World Masters Mountain Running Championships 2011
THE 11th WORLD MASTERS Mountain running championships were held recently in the North of Italy in the Carniac Alps. The event was centred in the small village of Paluzza close to the Austrian border in the high mountains. Runners came from Australia, Russia and the United States as well as from central Europe.
The men and women athletes ran separately in 5 year age groups from 35 up to 79 years. The younger athletes ran the course first. The day started in bright sunshine with high temperatures until mid afternoon when a mountain storm developed. Heavy rain flooded the course and made parts of it impassable.
Brenda Robinson of Rochdale Harriers was in the last age group to start and 10 minutes before her race the course was cut by 2 kilometres for safety reasons. This meant completing two laps of 3 kilometres over steep terrain. A short distance into the race Brenda was surprized to find three fixed ropes on a steep uphill section with members of the Alpine Unit of local soldiers lining up to assist with the climb. The soldiers were able to push from behind and also haul up the women competitors. Along the path was a chicane where members of the unit pushed the runners back onto the course when they slid off on the bends. Another fixed rope was in place at the end of the lap on a very steep downhill section and the women were able to swing on this and slide down through the forest. At one point on the path where there were no trees the unit lined up on either side and swung the runners from man to man for a short distance to prevent them sliding down the mountain. A steep descent on tarmac brought the runners back into the town centre and the lap was then repeated with the same assistance given by the Alpine Unit.
During the race the sun came out and Brenda finished in 8th position in 56 minutes and 30 seconds. Only later did she find she had bruised forearms from being pulled and pushed by the military!
England had two world champions in the men’s and women’s 45 age group, won second team in the men’s 45 age group and had a second place in the men’s 70 age group.
All in all an interesting experience.
by Brenda Robinson
