TRAIL RUNNING
Lijan Burger comes into a checkpoint during the Mountain Classic
Christiaan Greyling ticking off the kilometres in the Long Ultra
Thumbs up from Nwabisa Mjoli before the Mountain Classic
Llewellyn Groeneveldt looking up during the Mountain Classic
title built on the strong foundation of individual title wins by Geoffray , Roubiol and Del Espierre , with Reiterer ’ s silver in the 86km and Luca del Pero ’ s bronze in the 45km leading the Italians to second overall . Kenya ’ s Kipngeno winning gold in the Vertical Challenge , silvers from Philaries Kisang in the same event and Kiriago in the Mountain Classic and bronze medals from Muthoni in the Mountain Classic and Josphat Kiprotich in the Vertical Challenge were impressive , but their minimal participation in the longer trail races saw Kenya rated just 17th overall .
Team South Africa finished 24th in the team competition , after racing all the senior events but without impacting on the medals table . Bianca Tarboton ( 34th in the Mountain Classic ), Landie Greyling ( 37th in the Short Trail ), Kane Reilly ( 38th in the Vertical Challenge ), Sipho Mbanjwa ( 41st in the
Mountain Classic ) and Daniel Claassen ( 44th in the Long Trail ) were South Africa ’ s leading athletes in intensely competitive races , where a top 50 position represented top-class racing , as it put our athletes in the first third of a field of the world ’ s best trail athletes . In particular , the Short Ultra was described by many as one of the toughest races in a long time , with likely the most competitive deep field ever in trail running , stretching deep into the top hundred . Therefore , Landie ’ s 37th place , not many minutes outside the top 20 , was a superb performance .
Sadly , the hopes of three of South Africa ’ s athletes best placed to challenge for top 10 positions , and possibly medals , Toni McCann , Meg Mackenzie and Mbuleli Mathanga , were extinguished by injuries . All three will be strongly motivated to deliver in 2025 , when the next World Championship will be held in the Spanish Pyrenees Mountains .
Opportunity Knocks
As a spectacle , there is little doubt that this new edition to the World Athletics Championship Series is one of the most attractive . With the Mountain and Trail Championships likely to attract athletes from a hundred-plus countries before the end of the decade , it is also highly marketable , in particular from an adventure and destination tourism perspective .
Africa could benefit from hosting these World Championships , both economically and in growing the sport on the continent . The question is , could an African bid compete with European destinations ? “ Our president , Sebastian Coe , has emphasised the importance of staging one of our championships in Africa in the near future ,” said World Athletics Head of Running ( Competitions and Events ), Alessio Punzi . “ We would love to receive a bid from an established trail running destination such as Cape Town for 2027 or 2029 .”
Lijan Burger , Nwabisa Mjoli and Bianca Tarboton ready to tackle to the Mountain Classic
Sibuniso Soldaka and Sipho Mabanjwa put in solid runs in the Mountain Classic
About the Author
Well-known Cape-based journalist and trail runner Stephen Granger played a leading role in organising SA Trials earlier this year and selecting the SA team for these World Champs . He then accompanied the team to Austria as part of the team management . This article is adapted from his article originally published on SPN African News , and is republished here with his permission .
World Champs Album
The South African team sent to the second World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Innsbruck , Austria , came home not only with terrific running experiences , but also a collection of great photographs that will help them to remember this trip for many years to come , and continue to inspire them to work towards the next World Champs .
Images : Stephen Granger , Linda Doke and courtesy Team SA athletes
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