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The WMRA World Cup is an annual series of
mountain running Mountain running is a sports discipline which takes place mainly off-road in mountainous terrain, but if there is significant elevation gain on the route, surfaced roads may be used. In this it differs from fell running; also its courses are more ...
competitions organised by the
World Mountain Running Association The World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) is the global governing body of mountain running. For World Athletics purposes, mountain running takes place on terrain that is mainly off-road, but if there is significant elevation gain on the route, ...
(WMRA) that runs from around May to October. Athletes are awarded points for each performance on the tour. Its predecessor was the Alpine Grand Prix, a 1997 formation including four European races in the
Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...
region. It formally became the WMRA Grand Prix in 1999 and subsequently expanded to six races in 2001. It reverted to four races in 2007 and from 2008 onwards began to vary between five and seven races. The competition took its current title World Cup in 2014.


History

The series originally was held mid-year around July to August, fitting mostly between the
European Mountain Running Championships The European Mountain Running Championships is an annual international mountain running race. Inaugurated in 2002, it is organised by the European Athletic Association (EAA) in July each year. The venue for the championships is changed each year. ...
(held in early July) and the
World Mountain Running Championships The World Mountain Running Championships (''World Mountain Running Trophy'' until 2008), is an international mountain running competition contested by athletes of the members of WMRA, World Mountain Running Association, the sport's global governing ...
(held in mid-September). WMRA Grand Prix Tour gets underway
IAAF (2009-07-23). Retrieved on 2015-03-24.
From 2001 onwards, the expansion of the series meant the inclusion of the World Championships as a leg of the series (if held in Europe) and the Grand Prix Final event coming after the championships as a season-closer for mountain running. The races in the middle period of the series are usually held relatively close together to allow top level athletes from across the world to compete in many races without excessive travel. From 2006 onwards the
International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...
(IAAF) began sanctioning the meetings on the annual circuit.WMRA Grand Prix 2006
. WMRA. Retrieved on 2015-03-24.
The points scoring format is cumulative. Finishing positions in a WMRA Grand Prix race range from 100 points for first to 1 point for 30th. Additional points may be awarded for performances achieved at the World Championships, if that event is included in the tour that year, and the Grand Prix Final race. An athlete's four best performances across the series are totalled and the athlete with the highest overall score wins the series. The series has a men's division and a women's division, with both a men's and women's series winner being declared. Athletes must compete in at least two races in order to be considered in the final rankings.
Jonathan Wyatt Jonathan Craig Wyatt (born 20 December 1972) is a New Zealand runner. He is a six-time world mountain running champion and an eight-time winner of the world mountain running grand prix series. Running career Wyatt competed in the men's 5,000 ...
of New Zealand is the most successful athlete of the series history, accumulating eight wins from 1999 to 2009. He is also the only male athlete to achieve a perfect score (winning all his races), having done so five times consecutively from 2002 to 2006.
Angela Mudge Angela Mudge (born 8 July 1970) is a Scottish champion hill runner and skyrunner. Despite being born with birth defects in both legs, and finding track athletics not to her liking, she discovered her sport while a postgraduate student in Sco ...
of Great Britain and Poland's
Izabela Zatorska Izabela Zatorska (born 6 October 1962) is a Polish female mountain runner three-time winner of the WMRA World Cup (2001, 2004, 2005). Biography Before becoming a mountain runner, she was a long-distance runner, among her achievements she also won ...
are the joint most successful female runners across the series, each with three victories to their name. Zatorska became the first person to achieve a perfect score in the series in 2001.
Anna Pichrtová Anna Straková, earlier Pichrtová (born May 19, 1973) is a Czech professional long distance runner. ...
(2006) and
Andrea Mayr Andrea Mayr (born October 15, 1979) is a female long-distance runner from Austria. She also competes in mountain running and cycling. She set her personal best (2:30:43) in the women's marathon on April 19, 2009, winning the Vienna City Maratho ...
(2014) are the only other women to match that feat. Eritrean Azeria Teklay became the first winner from Africa in 2012, marking increased participation from outside the
Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and state (polity), states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.
.WMRA Grand Prix until 2013 /World Cup from 2014
WMRA. Retrieved on 2015-03-24.
The World Cup was cancelled in 2020. From 2022 World Cup Gold Label and Silver Label events are held.


Editions

* *


Races

Numerous races have featured over the history of the competition, most of them being held in the Alps. Exceptions to this include the Gibraltar Rock Race in Gibraltar, the
Snowdon Race The Snowdon Race ( cy, Ras Yr Wyddfa) is a ten-mile endurance running competition in Gwynedd, from Llanberis to the peak of Snowdon. Contestants must make the five miles up the Llanberis Path to the summit ( above sea level) and return down. Cur ...
in Wales, Skaala Uphill in Norway, and Alyeska Mountain Run in Alaska – the latter (included once in 2002) is the only occasion that a Grand Prix race has been held outside of Europe. The Šmarna Gora Mountain Race in Slovenia has served the honour of being the Grand Prix Final race on several occasions. * Translates as Grintovec Mountain Race


References


External links


WMRA Mountain Running Grand Prix
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-03-24.
WMRA Grand Prix until 2013 /World Cup from 2014
WMRA. Retrieved on 2015-03-24. {{International sports tours Mountain running competitions Recurring sporting events established in 1999 Athletics in Europe Annual athletics series World cups