“The 11th annual WMRA World Long Distance Mountain Running Challenge will be hosted by the Pikes Peak Ascent this Saturday, August 16, in Manitou Springs, Colorado.
This is the third time Pikes Peak has hosted the Challenge.
The first was in 2006, when the Pikes Peak Marathon served as the host race and more recently, in 2010, the Pikes Peak Ascent was the host event.
This year, entries were received from nearly 20 countries for the competition, with seven full teams in the women&rsquo,s division and nine for the men. The first team competition at the Challenge took place in 2009. Although five athletes may run for a country, the combined times of the top three members on the team are tabulated for scoring. There are awards for the top three men&rsquo,s teams and the top three women&rsquo,s team as well as individual medals for the top three men and top three women overall. “
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The course at Pikes Peak is 13.32 miles and starts in the town of Manitou Springs, elevation just over 6,300 feet, and ascends on the Barr Trail to the summit of America&rsquo,s Mountain Pikes Peak at an elevation of 14,115 feet. The weather forecast for Saturday&rsquo,s race is sunny and clear with a potential for afternoon thunderstorms which typically occur well after the athletes finish the event.
Prior to the race day, there is a welcome breakfast for all of the international competitors on Friday morning, August 15, hosted at the Glen Eyrie Castle which is where many of the teams are staying in advance of the competition. Later that day, there is a luncheon followed by a press conference. In the evening there is a pasta dinner and a program to welcome all of the athletes.
Tomo Sarf, WMRA Council Member from Slovenia, is at the event to serve as the technical delegate. WMRA Treasurer Nancy Hobbs will also be present at the event and will be on the jury of appeals along with Pikes Peak Marathon, Inc., president Ron Ilgen and Pikes Peak board member Bob Street.
The World Long Distance Mountain Running Challenge is regulated by the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) under the patronage of the IAAF.&nbsp,
The first World Long Distance Mountain Challenge was held at Sierre-Zinal in Switzerland in 2004.
In 2015, the Zermatt Marathon will host the Long Distance event on July 4 and 5.
Be sure to follow the WMRA on Facebook at this link: https://www.facebook.com/WorldMountainRunningAssociation

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Edited from Nancy Hobbs(WMRA)

Source of the pictures:
on first page (by LOC):
– logo of the race hosting LDMRCh. 2014

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