Italy's Francesca Ghelfi and&nbsp;Filimon Abraham of Germany claimed the top spots at the&nbsp;World Mountain Running Association (WMRA)&nbsp;Nations Cup in&nbsp;Chiavenna, Italy, on Sunday (31).
The event was held as an opportunity for international competition at the end of the 2021 season, following the postponement of the World Mountain Running Championships in Thailand to February 2022.
In his opening ceremony comments, WMRA president Jonathan Wyatt thanked the organisers of the Val Bregaglia Trail for staging this special edition of the race and for pulling the whole thing together in just over six weeks. Just as importantly, he also thanked the athletes for their commitment to training and qualifying for the competition, and for travelling to Chiavenna.&nbsp;
A total of 100 athletes from 15 countries stood on the start line, eager to compete at the highest level on this fast 19km course with 660m of ascent.
In the women&rsquo;s race it was Scotland&rsquo;s Scout Adkin and England&rsquo;s Kate Maltby who struck out at the front. Scout was narrowly ahead at the 4.5km point and they were being chased by Ghelfi, who was around 40 seconds behind. Similarly, in the men&rsquo;s race two athletes tried to stamp their authority from the start, and it was&nbsp;Lengen Lolkurraru&nbsp;of Kenya and Abraham. At this point they were neck and neck, with Czech athlete Jachym Kovar 40 seconds back.
At the 10km point little had changed at the front. Adkin and Maltby were together and Italian Alice Gaggi had caught Ghelfi, 30 seconds behind the leading pair. The chase was definitely on. Lolkurraru and Abraham remained at the front of the men&rsquo;s race, with Kovar still leading the chase, but by this point Timotej Becan of Slovenia and Chris Richards of England were also pushing hard for the podium.
It was at the next time check at 15.8km where things had started to change. Ghelfi had taken the lead in the women&rsquo;s race and had started to stretch out a gap of 45 seconds over Adkin. Maltby was still in touch with Adkin, just 10 seconds behind her, and Gaggi also remained in contention for the podium, just 12 seconds behind Maltby. In the men&rsquo;s race, Lolkurraru was leading by a very narrow margin of five seconds from Abraham, and it was Becan who lay in third, a minute and a half back.
At the finish line in the town square in Chiavenna it was Abraham who was first to arrive, having stretched out a lead of just over a minute from Lolkurraru over the final 5km. He won in 1:18:29, while Lolkurraru took silver in 1:19:48 and Becan bronze in 1:22:10. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/617ec51dd941ecac14af677c.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> Winner Filimon Abraham and runner-up Lengen Lolkurraru (&copy; Marco Gulberti)
 Becan beat Italy's fourth-placed Daniel Pattis by just one second in a sprint finish, as Richards finished 35 seconds back for fifth place.
In the women&rsquo;s race, Ghelfi hung on to take the gold for Italy in 1:34:01. Adkin claimed silver in 1:35:14 with a great breakthrough performance, and it was Hanna Grober of Germany who came through for the bronze in 1:35:51.
Gaggi was just five seconds behind in fourth and Maltby claimed fifth in 1:36:59.
In the team competition it was a win for England&rsquo;s women, with Italy second and the Czech Republic third. Italy&rsquo;s men took the gold, with England second and Romania third.
"It is with great pleasure that the WMRA are able to put together an event in the space of only six weeks where athletes could compete for their country and our WMRA and World Athletics members can join after two years without a World Championships for our senior athletes," said&nbsp;Wyatt.&nbsp;
"The races have been hard and the competition exciting and it is a pleasure to hear the national anthems of the winning teams and individuals once again for a senior mountain running competition.
"The WMRA would like to thank the services of the town of Chiavenna and their superb organisation team as well as the support we have received from the Italian Athletics Federation (FIDAL)."
Kirsty Reade (WMRA) for World Athletics
<a href="https://www.endu.net/en/events/val-bregaglia-trail/results" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a>

Italy's Francesca Ghelfi and Filimon Abraham of Germany claimed the top spots at the World Mountain Running Association Nations Cup in Chiavenna.

Victory for Ghelfi and Abraham at WMRA Nations Cup

Italy's&nbsp;Henri Aymonod and&nbsp;Joyce Muthoni Njeru of Kenya have been crowned the overall&nbsp;World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) World Cup champions following the final race of the 2021 series at Chiavenna-Lagunc on Sunday (10).
The&nbsp;Kilometro Verticale Chiavenna-Lagunc was a fitting setting to decide the winners of the overall World Cup as well as the&nbsp;short uphill category, with the winners of Sunday's race &ndash;&nbsp;Aymonod and Austria's&nbsp;Andrea Mayr &ndash; also claiming those category titles.
The start lists featured a mix of short uphill specialists and athletes more comfortable with longer races, but committed to adding to their World Cup points totals. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61635ea2db267732db60277d.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> Kenya's 2021 WMRA World Cup winner Joyce Muthoni Njeru (&copy; Luca Coluccia)
 The women set off for the&nbsp;historic vertical kilometre race first, at 20 seconds intervals, with the top ranked athletes going last.
It was an exciting morning, seeing the top three change as the competition progressed. Eventually it was Mayr who won by a huge margin, but an agonising one second outside of her own course record in 35:41.
In second place it was Italy's Francesca Ghelfi in 39:16 and in third was last year&rsquo;s winner, Ireland's Sarah McCormack, in 39:56.
Then it was time for the men, also setting off at 20 second intervals. It was an incredibly close race, with the top six all finishing within 90 seconds of each other.
It was no surprise to find Aymonod coming out on top &ndash; his third victory here in a row &ndash; in 31:40.
Italy's Tiziano Moia was second in 32:18 and Nadir Maguet completed the Italian clean sweep in 32:40.
Finishing behind&nbsp;Aymonod and&nbsp;Mayr&nbsp;in the overall short uphill category at the end of the series are&nbsp;Njeru and&nbsp;Slovenia's&nbsp;Mojca Koligar in the women's standings and&nbsp;Moia and his fellow Italian Andrea Rostan in the men's standings.
In the overall World Cup, Britain's Charlotte Morgan and Hungary's Sandor Szabo claim the runner-up spots, with Italy's Alice Gaggi and Kenya's Geoffrey Gikuni Ndungu placing third.
Kirsty Reade (WMRA) for World Athletics 
<h3>WMRA World Cup results</h3>
Overall World Cup
Women 1 Joyce Muthoni Njeru (KEN) 2 Charlotte Morgan (GBR) 3 Alice Gaggi (ITA)
Men 1 Henri Aymonod (GBR) 2 Sandor Szabo (HUN) 3 Geoffrey&nbsp;Gikuni&nbsp;Ndungu&nbsp;(KEN) 
Short uphill category
Women 1 Andrea Mayr (AUT) 2 Joyce Muthoni Njeru&nbsp;(KEN) 3 Mojca Koligar (SLO)
Men 1 Henri Aymonod (ITA) 2 Tiziano Moia (ITA) 3 Andrea Rostan (ITA) 
Classic mountain category
Women 1 Joyce Muthoni Njeru&nbsp;(KEN) 2&nbsp;Lucy&nbsp;Wambui&nbsp;Murigi (KEN) 3 Alice Gaggi (ITA)
Men 1&nbsp;Geoffrey Gikuni Ndungu&nbsp;(KEN) 2 Sandor Szabo (HUN) 3 Henri Aymonod (ITA) 
Long mountain category
Women 1 Charlotte Morgan (GBR) 2 Marcela Vasinova (CZE) 3 Belen Perez (ESP)
Men 1 Raul Criado (ESP) 2 Peter Frano (SVK) 3 Kamil Lesniak (POL) 
<a href="https://www.wmra.info/files/world_cup/2021_WORLD_CUP/Wcup_Positions/WCUP_FINAL.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a>

The final race of the 2021 series at Chiavenna-Lagunc was won by Henri Aymonod and Andrea Mayr.

Aymonod and Njeru win overall WMRA World Cup honours

Britain&rsquo;s Charlotte Morgan and Spain&rsquo;s Raul Criado secured convincing victories in the marathon events at the Zumaia Flysch mountain race on Sunday (3).
Having now banked enough points in the WMRA World Cup series, despite there being one more race to go, Morgan and Criado have both done enough to secure the overall long mountain category titles for 2021.
On a busy weekend for mountain running, Kenya&rsquo;s Joyce Njeru and Geoffrey Ndungu won the 22km events in Zumaia, while over on the other side of the Atlantic the best US runners were in action at the Broken Arrow Skyrace in Palisades Tahoe.
The runners in Zumaia woke to rainy conditions, resulting in a much softer course than many of them are used to on the World Cup circuit. The marathon got under way at 7:30am, with runners setting off in the dark in a drizzly square in Zumaia, then the 22km race started one hour later.
Spain&rsquo;s Oihana Kortazar, winner of the Canfranc Marathon last year, led during the early stages with Morgan close behind. Morgan caught Kortazar at roughly the half-way point and then pulled well clear during the second half.
Morgan eventually won in 5:18:30 with Kortazar taking second place in 5:26:25. Much further back, Spain&rsquo;s Belen Perez finished third in 6:29:55.
Criado, the stand-out runner in the field, was the clear leader of the men&rsquo;s race throughout. The Spaniard built up a significant lead over his compatriots Ismail Razga and Igon Mancisidor across the 3000 metres of elevation, going on to win by more than 20 minutes in 4:35:16.
Razga placed second in 4:59:25, a few minutes ahead of Mancisidor (5:03:22), completing an all-Spanish podium.
The conditions were still damp when the 22km race got under way. By this point there was also a fair bit of mud on the course, which added to the considerable challenge of the coastal route.
Kenyan duo Njeru and Lucy Murigi set the early pace in the women&rsquo;s contest and were neck and neck for much of the race as they battled the conditions. Njeru eventually came out on top, taking another World Cup victory, hot on the heels of her Trofeo Ciolo triumph. She won in 1:41:32 with Murigi less than a minute behind in 1:42:14. Italy&rsquo;s Alice Gaggi came through for third place in 1:49:18.
In the men&rsquo;s race Kenya&rsquo;s Ndungu and Sandor Szabo of Hungary led from the front. Like Njeru and Murigi, they worked together in the early stages in a bid to make a break from the chasing pack.
Ndungu gradually pulled away and took the win in 1:36:48 but Szabo wasn&rsquo;t far behind in 1:37:13. Spain&rsquo;s Amets Aramberri was also close, taking third place in 1:37:59. 
<h2>McLaughlin and Thomas victorious at Broken Arrow Skyrace</h2>
Darren Thomas and Allie McLaughlin won the vertical kilometre titles on the first day of action at the Broken Arrow Skyrace in Palisades Tahoe on Friday (1).
Nearly 200 runners lined up for the all-out, vomit-inducing, ladder-climbing, red-lining, 6.8-kilometre slog from a 1900m to a 2700m peak. Skies were powder blue with the temperature about 10C, though the vibrant autumn sunshine made it feel warmer.
Thomas and Andy Wacker took the men&rsquo;s race out with decisive speed. Thomas took control and slowly increased his lead to finish in 45:08, one minute and 30 seconds ahead of second place finisher David Sinclair. Ryan Becker came through for third in 47:49, while Wacker faded to sixth in 49:03.
International travel was a huge challenge due to Covid-19 restrictions, but Czech runner Ondrej Fedfar made it over to the States and placed fourth. Other international finishers included Canada&rsquo;s Ryan Atkins (eighth) and El Salvador&rsquo;s Juan Bola&ntilde;os (20th).
In the women&rsquo;s race, McLaughlin closely trailed the leaders until the one kilometre mark, when she accelerated and took charge. She continued to gap the field to break the tape in 54:24.
Less than one minute later, Hillary Allen finished second followed by 19-year-old Grace Staberg. New Zealand&rsquo;s Anna Frost was the top overseas finisher, placing ninth.
The three-day Broken Arrow Skyrunning festival culminated in a 23km event, the final long mountain race in this year's WMRA World Cup, with Joseph Gray and Janelle Lincks claiming the wins on Sunday (3). 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/615ab3568e646e2103c74373.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> (&copy; Peter Maksimow / ATRA)
 The race started at 7am at the Palisades Tahoe epicentre, running through the resort&rsquo;s brick-lined promenade before switching back up the single track trails and circumnavigating the resort, climbing from 6214 feet to a high point of 8855 feet and then returning to the finish for a total of 5030 feet of vertical gain.
&ldquo;It was a respectful pace at the start,&rdquo; said eventual winner Gray. &ldquo;We stayed bunched up for the first few miles with a deep field of talent. My goal was to progressively pick up the pace and let the pack guide my moves.
&ldquo;It was great to feel the energy coming into the finish area and ring the bell. A win was the main goal and obviously I&rsquo;m content coming away with that.&rdquo;
Gray finished in 1:52:44, followed just two seconds later by Thomas, winner of Friday&rsquo;s vertical kilometre. In third was Wacker, in 1:53:12.&nbsp;
On the women&rsquo;s side, Lincks started out conservatively through the village and after the first climb had moved into the lead, a position she kept to the finish. Her winning time of 2:14:04 beat second-place finisher Emkay Sullivan by more than three minutes. Sullivan&rsquo;s time was 2:17:19. In third, Bailey Kowalczyk clocked 2:19:43.
Very happy with her effort, Lincks said: &ldquo;It was a beautiful course and I felt good. I&rsquo;ve never seen landscape like that!&rdquo;
Peter Maksimow (ATRA) and Kirsty Reade (WMRA) for World Athletics

With convincing victories at the Zumaia Flysch mountain race, Charlotte Morgan and Spain’s Raul Criado secured the WMRA World Cup series titles.

Morgan and Criado secure WMRA World Cup series with victories in Zumaia

Kenya&rsquo;s Joyce Muthoni Njeru and Eritrea&rsquo;s Petro Mamu were victorious at the Trofeo Ciolo mountain running race in the Puglia region of Italy on Sunday (26), banking valuable points at the 11th competition in the WMRA World Cup series.
Instead of a traditional mountain setting, the Trofeo Ciolo takes place on a coastal 11.7km course, featuring 640m of ascent and 518m of descent in almost continual climbing and descending on technical, rugged paths.
As a taste of what was to come, the race started with a steep, short uphill, which immediately started to spread out the field of runners. Because this first climb was on a narrow path, the organisers set the women&rsquo;s race off five minutes ahead of the men to ensure minimal disruption.
Njeru and Kenyan compatriot Lucy Murigi struck it out from the start of the women&rsquo;s race. By 5km they had opened up a comfortable lead over Italy&rsquo;s Alice Gaggi and Alessia Scaina and current WMRA World Cup leader Charlotte Morgan of Great Britain. Morgan had sustained cuts and bruises from falls in winning the last World Cup race at Canfranc-Canfranc, but declared before the race that she was fully recovered. In the early stages she was as good as her word, staying in touch with the leaders.
By the time the runners reached the famous Ponte Ciolo, some 10km into the race, the rocky undulations had shaken up the field somewhat. Njeru came through first for the women, but Murigi was just five seconds behind her, with a bigger gap back to Gaggi and Scaini.
Njeru increased her lead again in the final stages, eventually winning by nine seconds in 57:12. Murigi was second (57:21) and Gaggi completed the podium in 1:01:17.
The men&rsquo;s race started a lot closer but Mamu&rsquo;s victory was ultimately more decisive. The Eritrean led it out from the start but Kenya&rsquo;s Geoffrey Ndungu and Italy&rsquo;s Alberto Vender, Alex Baldaccini and Daniel Pattis were hot on his heels with about 15 seconds separating them.
At 10km, Mamu had increased his lead to 50 seconds. Behind him, Baldaccini, Vender and Ndungu led the chase with just one kilometre to go.
Mamu eventually won in 50:22, almost a minute ahead of Ndungu (51:19) with Baldaccini in third (51:23).
There are just five races left in this year&rsquo;s WMRA World Cup and they come thick and fast over the next two weeks. The Broken Arrow (1-3 October) in the USA and the Zumaia Flysch (3 October) in Spain each host two races within the series. The WMRA World Cup will then reach its conclusion at the Kilometro Vertical Chiavenna Lagunc in Italy on 10 October.
Kirsty Reade (WMRA) for World Athletics

Kenya’s Joyce Muthoni Njeru and Eritrea’s Petro Mamu were victorious at the Trofeo Ciolo mountain running race in the Puglia region of Italy

Njeru and Mamu take top honours at Trofeo Ciolo

There was a huge amount of excitement for the first ever&nbsp;World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) World Cup race in Spain and Canfranc-Canfranc served up two races over the weekend. Firstly, the 45km race on Saturday (11) was the latest long mountain race in the series, while Sunday (12) featured a 16km classic mountain race.
The 45km race is renowned for being tough. It&rsquo;s technical and rugged, with four climbs of between 250m and 1400m, and of course it&rsquo;s one of the longest races in the World Cup.&nbsp;
The men's race featured Slovakia's Peter Frano, winner of Tatra SkyMarathon this year, and Spain's Raul Criado, who was third&nbsp;at Tatra SkyMarathon and was 12th&nbsp;here last year. Basque runner&nbsp;Ugaitz Artola was also hotly tipped. In the women&rsquo;s starting line up were Britain's Charlotte Morgan, the 2018 WMRA long distance world champion currently lying third in the World Cup standings, while Spain's Eva Mesado, the 2020 runner-up here, and Olivia Magnone of France were also expected to be challenging for the podium.
As Covid restrictions were still in place at Canfranc the runners set off in small groups at one-minute intervals. These small gaps were soon to become bigger gaps as the first climb of 1400m kicked in. In the women&rsquo;s race Morgan struck out into an early lead and by the top of the first climb at Moleta she was four minutes in front of Magnone, who in turn was two minutes ahead of Mesado. Similarly, in the men&rsquo;s race it was Spain's Fran Naval who had a clear lead of three minutes over Frano, with Criado and Inigo Macias snapping at his heels, just 30 seconds behind.
One long descent and another big ascent (of 800m) and descent later, and by the 28km Candanchu checkpoint it was all change in the men&rsquo;s race. Frano was now in the lead, but Criado was just 30 seconds behind. A gap of three minutes had opened back to Naval in third, with Macias another minute behind him. In the women&rsquo;s race Morgan had really begun to stretch out a lead and she passed through Candanchu with a lead of 16 minutes over Magnone, with Mesado three minutes behind. It seemed unlikely that Morgan could be caught, but the men&rsquo;s race could still go to any of the top four.
Who would we see running into the finish first? In the end it was Frano, who looked incredibly fresh and took the win in 5:38:16. Criado just couldn&rsquo;t hang on to the second place he&rsquo;d battled for and it was Macias who came in as runner-up in 5:42:48, with Criado completing the men&rsquo;s podium in 5:43:23.
It was no surprise to see Morgan coming in to win the women&rsquo;s race, though the cuts on her knee and face showed that it hadn&rsquo;t been an easy final section. Her time was 6:38:09, which put her in eighth place overall. Magnone was second in 6:57:14 and Mesado third in 7:01:37, with a gap of over 10 minutes on fourth. 
<h2>Murphy breaks course record and Martinez takes second win</h2>
The 16km event welcomed USA's 2019 world champion Grayson Murphy back for more European action, after her win at Trofeo Nasego and second place at Vertical Nasego last weekend. Also on the startline for the women were course record-holder Nadege Servant of France, Spain's Nuria Gil and Yolanda Martin.
In the men&rsquo;s race all eyes were on 2020 winner Antonio Martinez of Spain, who would face strong competition from Sandor Szabo of Hungary and Spanish athletes Inigo Arantzamendi, Roger Comellas and Ion Sola. Also on the start for the men was Raul Criado, who was third in Saturday&rsquo;s 45km race.
The runners were again set off in small groups at minute intervals. They would face one up and down over the 16km, but what a big up and down it was. It featured 1400m over the course of the first 6km to the summit of La Moleta, followed by a technical 10km descent down to the finish. &nbsp;
It was Szabo who hit the summit in the lead in the men&rsquo;s race, with Daniel Castillo of Spain a minute behind and Martinez a minute behind him. It was all still very close, despite the long climb. In the women&rsquo;s race there was a clear leader and that was Murphy. She hit La Moleta 10 minutes ahead of Gil and in fact was lying in fourth place in the race overall at that point. Servant was around 90 seconds behind Gil.
It looked unlikely that Murphy would be caught, but anything can happen on a 10km technical descent. In the men&rsquo;s race it was Martinez who hit the final stretch (part of the famous Camino del Santiago) first and he took the win, his second consecutive one here, in 1:52:26. Szabo was a minute and a half behind in second place in 1:53:52, with Castillo taking third in 1:54:38.
All eyes were on the clock for Murphy&rsquo;s arrival as it looked likely that the existing women&rsquo;s course record of 2:08:18 was under threat. In fact Murphy broke the tape in an incredible 1:57:43, obliterating the previous mark and finishing fifth overall. The runner who set that record, Gil, took second in 2:15:28 and Servant was third in 2:17:16.
Kirsty Reade (WMRA) for World Athletics

There was a huge amount of excitement for the first ever World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) World Cup race in Spain and Canfranc-Canfranc served up two races over the weekend.

Morgan and Frano among winners at Canfranc

The sun shone and excitement was high for the Vertical Nasego and Trofeo Nasego, the seventh and eighth stages in the WMRA World Cup in Casto, Italy, on 4-5 September.
The mountain running double header kicked off with the Vertical Nasego, a short uphill race of 4.3km with 1000m of ascent.
World champion Grayson Murphy of the USA, racing in Europe for the first time, took a small lead over six-time world champion Andrea Mayr in the early stages of the women&rsquo;s race, with Kenya&rsquo;s Joyce Njeru a little way behind in third. But as the race progressed, Mayr eased past Murphy and stretched out her lead in her usual dominant fashion. She reached the white finishing gantry first in a time of 38:51, which was the 10th fastest of the day overall. Murphy finished more than a minute behind in second and then there was a gap of more than two minutes to Joyce Njeru in third.
The men&rsquo;s race was somewhat close. Defending champion Henri Aymonod of Italy couldn&rsquo;t be beaten and he won in 35:38, but 22-year-old compatriot Andrea Rostan was snapping at his heels, just 22 seconds behind him. Eritrea&rsquo;s Petro Mamu was just 12 seconds behind Rostan (36:12), as 34 seconds separated the top three finishers. Ireland&rsquo;s Zak Hanna finished fourth, missing a podium place by just six seconds. 
<h3>Murphy and Mamu magnificent at Trofeo Nasego</h3>
After the previous day&rsquo;s exciting racing at Vertical Nasego, expectation was high for Trofeo Nasego, a longer (21km) up-and-down race with 1330m of total ascent.
Mayr and Murphy, the top two women from the previous day&rsquo;s race, were back in action. Several of the top contenders from the men&rsquo;s Vertical Nasego race were also entered.
Murphy led the women&rsquo;s race from the start, initially alongside Njeru and Kenya&rsquo;s Lucy Wambui, with Ireland&rsquo;s Sarah McCormack and Mayr right behind them.
Italy&rsquo;s Cesare Maestri took it out for the men, with a pack of runners including Aymonod, Mamu, Italy&rsquo;s Martin DeMatteis and Kenyan duo Timothi Kirui and Eric Muthoni.
By 10km, the situation had changed. Murphy still led the women&rsquo;s race, but now with a small gap to Njeru. Mayr was about 20 seconds behind them, but Murphy and Njeru continued to stretch out their lead over the next few kilometres.
In the men&rsquo;s race Mamu and Muthoni had opened up a small lead over a chasing pack which included Maestri and Kirui. There was still a long way to go but gaps were opening.
At 13km the leaders inflicted some damage on those behind them on the big climb up to Refugio Nasego and it proved decisive. Mamu emerged with a 30-second lead over Maestri and Kirui, while Murphy had managed to open up a two-minute lead over Mayr, with Njeru now behind her in third.
On the descent, Murphy maintained her two-minute buffer and even added to it a little, winning in a course record of 1:45:56. Mayr held on to second and finished in 1:48:15, with Francesca Ghelfi putting in a fantastic second half of the race to take third in 1:49:53. Njeru lost quite a bit of ground in the second half and finished fourth (1:52:11), with Alice Gaggi fifth (1:54:37).
Mamu also stretched out his lead on the descent, taking the win in 1:33:55, also a course record. Maestri took second in 1:36:02, managing to hold off Muthoni, who was just 25 seconds behind him. The gap to fourth was even closer, with just five seconds separating Muthoni and Ndungu. Martin DeMatteis finished in fifth in 1:36:55.
The next stop for the World Cup is another double-header at Canfranc-Canfranc. The long mountain race (45km) will take place on 11 September and the classic mountain race (16km) on 12 September.
Kirsty Reade (WMRA) for World Athletics

The sun shone and excitement was high for the Vertical Nasego and Trofeo Nasego, the seventh and eighth stages in the WMRA World Cup in Casto, Italy, on 4-5 September.

Murphy, Mayr and Mamu shine at Vertical and Trofeo Nasego

World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) World Cup action returns this weekend, with two races on the programme in Casto, Italy&nbsp;&ndash; first Vertical Nasego on Saturday (4) and then Trofeo Nasego on Sunday (5).
Vertical Nasego is stage seven of this year&rsquo;s World Cup, with the short uphill race featuring 4.3km with 1000m of ascent. It&rsquo;s a tough uphill race, which will see the athletes using their hands in the steepest parts, as they make their way up to the finish at 1400m.
Then it&rsquo;s straight on to Trofeo Nasego for stage eight where athletes will take on this 20th edition of the race, consisting of 21km with 1330m of ascent. This makes it the next classic mountain race in the series. The first half of the race is fast and then at 12km the runners begin their big climb up to Refugio Nasego, before the final steep descent.
Both races always attract a top field and this year&rsquo;s may well be the best ever assembled. Most athletes will contest both Vertical Nasego and Trofeo Nasego. 
<h2>Murphy makes European debut in stacked women's field</h2>
The USA's Grayson Murphy, the defending world champion who was recently crowned US national mountain running champion, will be racing in Europe for the first time and she is sure to be in the mix with some top European and African talent. She&rsquo;ll be reunited with her fellow athletes from that podium at the 2019 World Championships, Elise Poncet of France and Britain's Philippa Williams, for starters.
Also on the start line will be Austria's Andrea Mayr, fresh from winning Challenge Stellina, who is also the six-time world champion and record-holder at Vertical Nasego, among many other accolades. She&rsquo;ll be joined by the reigning World Cup winner Sarah McCormack of Ireland, who won Trofeo Nasego last year.&nbsp;
As ever there will be strong competition from Kenyan athletes. Lucy Murigi, the two-time world champion who is currently lying fifth in the World Cup, will always be one to watch, as will Joyce Njeru, who is having a great season, having won at Grossglockner and Krkonossky. Britain's Charlotte Morgan, the current leader in the World Cup, will also be toeing the line.
But there will be plenty of Italian competition out to win on home turf. Alice Gaggi, currently second in the World Cup, is expected to do well, as are Erica and Francesca Ghelfi, and Lorenza Beccaria, who is also having a good run in the World Cup. Athletes like Susanna Saapunki of Finland, Czech Republic's Lucie Marsanova, Slovenia's Mojca Koligar and Timea Merenyi of Hungary could also feature. 
<h2>World medallists in action</h2>
The men&rsquo;s race will also bring together podium finishers from the last World Championships as Italy's silver medallist Cesare Maestri will face Czech Republic's Marek Chraschina for a rematch. But can anybody beat Italy's Henri Aymonod in a short uphill race? He is the defending champion and has since won Chiavenna Lagunc and Piz Tri Vertikal. He also won Challenge Stellina last weekend.
Geoffrey Ndungu of Kenya, who won at Krkonossky and is currently lying third in the World Cup rankings, will be a strong contender, as will his compatriot Timothy Kirui, who was second at Krkonossky. Also flying high in the World Cup in second place is Sandor Szabo of Hungary and Slovenia's Timotej Becan, who is currently sixth, could also feature.
This could also be a race where we see some exciting breakthrough performances from runners such as Tiziano Moia of Italy, who came close to beating Aymonod at Piz Tri Vertikal and is proving himself as a short uphill specialist. We could also see Italian rising stars such as Luca Merli, Marco Filosi, Alberto Vender, Lorenzo Cagnati and Daniel Pattis doing well. Zak Hanna of Ireland is another rising star who is working hard and seeing the results from it.
Kirsty Reade (WMRA) for World Athletics

World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) World Cup action returns this weekend, with two races on the programme in Casto, Italy – first Vertical Nasego on Saturday (4) and then Trofeo Nasego on Sunday (5).

WMRA World Cup set for Casto double-header

The sixth stage of the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) World Cup was won by Kenya's Joyce Njeru and Geoffrey Ndungu as they triumphed at the Krkonossky Half Marathon in Janske Lazne, Czech Republic, on Sunday (15).
As well as the World Cup, which attracted some top international runners, the race also served as the Czech Republic Long Distance National Championships, so it also attracted the best Czech runners, several of whom had performed well in the 2019 World Mountain Running Championships.
At 21km, with a total elevation of 1050m, the race was classed as a classic mountain race for the World Cup. The race starts in the centre of town (Colonnade Square), then proceeds to climb the mountain path across the top of Cerna Hora Mountain to the small ski resort town of Pec Pod Snezkou and then comes back down in a loop, finishing back at the square.
The conditions were already hot as the runners set off at 9am, and they were only going to get hotter. Right from the start three men formed a group and it was Timothy Kurui, Ndungu and Marek Chrascina. They ran together for the first 6km, emerging at the first checkpoint neck and neck. In the women&rsquo;s race Njeru struck out alone, opening up a gap to Barbora Macurova and Pavla Matyasova. Njeru had put 1 minute and 50 seconds of daylight between her and Macurova, who in turn had a 10-second gap to Matyasova at the 6km point.
By the Cerna Hora summit at 15km the top three men were still together, with Timotej Becan, Evans Kiptum and Jiri Cipa chasing hard, but Ndungu had clearly decided that enough was enough and started to drop the hammer. At the same point in the women&rsquo;s race Njeru still had a gap on Macurova, with Matyasova a little further behind. As they started the last descent, it was still quite open in both races.
Coming into the finish, Ndungu had managed to open a gap between the two chasers and eventually won in 1:32:30, with Kirui coming in just under a minute behind in 1:33:22. Chrascina chased him hard and took third spot in 1:33:35.
In the final stages of the women&rsquo;s race Macurova did manage to claw back some of the gap to Njeru, but Njeru won in 1:50:02, with Macurova just 25 seconds behind her. Matyasova took third in 1:52:45.
The next stop in the World Cup is Vertical Nasego and Trofeo Nasego on 4 and 5 September.
Kirsty Reade (WMRA) for World Athletics 
<a href="https://results.onlinesystem.cz/ResultsDetail/Mobile/?Id=2016&amp;trackId=4508" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a>

The sixth stage of the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) World Cup was won by Joyce Njeru and Geoffrey Ndungu.

Njeru and Ndungu win Krkonossky Half Marathon

Switzerland&rsquo;s Maude Mathys retained her title and Spain's&nbsp;Kilian Jornet claimed yet another win at the&nbsp;Sierre-Zinal in Switzerland, a&nbsp;WMRA World Cup series race, on Saturday (7).
As far as mountain running goes, by anybody&rsquo;s metrics Sierre-Zinal is among the most revered races in the world. It always attracts high-quality fields and this year's race was no different, with eight-time winner Jornet, three-time winner Lucy Murigi, both record-holders in Mathys and Jornet and both leaders of the current world rankings in Murigi and Henri Aymonod. Throw in a huge number of athletes who regularly appear on podiums for mountain and trail races all over the world every week and the race was definitely on.
The first timing point was at Ponchette, around 7.5km into the race, and it was no shock to see Mathys emerge first, but it was something of a surprise to see Nienke Brinkman of the Netherlands in second place. Her recent win at the Zermatt Marathon showed her class, however, even if she wasn&rsquo;t among the known pre-race favourites. Anais Sabrie of France was next to reach Ponchette, completing the women&rsquo;s top three.
In the early stages of the men&rsquo;s race, Jornet was biding his time, sitting in behind Switzerland&rsquo;s Remi Bonnet and Petro Mamu of Eritrea on the first climb. By the time they reached Ponchette Mamu, Jornet and Bonnet had struck out and were all together and this continued to Chandolin (12km). At this point, Jornet decided that he was going to have to put some distance between himself and Mamu. In true Jornet style, even while hammering it downhill he was still smiling and chatting with the ebike riders manning the video cameras. He succeeded in striking out alone, opening a small gap, and Mamu was left in his wake, falling back a few places.
Meanwhile, in the women&rsquo;s race Mathys maintained a small lead of just over a minute at Chandolin, while Brinkman continued to chase and maintain a good gap of four minutes on third-placed Sabrie. Behind Sabrie, Blandine L&rsquo;Hirondel of France was about a minute behind.
Behind Kilian the men&rsquo;s race was definitely a race of two halves. Bonnet had fallen off the pace a little and the Grossglockner Berglauf winner, Lengen Lolkurraru of Kenya, was now chasing Jornet hard in second. Thibault Baronian of France and Italy&rsquo;s Cesare Maestri were lurking in fourth and fifth place, within striking distance of the podium places, and Great Britain&rsquo;s Robbie Simpson, who has three Sierre-Zinal second-place finishes to his name, had moved up to seventh.
Mathys continued to push hard and was dominating the women&rsquo;s race. She laid down an unbelievably fast 1:55 split at Hotel Weisshorn, giving her a four-minute lead over Nienke Brinkman. Sabrie was now five minutes behind Brinkman, but as the commentators kept highlighting, both Brinkman and Sabrie may be faster on the descent than Mathys, so that last 7km of downhill could still make all the difference.
By the next timing point at 25km in Barneuza, well into the start of the descent, it was all happening in the men&rsquo;s race. Jornet was still in the lead and had about 90 seconds on second-placed Lolkurraru, but now Simpson was just behind in third and Maestri was on his heels. The men&rsquo;s race was all coming down to who was the best descender and who had the legs when they hit the concrete.
The same was true in the women&rsquo;s race. Mathys was taking the steep switchbacks carefully and Brinkman was gaining a little, but the gap was just too big and Mathys hit the finishing straight over three minutes ahead, with so much buffer that she decided to walk some of the final metres on her hands. It was a third victory in a row for Mathys, who looked elated.
Shortly afterwards, Jornet rounded the corner to take his ninth victory. It was a great touch that he was greeted by Mathys and they could celebrate together, with the women&rsquo;s race having set off 15 minutes before the men&rsquo;s. Just 42 seconds after Jornet, Simpson claimed second place, his fourth runner-up spot at the event, but he proclaimed it his &ldquo;best second&rdquo; in his post-race interview. Brinkman claimed a huge second place in the women&rsquo;s race, while Sabrie and Maestri completed the men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s podiums.
Kirsty Reade (WMRA) for World Athletics 
<h2>Leading results</h2>
Women
1 Maude Mathys (SUI) 2:46:03 2 Nienke Brinkman (NED) 2:48:58 3 Anais Sabrie (FRA) 2:55:23 4 Blandine L&rsquo;Hirondel (FRA) 2:59:08 5 Kwamboka Omosa Teresiah (KEN) 2:59:28
Men 1 Kilian Jornet (SPA) 2:31:44 2 Robbie Simpson (GBR) 2:32:26 3 Cesare Maestri (ITA) 2:33:51 4 Lengen Lolkurraru (KEN) 2:34:28 5 Davide Magnini (ITA) 2:34:38
<a href="https://www.datasport.com/live/ranking?racenr=23138&amp;kat=11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a>
&nbsp;

As far as mountain running goes, by anybody’s metrics Sierre-Zinal in Switzerland is among the most revered races in the world.

Jornet and Mathys win Sierre-Zinal

Czech Republic&rsquo;s Marcela Vasinova and Slovakia&rsquo;s Peter Frano won the fourth race in the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) World Cup &ndash; the Tatra SkyMarathon in Poland &ndash; on Saturday (24).
Tatra SkyMarathon is one of the six long mountain races in this year&rsquo;s World Cup, featuring 40km with 3300m of ascent. That ascent comes in two huge climbs, so runners had two relentless 1000m uphills to deal with, followed by 1000m descents on a mix of terrain ranging from forest tracks to rocky, technical mountain path.
The conditions were hot and humid, which led to some high profile DNFs.
In the early stages of the men&rsquo;s race, a breakaway group formed fairly quickly once the long, first ascent began. This group included Frano, Poland&rsquo;s Andrzej Witek, Spain&rsquo;s Raul Criado and Poland&rsquo;s Kamil Lesniak, with Dariusz Marek and Marcin Swierc &ndash; both also of Poland &ndash; in contention. A small group also started to pull away in the women&rsquo;s race. It included Vasinova, Britain&rsquo;s Charlotte Morgan and Poland&rsquo;s Katarzyna Solinska, Katarzyna Jakiela-Rzadkosz and Dominika Stelmach.
By the first timing point at around 19km, Criado had broken into a lead in the men&rsquo;s race. But he was hotly pursued by Slovakia&rsquo;s Hrasko and Frano, just 1 minute and 40 seconds behind. At this stage in the women&rsquo;s race, Vasinova had struck out and held a 3-minute lead over the chasing Solinska and Morgan, who were neck and neck.
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60fe9436eb29eff8d67d38a5.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="664" /> Peter Frano races in the Tatra SkyMarathon (&copy; Adrian Kasniar / Ralpu Official)
 The race then began the second climb of 1000m, and subsequent descent, and this really shook up the men&rsquo;s top three. By the second timing point, just after 30km, Frano had not only taken the lead, but he had stretched it out to 5 minutes over Witek, with Criado 2 minutes back from him. The women&rsquo;s top three hadn&rsquo;t changed but the gaps between them had, with 9 minutes now separating Vasinova (who was by now in 10th overall) and Solinska, then a further 9 minutes to Charlotte Morgan.
Frano managed to keep that gap of 5 minutes and he won the men&rsquo;s race in 4:29:18. Witek also held on to second (4:34:39) and Criado put in a gritty performance to finish third in 4:39:45. He just managed to hold off Hrasko, who was 10 seconds behind him in fourth (4:39:55). Poland&rsquo;s Piotr Wolakiewicz rounded out the top five for the men.
The podium positions didn&rsquo;t change for the women either, with Vasinova winning in 5:02:08, Solinska second in 5:12:36 and Morgan third in 5:23:11. Poland&rsquo;s Katarzyna Wilk was fourth in 5:25:03 and Hungary&rsquo;s Iren Tiricz fifth in 5:31:41. All great performances in humid, energy-sapping conditions.
The next stop in the 2021 World Cup is the Sierre Zinal on 7 August.
Kirsty Reade (WMRA) for World Athletics

Czech Republic’s Marcela Vasinova and Slovakia’s Peter Frano won the fourth race in the World Mountain Running Association World Cup on Saturday.

Vasinova and Frano win Tatra SkyMarathon

For the fourth round of the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) World Cup, action returns to the Tatra Mountains in Poland for Tatra SkyMarathon. This is the next long distance mountain race in the series, at 40km with 3300m of ascent.
This year&rsquo;s World Cup kicked off in the Tatra Mountains at Tatra Race Run and it proved to be a spectacular venue for mountain running. The organisers describe the terrain as &lsquo;steep but runnable, with a rocky and gravel surface&rsquo;. The bulk of the climbing in the course comes from two long ascents with over 1000m of climbing on each.
The race starts at Koscielisko, just west of Zakopane. The route begins to climb almost immediately, before reaching the high point of Krzesanica at 2096m at the 11.8km point. This is one of the four Czerwone Wierchy peaks (Red Peaks) in the region. The route then descends back down to about 1100m at Hala Ornak, the 19km point. But there won&rsquo;t be any respite for the runners as they will then need to climb 1000m again, all the way up to Starorobocianski Wierch, the highest point on the course, which they will hit at the 26.2km mark. Then it&rsquo;s down, with one final, smaller sting in the tail, all the way back to Koscielisko.
A long part of the route follows the West Tatra Mountain Ridge which promises some incredible views.&nbsp;
There&rsquo;s a strong field in both the women&rsquo;s and men&rsquo;s races. Some athletes who achieved success in Tatra Race Run are back for more, including Britain's Charlotte Morgan, the women&rsquo;s winner, and Poland's Iwona Januszyk, who was third, plus Katarzyna Fraczysta and Joanna Piatek of Poland. Czech Republic's Marcela Vasinova, who was second at last weekend&rsquo;s DoloMyths Run, will also be taking part.
For the men, Poland's Kamil Lesniak, who was eighth at Tatra Race Run, will be on the start line, as will Raul Criado Sanchez of Spain, who finished 15th. Marcin Swierc, the Polish champion who is known for podium finishes at the CCC and TDS, will definitely be one to watch.
Four of last year&rsquo;s top five men will return to this race this year: Peter Frano was second, Bartosz Misiak was third, Lesniak fourth and Andrzej Witek fifth. Other strong Polish runners to watch include Maciek Dombrowski, Tomek Skupien and Dariusz Marek.
Kirsty Reade (WMRA) for World Athletics

For the fourth round of the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) World Cup, action returns to the Tatra Mountains in Poland for Tatra SkyMarathon.

WMRA World Cup heads to Tatra SkyMarathon

Italy&rsquo;s Xavier Chevrier and Kenya&rsquo;s Lucy Murigi took top honours at the highly anticipated La Montee du Nid d&rsquo;Aigle, the third stage of the WMRA World Cup series, on Saturday (17).
The race hub in the picturesque Saint-Gervais-Les-Bains, in the Haute-Savoie region of France, combined with a tough course and a field of top runners made for a fantastic mountain running race.
Blue skies greeted the runners at the start, with a few whispy clouds higher up in the mountains. Conditions were hot for the runners, particularly on the exposed parts of the course, making the 19.5km uphill-only race particularly relentless.
The route starts at Le Fayet and heads along the river towards St Gervais, and then to La Villette, climbing gradually. It then heads away from the road and into the trees and begins to climb more steeply all the way up to the finish at Refuge du Nid d&rsquo;Aigle at 2394m.
With deep fields in both the men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s races, both podiums were wide open. As expected, the flatter first few kilometres of the race were fast and furious and before too long gaps had opened for the men and women.
Murigi, who finished third at Grossglockner last weekend, struck out into a lead over French duo Anais Sabrie and Christel Dewalle. Chevrier and Italian teammate Francesco Puppi also made a break for it in the men&rsquo;s race, but they were hotly pursued by a group including France&rsquo;s Julien Rancon, Alexandre Fine and Henri Aymonod. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60f3241949651ac14bfdf486.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="634" />
 Chevrier and Murigi maintained their leads, though the races remained close. In the closing stages, Chevrier pulled away from Puppi while the chasing runners jostled for third place.
Chevrier went on to win the men&rsquo;s race in a course record of 1:44:25, followed by Puppi, more than a minute behind (1:45:49). Aymonod completed the all-Italian men&rsquo;s podium in 1:46:44. Julien Rancon was fourth in 1:48:43 and Remi Lonchampt rounded out the top five in 1:50:18.
Dewalle, who is a 10-time French VK champion and excels on the steeper climbs, chased Murigi hard on the final climb, but couldn&rsquo;t catch the Kenyan. Murigi won in 2:06:08, just two seconds outside the course record, with Dewalle just 21 seconds behind. Sabrie was a further minute in arrears (2:07:34).
France&rsquo;s Mathilde Sagnes was fourth in 2:08:37 and Simone Troxler fifth in 2:10:43 with the top five finishing within five minutes of each other.
The next stop on the WMRA World Cup calendar is the Tatra SkyMarathon on 24 July.
Kirsty Reade (WMRA) for World Athletics 
<h2>Leading results</h2>
Women 1 Lucy Murigi (KEN) 2:06:08 2 Christel Dewalle (FRA) 2:06:29 3 Anais Sabrie (FRA) 2:07:34
Men 1 Xavier Chevrier (ITA) 1:44:25 2 Francesco Puppi (ITA) 1:45:49 3 Henri Aymonod (ITA) 1:46:44
<a href="https://ranking.wmra.info/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results and athlete rankings</a>

Italy’s Xavier Chevrier and Kenya’s Lucy Murigi took top honours at the highly anticipated La Montee du Nid d’Aigle, the third stage of the WMRA World Cup series, on Saturday (17).