{Nepal Report} 2nd World Mountain and Trail Running Championships 2023
The World Mountain and Trail Running Championships, WMTRC in short, are title races organized jointly by the International Association of Ultrarunners, the International Trail Running Association, and the World Mountain Running Association. The International World Athletics Association coordinates them.
The WMTRC combines the different disciplines in a single, high-class mountain- and trail running event to offer the highest level of athletic action. The first edition was held in Chiang Mai Thailand.
The second edition, 2023 WMTRC was held in Innsbruck- Stubai, Austria from June 6-10 2023, making the mountain city the mountain-running capital of the world. 69 countries were represented with more than 1000 participants in four race categories and more than 1500 spectators who turned up to witness the event.
From 2013 to 2019, ITRA recorded more than 25,700 races in 195 countries with nearly 2 million competitors making it the fastest-growing sport in the world.
https://theconversation.com/the-trail-running-community-faces-its-biggest-challenges-yet-156260
A total of 311 participants raced in the Long Trail Category of 86.7 km with 6500 m+ elevations.
The original course was changed in the last minute due to too much snow, which took the course on the middle part of the lower mountains between the start in Neustift in the Stubai Valley and finish in Innsbruck. It is deemed one of the most, technical courses of the Trail World Championships.
Arjun Rai Kulung out on trail inspection. Picture: Ryan S. Blair, The North Face Adventure Team
Team Nepal represented 3 athletes. Asia’s top athlete Sunmaya Budha, world ranking 8th for 100 k races, from Jumla Patarasi, Karnali Pradesh. Arjun Rai Kulung, top ranking athlete for the ultra-running distance from Mahakulung Village in Solukhumbu. Both Sunmaya Budha and Arjun Rai Kulung could race with the support of the leading adventure team in Asia, The North Face Adventure Team managed by the Asia Pacific Adventure Group in Hong Kong. The third athlete, Sworupa Khadka, an amateur NRN athlete raced self-supported. The Nepali team was led by Preeti Khattri, Director of the Nepal-based trail-running company- Nepal Trail Series, who coordinated the administration and field support for the team.
Team Nepal at the 2nd World Mountain and Trail Running Championships Opening Ceremony.
Quote from the North Face Adventure Team Director- Ryan S. Blair about the race-
“Crazy tough day for everyone just to finish that brutal course. … Arjun still managed to also hang on in the top 50 despite leg cramps last 7 hours of race. Sunmaya is also in good spirits despite her injury disappointment. Huge congrats to anyone finishing today’s World Champ course – a true mountain running monster no one will ever forget!”
2023 Trail World Championships 80k Nepal Man Results
Arjun Rai Kulung finished his first International race at 50th rank, keeping Nepal in one of the top rankings amongst Asian Mountain Athletes. His recent signing up with the professional adventure racing team is optimistic for him to develop into a more competitive runner over the course of time.
Arjun Rai Kulung First WMTRC and International trail race near the finish at rank 50. Picture: Trail Running Nepal
2023 Trail World Championships 80k Nepal Women Results
Some of the pre-race favorite woman athletes had to take tough calls during the race. Previous year’s Women's world champion from France Blandine L’Hirondel dropped on the “start loop” out of Neustift due to foot pain from an existing injury.
Nepal’s Sunmaya Budha battled in the top 20 until at 40 km her calf strain injury returned causing too much discomfort that she had to take a call to drop out at the right time.
Sunmaya Budha battling first 40 km under 20 amongst female participants. Picture credits: WMTRC Innsbruck-Stubai
Team Director Ryan posted,
“Big drama on [the] course! …Sunmaya had to withdraw from the race…her calf strain injury from couple months ago came back and too much pain and big risk for further injury. She’s super bummed but she knows she tried her best. Sometimes we all have bad luck – even the current world champion today from France also had to stop after 2 hours from injury. Sunmaya will take the cable car down from the top of the mountain so can rest the injury and cause no more issues.”
The North Face Adventure Team Director Ryan S. Blair consoling Sunmaya at Checkpoint 3, 40 km where she has to take a tough call to withdraw from the race.
Sworupa Khadka was stopped from continuing further the race at about 60 km due to the check-point cut-off times. Sworupa reported-
Looks like a lot of DNFs or missing the cutoffs, especially for the women. The cutoff was kind of aggressive for this course, but well…it’s the world championships.”
The original course was changed at the last moment due to too much snow on the mountain section. Still the course went up 6500+ elevation and 86.7 km making it one of the toughest courses for the World trail championships.
2023 Trail World Championships 80k Men’s Results
Benjamin Roubiol (France) – 9:52:59
Andreas Reiterer (Italy) – 10:00:46
Peter Fraňo (Slovakia) – 10:02:10
Thibaut Garrivier (France) – 10:14:29
Drew Holmen (U.S.) – 10:15:40
Zach Miller (U.S.) – 10:15:45
Eric LiPuma (U.S.) – 10:16:52
Ramon Manetsch (Switzerland) – 10:17:13
Tomás Farník (Czech Republic) – 10:18:02
Walter Manser (Switzerland) – 10:19:19
2023 Trail World Championships 80k Women’s Results
Marion Delespierre (France) – 11:22:31
Katharina Hartmuth (Germany) – 11:29:14
Manon Bohard Cailler (France) – 11:34:22
Martina Valmassoi (Italy) – 11:44:50
Rosanna Buchauer (Germany) – 11:45:48
Allison Baca (U.S.) – 11:56:21
Emily Schmitz (U.S.) – 11:58:31
Mari Klakegg Fenre (Norway) – 12:00:57
Akiyama Honoka (Japan) – 12:01:23
Audrey Tanguy (France) – 12:01:30
Opinion:
It’s no surprise that the leaderboard for the WMTRC 2023 is dominated by European and American athletes who have all the advanced resources and are technologically savvy for smart elite performance. Past 7 seven years, the trail running championships and the elite professional athletes have become more and more competitive. The trail running scene has boomed exponentially with many outdoor brands entering the scene and many participants hopping to the trail running from road running for various reasons. Nepali athletes still have the potential to be amongst the top 10 in the World rankings, but now will need more professional expertise and organization. Nepal needs to level up in its support and not just cheer for the athletes who keep up the name of Nepal after all the work put up by international supporters and sponsors.
As quoted by Milos Pintrova- race director Big Bear Ultra in Slovakia-
Which other sport has Nepal got the potential to be the World Championships if not the Mountain races, considering the advantages of the big mountain terrain of the Himalayan Kingdom?
Preeti Khattri, the Team Leader leading 2nd WMTRC representation from Nepal says-
It is a matter of prestige for our country. Nepali athletes have left a respectable name for Nepal in Europe as strong mountain runners from the Himalayas. A refreshing space where our athletes have a big potential to be World champions. The Nepali sports community needs to come together, acknowledge the scattered small contributions and unite to form a strong Mountain and trail running team for the future to represent Nepal. This is a huge learning experience for every one of us and we are thankful to everyone who made it possible for us to represent our country on such a prestigious platform.
Authored by Preeti Khattri, Director, Nepal Trail Series
Contact to enquire more about the Nepali trail running scene and athletes at preetikhattri@gmail.com