Written by Nancy Hobbs, Chairperson, USATF Mountain, Ultra & Trail Running Council.
The 2016 USA Long Distance Mountain Team roster was officially announced in April. Since that announcement, there has been an update in the roster with 23-year-old Ashland, Oregon native & Bend resident Camelia Mayfield (#132, pictured left) joining the team to replace Amber Reece-Young who had to step down from the team due to health issues.
Mayfield is a 2015 graduate of Portland State University and is a talented road and trail runner. In her first marathon – the Eugene Marathon held last month – she was victorious with a time of 2:47:45, ten minutes ahead of the second female finisher. Her half marathon PR is 1:19:05. She is the course record-holder of the Mt. Ashland Hill Climb (5600 feet of elevation gain in 13 miles), with a time of 2:07, and finished fifth at last year’s USATF Half Marathon Trail Championships at Lake Padden, WA.
Mayfield joins a strong women’s team, which is deep in experience with three former mountain running team members in Megan Kimmel, Maria Dalzot, and Anita Ortiz. Like Mayfield, this is Kristina Pattison’s first Team USA. The US men’s team returns all three of last year’s scoring team members, led by 2015 individual Silver medalist Andy Wacker along with Peter Maksimow and Mario Mendoza. Talented mountain runners, Matt Shryock and Ted Farley, are new to Team USA.
The 2016 WMRA Long Distance Mountain Running Championships will take place on June 18, in Podbrdo, Slovenia as part of the Gorski Marathon. This will be the 13th WMRA Long Distance Mountain Running Championships and the second time the championships have taken place at the Gorski Marathon. The course challenges runners with technical trails and elevation gain/loss, as it climbs out of the narrow valley of the Baca River.
With 22 countries expected at the World Championships, the competition will be fierce for podium positions. Expected to participate in the team competition are 19 countries on the men’s side and 13 for the women. Up to five athletes per gender can compete per country with the top three finishers comprising the team score.
Follow Team USA on Twitter @USMRT.
