Mountain Running

The 25th running of the World Mountain Running Championships were held under clear and crisp blue skies with temperatures in the upper 50s for the start of the competition on Sunday.

The venue was in the winter ski village of Madesimo, Italy, located three hours by bus from Milan. The course was lined with fans not only from the host country, but with worldwide fans. The sound of ringing cowbells and pulsating air horns filled the air. A total of thirty-five countries were represented in the four races.

The final race of the day was the Senior men’s three grueling circuits of the course, all between 5,000? and 6,300?. The African teams moved to the front in the early going. Geoffrey Kusoro of Uganda forged a 54 second lead by the end, crossing the line in 54:51. Azerya Teklag Weldemariam of Eritrea took the silver in 55:45 with the final medal by James Kibet of Uganda in 55:54.

The U.S. team was led by former Junior team member (12th place 2006) Andrew Benford, 21, Roanoke, VA. He moved into the top 15 and passed teammate Joe Gray, 25, Lakewood, WA with approximately a mile to go. Benford placed 13th in 58:09 with Gray finishing 16th in 58:43. The final four team members all finished in a tight pack in places 42, 46, 47 and 48, with only 12 seconds separating them. Matt Byrne, 34, Scranton, PA and Zac Freudenberg, 31, St. Louis, MO were the scoring members in 1:01:26 and 1:01:34 in a field that featured 138 finishers. Rickey Gates, 28, Boulder, CO and Tim Parr, 27, Gunnison, CO crossed seconds later in 1:01:36 and 1:01:38.

The men’s team competition was won by Eritrea with 24 points with Italy second (39 points) and Turkey rounding out the medals with 75 points. The U.S. men finished in sixth with 117 points.

Results for the 25th World Mountain Running Championship

Campodolcino e Madesimo, ITA, Sunday, September 6, 2009

SENIOR MEN – 12.9K

1) Geoffrey Kusoro (UGA), 54:51, Gold

2) Azerya Teklag Weldemariam (ERI), 55:45, Silver

3) James Kibet (UGA), 55:54, Bronze

U.S.

13) Andrew Benford (USA), 58:09

16) Joe Gray (USA), 58:43

42) Matt Byrne (USA), 1:01:26

46) Zac Freudenberg (USA), 1:01:34

47) Rickey Gates (USA), 1:01:36

48) Tim Parr (USA), 1:01:38

TEAM (top four score)

1) Eritrea, 24 points

2) Italy, 39

3) Turkey, 75

6) USA, 117

SENIOR WOMEN – 8.6K

1) Elisa Desco (ITA), 43:39, Gold

2) Valentina Belotti (ITA), 44:04, Silver

3) Maria Grazia Roberti (ITA), 44:23, Bronze

U.S.

10) Brandy Erholtz (USA), 45:23

13) Christine Lundy (USA), 45:41

15) Megan Kimmel (USA), 45:46

17) Megan Lund (USA), 46:11

TEAM (top three score)

1) Italy, 6 points

2) Great Britain, 22

3) USA, 38

Source: (Trailrunningsoul)

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