’s individual title.

The race also served as the Canadian Mountain Running Championships, and will be used to select the team for the World Mountain Running Championships in Kamnik, Slovenia on Sept. 5.

The event was held at the Canmore Nordic Centre after Grizzly Bears forced the organizers to make a last-minute course change from the Nakiska Ski Resort.

Full results available: http://www.mountainrunning.ca/news.php?id=41

Canadian Mountain Running Championships

Registration for the 2010 Canadian Mountain Running Championships at Nikiska, AB on Friday, July 9th is now open. All runners in the Friday night Nikiska race will compete for a spot on the national team which will travel to Slovenia for the World Championships from September 2 to 6, 2010. The top 5 Canadian men and the top 3 Canadian women will be offered a spot on the team. The 6th man and 4th woman will be selected at large by the national team committee.

The Canadian Championship will run concurrently with the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) championships.

The team to represent Canada in the NACAC Championship will be:

Women
Amy Golumbia, AB
Syl Corbett, AB
Emily Solsberg, BC

Men
Kris Swanson, BC
Adrian Lambert, AB
Jason Louttit, BC

For more information on the Championship, and to register, visit www.canmorechallenge.com.