# World Long Distance Mountain Running Championships

The World Long Distance Mountain Running Championships (from 2004 up to 2014 the name was World Long Distance Mountain Running Challenge), is an annual international mountain running competition organised by the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA).
The race is a one-day long-distance running contest for both sexes which has individual and national team aspects. The host for the event changes on an annual basis, with the minimum requirements for the challenge being that the course is no longer than 45 kilometres (28 mi) in distance, includes an uphill ascent of at least 1.6 km (1 mile), and has a rough duration of between one hour and forty-five minutes and four hours for the elite men. The challenge does not take place on specially-made courses, but rather it is incorporated into pre-existing, traditional races.
The competition was first held in 2004 on a course from Sierre to Zinal. Since its inception, the challenge has been hosted at competitions including the Three Peaks Race in the United Kingdom, Switzerland's Jungfrau Marathon, and the Pikes Peak Marathon in the United States. The event has significant variance in its level of participation: the 2007 race at the Jungfrau Marathon attracted over 4200 runners of fifty nationalities, while at the 2011 of the competition there were 405 runners representing a total of 18 countries.
The 2020 edition was canceled. Beginning in 2021, the event was merged into the 2021 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships.

## Editions

| Edition | Year | Race | Location | Country | Date | Male Winner | Female Winner |
| 1st | 2004 | Sierre-Zinal | Valais | Switzerland | 8 August | Ricardo Mejía | Angeline Joly |
| 2nd | 2005 | Marathon du Vignemale | Cauterets | France | 24 July | Helmut Schiessl | Emma Murray |
| 3rd | 2006 | Pikes Peak Ascent | Manitou Springs, Colorado | United States | 20 August | Matt Carpenter | Emma Murray |
| 4th | 2007 | Jungfrau Marathon | Bernese Oberland | Switzerland | 7 September | Jonathan Wyatt | Anita Haakenstad-Evertsen |
| 5th | 2008 | Three Peaks Race | Yorkshire | United Kingdom | 26 April | Jethro Lennox | Anna Pichrtová |
| 6th | 2009 | Kaisermarathon | Söll | Austria | 10 October | Marc Lauenstein | Anna Pichrtová |
| 7th | 2010 | Pikes Peak Ascent | Manitou Springs, Colorado | United States | 21 September | Glenn Randall | Brandy Erholtz |
| 8th | 2011 | Gorski Maraton | Podbrdo | Slovenia | 18 June | Mitja Kosovelj | Philippa Maddams |
| 9th | 2012 | Jungfrau Marathon | Bernese Oberland | Switzerland | 8 September | Markus Hohenwarter | Stevie Kremer |
| 10th | 2013 | Maraton Karkonoski | Szklarska Poreba | Poland | 3 August | Mitja Kosovelj | Antonella Confortola |
| 11th | 2014 | Pikes Peak Ascent | Manitou Springs, Colorado | United States | 16 August | Sage Canaday | Allie McLaughlin |
| 12th | 2015 | Zermatt Marathon | Zermatt | Switzerland | 4 July | Tommaso Vaccina | Martina Strahl |
| 13th | 2016 | Gorski Maraton | Podbrdo | Slovenia | 18 June | Alessandro Rambaldini | Annie Conway |
| 14th | 2017 | Giir di Mont | Premana | Italy | 6 August | Francesco Puppi | Silvia Rampazzo |
| 15th | 2018 | Ultramarathon Gorski | Karpacz | Poland | 24 June | Alessandro Rambaldini | Charlotte Morgan |
| 16th | 2019 | K42 Adventure Marathon | Villa La Angostura | Argentina | 16 November | Jim Walmsley | Cristina Simion |
| 17th | 2020 | Haría Extreme Lanzarote | Haria | Spain | 14 November | | |

## Winners
### Individual
#### Men

| Year | | | |
| 2004 | Ricardo Mejía | Helmut Schiessl | Billy Burns |
| 2005 | Helmut Schiessl | Anton Vencelj | Daniel Bolt |
| 2006 | Matt Carpenter | Galen Burrell | Zac Freudenburg |
| 2007 | Jonathan Wyatt | Hermann Achmüller | Gerd Frick |
| 2008 | Jethro Lennox | Tom Owens | Mitja Kosovelj |
| 2009 | Marc Lauenstein | Jonathan Wyatt | Ricky Lightfoot |
| 2010 | Glenn Randall | Marc Lauenstein | Rickey Gates |
| 2011 | Mitja Kosovelj | Tom Owens | Robbie Simpson |
| 2012 | Markus Hohenwarter | Mitja Kosovelj | Hosea Tuei |
| 2013 | Mitja Kosovelj | Andrew Davies | Ionut Zinca |
| 2014 | Sage Canaday | Azerya Teklay | Andy Wacker |
| 2015 | Tommaso Vaccina | Andy Wacker | Francesco Puppi |
| 2016 | Alessandro Rambaldini | Marco De Gasperi | Mitja Kosovelj |
| 2017 | Francesco Puppi | Pascal Egli | Tayte Pollman |
| 2018 | Alessandro Rambaldini | Robert Krupička | Joseph Gray |
| 2019 | Jim Walmsley | Francesco Puppi | Oriol Cardona Coll |
| 2020 | None | None | None | Cancelled due to COVID-19 |
| 2021 | Stian Angermund | Francesco Puppi | Jonathan Albon |
| 2022 | Stian Angermund | Thomas Roach | Luca Del Pero |

#### Women

| Year | | | |
| 2004 | Angéline Joly | Maria Rodriguez | Isabelle Guillot |
| 2005 | Emma Murray | Marion Kapuscinski | Isabelle Guillot |
| 2006 | Emma Murray | Danielle Ballengee | Keri Nelson |
| 2007 | Anita Håkenstad Evertsen | Yelena Kaledina | Zhanna Malkova |
| 2008 | Anna Pichrtová | Angela Mudge | Angela Bateup |
| 2009 | Anna Pichrtová | Evgeniya Danilova | Anna Frost |
| 2010 | Brandy Erholtz | Kim Dobson | Anna Frost |
| 2011 | Philippa Maddams | Karen Alexander | Helen Fines |
| 2012 | Stevie Kremer | Sabine Reiner | Kim Dobson |
| 2013 | Antonella Confortola | Ornella Ferrara | Anna Celińska |
| 2014 | Allie McLaughlin | Morgan Arritola | Shannon Payne |
| 2015 | Martina Strähl | Aline Camboulives | Catherine Bertone |
| 2016 | Annie Conway | Antonella Confortola | Lucija Krkoč |
| 2017 | Silvia Rampazzo | Kasie Enman | Denisa Dragomir |
| 2018 | Charlotte Morgan | Dominika Stelmach | Silvia Rampazzo |
| 2019 | Cristina Simion | Adeline Roche | Blandine L'Hirondel |
| 2020 | None | None | None | Cancelled due to COVID-19 |

### Team
#### Men

| Year | | | |
| 2009 | Kenya | England | Scotland |
| 2010 | United States | England | Germany |
| 2011 | Scotland | Slovenia | England |
| 2012 | Switzerland | United States | Germany |
| 2013 | Italy Emanuele Manzi Tommaso Vaccina Massimiliano Zanaboni | Czech Republic | Wales |
| 2014 | United States | Italy Tommaso Vaccina Xavier Chevrier Massimo Mei | Germany |
| 2015 | Italy Tommaso Vaccina Francesco Puppi Massimo Mei | United States | Kenya |
| 2016 | Italy Alessandro Rambaldini Marco De Gasperi Fabio Ruga | United Kingdom | Germany |
| 2017 | Italy Francesco Puppi Alessandro Rambaldini Luca Cagnati | United States | Czech Republic |
| 2018 | Czech Republic | United States | Italy Alessandro Rambaldini Daniele De Colo Emanuele Manzi |
| 2019 | Spain | United States | Italy Francesco Puppi Gabriele Bacchion Luca Cagnati |
| 2020 | None | None | None | Cancelled due to COVID-19 |

#### Women

| Year | | | |
| 2009 | Russia | Austria | Germany |
| 2010 | United States | Germany | Scotland |
| 2011 | England | Russia | Scotland |
| 2012 | United States | Switzerland | Austria |
| 2013 | Italy Antonella Confortola Ornella Ferrara Ivana Iozzia | Scotland | England |
| 2014 | United States | Italy Catherine Bertone Antonella Confortola Ivana Iozzia | Slovenia |
| 2015 | Switzerland | Italy Catherine Bertone Ivana Iozzia Francesca Iachemet | United States |
| 2016 | Italy Antonella Confortola Francesca Iachemet Debora Cardone | Slovenia | United Kingdom |
| 2017 | Italy Silvia Rampazzo Antonella Confortola Stéphanie Jiménez | United States | Romania |
| 2018 | Austria | United Kingdom | Romania |
| 2019 | France | Spain | Romania |
| 2020 | None | None | None | Cancelled due to COVID-19 |