Bianca Tarboton gave it everything in the Vertical Challenge
TRAIL RUNNING
whose strong second half relegated Reiterer to the silver medal position . Meanwhile , even Marion del Espierre ’ s husband never expected his spouse to win gold in the women ’ s Long Trail competition . “ It ’ s really surprising that she ’ s just taken the lead , as her training has not been so good ,” he remarked as the Frenchwoman surged past early leader , Germany ’ s Katherina Hartmuth , with 20km to go . She powered to a somewhat unexpected win , contributing solidly to her country ’ s overall top position .
An impressive aspect of these World Championships was the strong emphasis on sustainability , with attention paid to limiting the carbon footprint of the event through the use of public transport and shuttles instead of private rentals , a life-cycle approach to materials , and a no-tolerance approach to littering . “ Here in the beautiful Tyrol , we are working to live up to our sustainability claim to ‘ Leave no Trace ’ and restore all that we have found to its original state ,” said event CEO , Alexander Pittl . “ I would like to thank you all for giving sustainability a high priority in your thoughts and actions .”
Titles on the Line
In the end , though , it was primarily about trail running at speed , and the highlights were provided by impressive feats of dexterity and endurance by the newly-crowned World Champions . In this , Kenya ’ s Patrick Kipngeno was a cut above the rest in the Vertical Challenge , running comfortably up the steepest slope of the Elfer Mountain when others were crawling on all fours , while ‘ local hero ,’ Austrian Andrea Mayr , was a popular winner in the women ’ s race . Kipngeno thus retained his title won in Thailand last year ,
Africans were again to the fore in the final event of the championship , the 15,5km Mountain Classic . Running the testing two-loop course seemingly at the speed of light , Ugandan Leonard Chemutai held off Kenya ’ s Philemon Kiriago to claim the title , with James Kirui
Landie Greyling proudly flew the flag in the Short Ultra
What They Said …
SA ’ s men in the Vertical Challenge , Kane Reilly , Thabang Madiba and Llewellyn Groeneveldt
and Hosea Chemutai bringing Uganda further glory by taking gold and silver in the men ’ s junior 6km race . American Grayson Murphy was impressive in winning the women ’ s race ahead of daredevil Swede , Tove Alexandersson , with Kenya ’ s Joyce Muthoni third . Murphy said afterwards that she plans to use her World Title as a springboard to launch her career in the sought-after Golden Trail Series later this year .
Flying the Flag Proudly
The French commitment to the cause earned them recognition as overall champions , with their team
We checked out the social media pages of a few members of Team SA to see what they had to say about their experience at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championship in Austria .
Another successful title defence came from Norwegian Stian Angermund in the curiously-named ‘ Short Trail ’ race over 45km . After a close race with Britain ’ s Thomas Roach , he showed the Brit a clean pair of heels on the final slippery descent , while the surprise package of the race , young Frenchwoman Clementine Geoffray , overtook the more favoured Judith Wyder of Switzerland in the latter stages to take the women ’ s title .
Former Ultra-trail Cape Town winner , Andreas Reiterer of Italy , looked confident leading through halfway of the ‘ Long Trail ’ 86km race , which included a lungsearing 6500m of vertical ascent , but he reckoned without the unheralded Frenchman , Benjamin Roubiol ,
Daniël Claassen , SA ’ s best performer in the Long Ultra
Thabang Madiba
World Champs VK Challenge was the most emotional race I ’ ve ever done so far . The only choice I had was to hold on to pain , and the more I held on , I found joy . Today I got the opportunity to go to the next chapter of my book of life – I relate trail running to ‘ A Book Of Life ,’ and the more chapters read , the wiser you become . Racing for my country felt like a soldier fighting for his nation , the only thing you think of is victory . Today ’ s victory was to hit the finish line , and I ’ m looking forward to more VK challenges . Now I know why Kane Reilly is a big fan of VK runs .
Sipho Mbanjwa
What a great experience and I am very proud to be a South African . Big shout out to Athletics South Africa & SA Trail Running for sending the team to World Trail and Mountain Classic Championships in Austria . Well done to the team and management for their dedication and for fighting to their best to raise the SA flag high .
Landie Greyling
World Champs … 37th out of more than 150 women starters in the world today at the 45km Short Trail . There was nothing short about this race ! Took me 5:43 to complete , with 3450m climbing and 3000m descent ! Forever grateful to compete at this level at the age of 39 ( and I managed to beat my age ). Thanks sooo much for all the support from back home , I could hear all of you and my kiddos on those high peaks . A big thanks to Christiaan and all the Saffas here for their crewing and support today , it meant the world !
Bianca Tarboton
World Championship Mountain Classic race . Nothing like red-lining for over an hour , running against the best in the world . Body held up and I learnt A BUNCH , so overall , a bloody great race . 34th place and so stoked , what a week it has been , so damn grateful for all of these experiences . And thank you to all of my incredible teammates , you ’ re all the best , and we ’ ll be back for more for sure !
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