Written by Alexander Beaven for the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA). American Trail Running Association (ATRA) executive director Nancy Hobbs is the WMRA general secretary. Photos: Marco Gulberti.
For the first time in 3 years athletes from 14 countries stood in the streets of Premana, Italy this morning. Before them lay the 32km of Giir di Mont, the 5th Gold Label race of the 2022 Valsir Mountain Running World Cup.
In the race’s 28th edition, runners would be looking to write their names alongside those of legends like Ricardo Mejía, Kasie Enman and Kilian Jornet on the honour roll of this classic long distance mountain running test.
Photo: Marco Gulberti.
From the start in Premana’s main square, the route takes runners on a circuit through the twelve meadows in the mountains above, alternating hard climbs and even harder descents. With 2,400m+, the most elevation of any race on the World Cup circuit this year, the race is a real bruiser!
The day before saw the first edition of Giir di Mont Uphill, also a Gold Label race in the World Cup. Joyce Njeru and Patrick Kipngeno continued their domination of the series, the Kenyan pair each taking their 5th win from 5 starts. But with neither of them on the startline of Giir di Mont the stage was set for different athletes to compete for the top step of the podium.
Early on in the women’s race it was the American Hillary Gerardi, champion at Trofeo Kima in 2018, who led the way. The ultra athlete, racing at the short end of her range, was persued by an athlete racing at the long end of hers; two time World Champion Lucy Murigi was never more than a minute back, while further down many-time Italian champion and Worlds medallist Elisa Desco was running a patient race, more than 2 minutes behind the lead after 5km.
Photo: Marco Gulberti.
As the race moved into its middle third the gaps began to narrow. Murigi closed on Gerardi, passing her somewhere around half way and coming into Alpe Rasga at 19km ahead. Meanwhile Desco closed on them both. Her timing was perfect; only 19 seconds behind Murigi at the final checkpoint at Alpe Deleguaggio, Desco made the definitive move on the descent to Premana, arriving at the finish line in 4:00:57 to take the win. Murigi followed just 44 seconds later, 4:01:41, all the more impressive after finishing 7th in the uphill race the day before.
Gerardi held on to take 3rd in 4:06:06, comfortably ahead of Chiara Giovando in 4th and Guilia Campagnoni in 5th.
The men’s race saw a fantastic duel between 2015 winner Petro Mamu and Cristian Minoggio, 2nd here in 2018. Clear of the rest of the field from early in the race, the two traded the lead a number of times, never seperated by more than a few seconds. At Alpe Deleguaggio, by now more than 7 minutes ahead of everyone else, Minoggio held an advantage of just 10 seconds over Mamu; the race would be decided on the final frantic descent towards town.
Photo: Marco Gulberti.
In the end the speed of the Eritrean was too much; Mamu returned to the streets of Premana to take the win in 3:11:29 to Minoggio’s 3:11:42. Mattia Gianola completed the podium in 3:20:20, ahead of Lorenzo Beltrami and Andrea Rota.
In the 18km race, Madalina Florea and Camilla Magliano put in impressive performances for 1st and 2nd after 3rd and 9th place finishes in Saturday’s uphill race. Abraham Ekwam took the win for the men.
Next weekend the Valsir World Cup heads to the Czech Republic for Krkonošský Half-Marathon, a Silver Label race, before returning to the Alps the weekend after for the one and only Sierre-Zinal!
Photo: Marco Gulberti.
Full race results: https://www.endu.net/en/events/giir-di-mont/results
More photos from Marco Gulberti: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mountainrunning/albums/72177720300949807
About the Valsir Mountain Running World Cup:
With 12 Gold Label races across 6 countries and 9 locations, and a further 5 Silver Label races in 5 different countries, the 2022 World Mountain Running Association’s Valsir Mountain Running World Cup promises 5 months of quality racing in the mountains. All World Cup events are World Athletics (WA) Permit Mountain Races. Races fall into one of 3 categories; Short Uphill, Classic Mountain and Long Mountain. As well as the overall World Cup standings, calculated from an athlete’s best 6 results, there will also be a classification for each category, calculated from an athlete’s best 3 results in that category.
About the WMRA:
Formed in 1984, the World Mountain Running Association is the global governing body for mountain running and has the goal of promoting mountain running for all ages and abilities. As well as the Valsir World Cup, the WMRA organizes Masters, U18 and area championships and this year will work in partnership with the World Athletics, ITRA and IAU to deliver the inaugural World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The WMRA also maintains the Mountain Running World Ranking, a system of points allocated to athletes based on the results in designated races. More information on the WMRA website, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
