The World Long Distance Mountain Running Championships (from 2004 up to 2014 the name was World Long Distance Mountain Running Challenge), is an annual international

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 ...

competition 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). The race is a one-day

long-distance running Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance running comes two d ...

contest for both sexes which has individual and national team aspects. The host for the event changes on an annual basis, with the minimum requirements for the challenge being that the course is no longer than in distance, includes an uphill ascent of at least 1.6 km (1 mile), and has a rough duration of between one hour and forty-five minutes and four hours for the elite men. The challenge does not take place on specially-made courses, but rather it is incorporated into pre-existing, traditional races. The competition was first held in 2004 on a course from

Sierre Sierre (; german: Siders, ; frp, Siérro, ) is the capital municipality of the district of Sierre, located in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It has a population of 16,332. Sierre is nicknamed City of the Sun (french: Cité du Soleil) for i ...

Zinal Zinal is a village in Switzerland, located in the municipality of Anniviers in the canton of Valais. It lies at an elevation of above sea level in the Swiss Alps in the ''Val de Zinal'', a valley running from the Zinal Glacier, north of Dent Blan ...

. Since its inception, the challenge has been hosted at competitions including the

Three Peaks Race The Three Peaks Race is a fell race held annually on the last weekend in April, starting and finishing in Horton in Ribblesdale. The course traverses the Yorkshire Three Peaks. The present distance is about 23 miles (37 km). The first kn ...

in the United Kingdom, Switzerland's

Jungfrau Marathon The Jungfrau Marathon is one of the best known mountain marathons in the world, in full view of the famous Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau mountains in the Bernese Oberland area of the Swiss Alps. The first Jungfrau Marathon was held in 1993. A ...

, and the

Pikes Peak Marathon The Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon is a trail running competition that begins at the base of Pikes Peak, in Manitou Springs, Colorado, and climbs over 7,815 feet (2382 m) to the top of the 14,115 foot (4302 m) peak. Since 1956, the event takes p ...

in the United States. The event has significant variance in its level of participation: the 2007 race at the Jungfrau Marathon attracted over 4200 runners of fifty nationalities, while at the 2011 of the competition there were 405 runners representing a total of 18 countries.Kosovelj and Maddams take World Long Distance Mountain Running Challenge titles

IAAF 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 ...

(2011-06-19). Retrieved on 2011-06-23.

Editions

Winners

Individual

Men

Women

Team

Men

Women

References

External links

Event page
at WMRA {{Main world championships Mountain running competitions Long-distance running competitions

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 ...

Recurring sporting events established in 2004

Editions

Winners

Individual

Men

Women

Team

Men

Women

See also

References

External links