Announcement from the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA). Above photo: Ruben Fueyo.
Spain will host the World Mountain Running Masters Championship for the first time in 2024. This championship is organized jointly by the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) and World Masters Athletics (WMA). It will be the 23rd edition of an event born back in 1998 and which just held its 2022 edition in Ireland. Canfranc will offer Uphill and Long Distance mountain races, where the best veteran mountain runners in the world from 35 to 79 years old, will face each other off, representing their official national athletic federation teams.
The Canfranc-Canfranc annual mountain running event continues to grow constantly, opening new frontiers for mountain and trail races in Spain. Born in June 2007 with a most demanding alpine marathon, only nineteen runners took the start than to take on one of the hardest mountain events in Europe, climbing up to 3.000m high and covering 45 kilometers with 4000 meters of total climbing.
Joyce Njeru. Photo: Ruben Fueyo.
The Race
Getting the international mountain running community to share and revel on the unique spirit of Alto Aragón was not easy, but time and its people’s renowned tenacity have worked a miracle step by step. Canfranc-Canfranc experienced in 2022 a new growth spurt in terms of international recognition, as it now organizes an entire three-day festival, where up to five races are held, ranging from the Uphill to the Ultra 100k, and also encompassing the Classic 16k, Marathon 45k and Ultra 75k.
In addition, Canfranc-Canfranc 2022 set new frontiers by streaming live all its five races, from over 10 Pyrenees summits. More than 17 hours of live show were broadcasted from Friday to Sunday, featuring all races on national Teledeporte TV, regional Aragon TV, and its official online channel Youtube.com/Moxigeno.
This 2022 was also the second consecutive year as the double venue for the WMRA Mountain Running World Cup. In 2021 the world champions Grayson Murphy (USA) and Charlotte Morgan (GBR) won the Classic and Marathon events, this 2022 the star of the show was the Kenyan Joyce Njeru, two-time World Cup champion who scored a double win, both in Uphill and Classic.
WMMRC Clonmel, Ireland. Photo: Richard Bolt.
The Masters Championship
The Mountain Running Masters World Championship is an international competition by the athletes officially endorsed s by all national Athletics federations associated with the WMRA, as the world governing body of this sport since 1985. Its first edition was held in Austria (Kitzbuhel) in 1998, with specific categories for athletes of both sexes, from 35 to 75 years old.
A pioneering project that has not stopped growing step by step since then. In 2022, the event in Ireland welcomed more than 500 athletes in two events, now scoring both individually and for its countries teams. In 2023 the Championship will be held in Madeira (Portugal), before finally traveling in 2024 for the first time to Spain.
[PRO TIP: Check out this recap of the 2022 World Masters Mountain Running Championships held in Clonmel, Ireland.]
Results World Mountain Running Masters WMRA 1998-2021
Regulations World Mountain Running Masters WMRA
2022 World Masters in Ireland – Alistair Hodgett (M50). Photo: Richard Bolt.
Host Federation
Spanish mountain runners are regular attendees at this global event, where they strive to take top positions. Now, they will finally have the opportunity to compete as host team and thus show the natural beauty, and the technical challenges that make the Aragonese Pyrenees a world-famous spot for Mountain Running.
Canfranc-Canfranc and national federation RFEA celebrate this joint Project as a pioneering event for Spain, to showcase, yet once again, how Athletics is a sport always open to all runners, regardless of origin, sex, age and fitness level. The Spanish Master Championship was already held at Canfranc back in 2021. It is now time for the top worldwide veterans of the sport to come race and celebrate at the Aragonese Pyrenees.
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Media phone contact: Sergio Garasa Mayayo. +34607850884
What About 2023?
The 2023 World Masters Mountain Running Championships will be in Madeira, Portugal on a mostly uphill course and will feature a long distance race. American athletes interested in competing on the U.S. Team should contact Nancy Hobbs at [email protected].
