Thailand might not be a trail running hotspot, but the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in southeast Asia put on a show. Scattered other races happened across the U.S. too. The UTMB World Series continued, with Kullamannen by UTMB taking place in Båstad, Sweden.
World Mountain and Trail Running Championships – Chiang Mai, Thailand
iRunFar was on site and provided in-depth coverage of the first-ever combined World Mountain and Trail Running Championships, a collection of four races across different distances and disciplines. Deeper results are separately available for the World Mountain Running Championships Uphill, Trail World Championships 40k, Trail World Championships 80k, and World Mountain Running Championships Up and Down races.
World Mountain Running Championships Uphill
Patrick Kipngeno (Kenya) has been excellent this year. He dominated the World Mountain Running Association World Cup, and was unbeatable here on an uphill 8.5-kilometer course that gained just over 1,000 meters. Kipngeno finished in 46:51, and that was 93 seconds better than second-place and countryman Philemon Kiriago. Third-place Alejandro Garcia (Spain) finished in 49:03.
Patrick Kipngeno, 2022 World Mountain Running Championships Uphill Champion. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Working on short recovery from the Golden Trail World Series Finals in Portugal, Allie McLaughlin (USA) kept Andrea Mayr (Austria) away from what would have been a seventh world crown. McLaughlin summited in 55:15, and Mayr was second in 55:41. Maude Mathys (Switzerland) was third in 56:00.
Allie McLaughlin, 2022 World Mountain Running Championships Uphill Champion. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
[In 2015, Maude Mathys received a warning without suspension from the Disciplinary Chamber for Doping Cases of Swiss Olympic for two positive tests for clomifene (previously clomiphene) after it was determined that she was mistakenly taking the drug without first obtaining a World Anti-Doping Agency Therapeutic Use Exemption.]
Italy was the first-place men’s team, and the USA won women’s team gold.
Trail World Championships 40k
Racing just less than a full marathon but on a course with 2,425 meters (8,000 feet) of elevation gain, Stian Angermund (Norway) won in 3:08. Francesco Puppi (Italy) and Jon Albon (U.K.) chased to individual silver and bronze in 3:11 and 3:13, respectively. Italy was the first-place men’s team.
Stian Angermund running to victory in the 2022 Trail World Championships 40k. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Veteran skyrunner Denisa Dragomir (Romania) held off a pair of rising stars for the women’s win. Dragomir finished in 3:49. Twenty-three-year-old Barbora Macurová (Czech Republic) and 20-year-old Emilia Brangefält (Sweden) were immediately behind in 3:51 and 3:54. Spain won the women’s team competition.
Denisa Dragomir, 2022 Trail World Championships 40k Champion. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Trail World Championships 80k
Adam Peterman (USA) is still undefeated at ultramarathon races. Wow, he won this one — on a course with 4,807 meters (15,771 feet) of elevation gain in 7:15. With an earlier-in-the-year course record at the Canyons by UTMB 100k and a win at the Western States 100, I think that’s got to be enough for Peterman to win the upcoming annual “UltraRunning” magazine (North American) Ultrarunner of the Year award.
Nicolas Martin (France) and Andreas Reiterer (Italy) were second and third, and the U.S. placed its top three inside the overall top 14 to win team gold.
Adam Peterman hoists the American flag and becomes the 2022 Trail World Championships 80k Champion. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
This year’s CCC winner Blandine L’Hirondel (France) took over late and gained the women’s crown for the second time in 8:22. She earlier won the 2019 Trail World Championships over 44k. Ida Nilsson (Sweden) was second in 8:34 and Gemma Arenas (Spain) ran 8:46 for third.
The next two French runners were joint sixth, assuring team gold.
Team France celebrates winning women’s team gold, with the first-place finish of Blandine L’Hirondel and the tie for sixth place between Marion Delespierre and Audrey Tanguy. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
World Mountain Running Championships Up and Down
Uganda dominated, taking four of the top five men’s finishes and the top two women’s finishes. Samuel Kibet and Timothy Toroitich were first and third in 40:02 and 40:26, and Uphill race winner Patrick Kipngeno (Kenya) was second in between in 40:12.
Team Uganda’s three scoring members, who all helped win men’s team gold in the 2022 World Mountain Running Championships Up and Down race (l-to-r): Leonard Chemonges, Samuel Kibet, and Timothy Toroitich. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
On the women’s side, it was Rebecca Cheptegei (Uganda) and Anna Chelangat Chemengich (Uganda) up front in 46:25 and 46:52, and Uphill race winner Allie McLaughlin (USA) doubled back for third in 48:31.
Rebecca Cheptegei, 2022 World Mountain Running Championships Up and Down Champion. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Kullamannen by UTMB – Båstad, Sweden
Typical of European races there were many distances, but the 100-mile race was on feature and the only one with a geographically diverse field. The coastal course included five climbs, but totaled just 2,150 meters (7,050 feet) of elevation gain.
Men
Alexandre Boucheix (France) finished in a speedy 15:14, winning by almost a full 30 minutes. Guillaume Deneffe (Belgium) was second in 15:43 and Magnus Rabe (Sweden) ran 16:13 for third.
Adam Kimble was fifth in 17:33 as the top American finisher.
Women
Only 11 minutes separated the front two women, but Claire Bannwarth (France) got away from Johanna Bygdell (Sweden) for the win. The pair finished in 18:21 and 18:33, respectively. Therese Dahl Årvik (Norway) was third in 19:14.
After Bannwarth, the field was almost entirely Scandinavian.
Additional Races and Results
Wallace Falls Trail Run 50k – Gold Bar, Washington
The race happened in a state park of the same name and Ryan Wareham and Brook Martin won the fifth-year race in 5:43 and 6:18. Full results.
Ryan Wareham, the 2022 Wallace Falls 50k winner. Photo: Brian Nelson
Brook Martin, the 2022 Wallace Falls 50k winner. Photo: Brian Nelson
Silver Falls 50k – Silverton, Oregon
Ryan Charter and Abigail Hotaling won the race inside of Silver Falls State Park in 4:29 and 4:59. Full results.
Lithia Loop Trail Marathon – Ashland, Oregon
David Laney ran 2:48 and is believed to have won the men’s race. It was not yet clear who led the women. Full results (when available).
Rio Del Lago 100 Mile – Granite Bay, California
It was the race’s 21st year. Only men’s winner Eric Miya was in front of women’s winner Lindsey Dwyer with 16:30 and 16:51 finishes, respectively. Miya won the nearby Cool Moon 100 Mile earlier this year too, and Dwyer was second at the Umstead 100 Mile in April 2022. Full results.
Antelope Island 50k – Syracuse, Utah
Justin Grunewald saw some buffalo and won the race in 3:26. It was a new course record. Jessi Morton-Langehaug championed the women’s race in 4:38. Full results.
Moab Trail Marathon – Moab, Utah
It was again the USATF Trail Marathon Championships, but defending champs Adam Peterman and Allie McLaughlin were of course racing elsewhere, and so were many others. 2021 fourth-placer Brian Whitfield won the men’s race in 3:04, and Klaire Rhodes won the women’s in 3:52. Full results.
Austin Rattler Run 50k – Smithville, Texas
Travis Lavin and Ryan Montgomery dueled at the front of the race, finishing in 3:26 and 3:27. Lavin was 51 seconds in front, and Montgomery finished as the first nonbinary runner. Michele Perez-Lopez was the women’s winner in 4:24. Full results.
Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon – Indianapolis, Indiana
Snakes on a plane, ultrarunners in a half marathon. Zack Beavin and Adrian MacDonald stepped down in distance and ran 1:09.35 and 1:11.31, respectively. Taggart Van Etten raced the marathon and went through half in 1:09, but stepped off the gas on a poor weather day and finished in 2:41. Full results.
New York City Marathon – New York, New York
Former Comrades Marathon winner Gerda Steyn (South Africa) ran 2:30 for 12th, and 50k world record holder Des Linden was seventh American in 2:32. Surely some other trail and ultrarunners raced too? Leave a comment to share those results. Tracking.
Stone Cat 50k – Ipswich, Massachusetts
Victors Nicholas Lemon and Lila Gaudrault clocked 3:51 and 4:13 winning times. Full results.
Pinhoti 100 Mile – Sylacauga, Alabama
It was the 12th Pinhoti 100 Mile, a point-to-point run on a trail of the same name through the Talladega National Forest. Brandon Slowoski didn’t match his 2021 finish time, he was just over an hour slower actually, but repeated as men’s winner in 19:42. Johanna Ylanen topped the women’s field in 22:49. Full results.
Georgia Sky to Summit – Dillard, Georgia
It was year 10, and Rum Bum Tours added a 100k race to its usual 50k. The 100k ran point to point toward a finish at the Sky Valley Resort, totaling 15,000 feet of elevation gain, and the 50k collected 7,500 feet of gain. Official results aren’t yet available, but social media points to Will Connell as the 100k men’s winner, and Nathaniel Helfferich and Chantel Wright in front of the 50k. Full results (when available).
Rim to River 100 Mile – New River Gorge, West Virginia
The third-year race sold out. Dan Green and Sarah Wallace came through the fall colors in 15:35 and 21:07. Wallace has taken part in the race every year. Full results.
Call for Comments
- Did I call it right? Should Adam Peterman be this year’s “UltraRunning” magazine (North American) Ultrarunner of the Year?
- Were the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships fun to follow, or did the far-off time zone not work for many of you to stay current? And should Uganda and Kenya have raced the longer courses too?
- What other results can you share from the week in racing?
