Just a few days post meeting, Jonathan Wyatt (NZL), president of the WMRA, said, “It was great being a part of what was my first annual WMRA Council Meeting. 
We took the chance of being near the IAAF offices to discuss mountain running with them during that weekend and it’s exciting to be able to share their co-operation, as well as the ideas WMRA has to help us grow.

It’s also great to have so much energy in our Council for Mountain Running and while we are all volunteers, every one of our Council members shares a passion for Mountain Running that makes the time spent worthwhile.

“I apologise for the delay in presenting all aspects of projects in 2018, but we want to make some innovations and it does take a lot of behind the scenes discussions and work to bring partnerships together,” continued Wyatt.  “You can be sure we are working to deliver a Mountain Running product to a wider audience and share the rich history that is a cornerstone of our sport.  It’s exciting times, and while we can’t do as much as we like given the budgets we work to, we’ll try to bring more opportunities to Mountain Running going forward.”

One such opportunity includes a plan to offer coaching education. The WMRA is working with the IAAF to co-produce a mountain running seminar for coaches to be held at this year’s World Mountain Running Championships in Andorra in September. Presently in the planning stages, this seminar would focus on mountain-running specific coaching. Council member Sarah Rowell (GBR) is spearheading this initiative.

Education-based programming is not new to the WMRA. Seminars focused on the development of national federation mountain running programs, rules and governance, designing a course, safety, training and medial preparation were held in 2002 (Innsbruck, Austria), 2003 (China and Croatia), and 2009 (Bulgaria). And, during the World Championships in Wales in 2015, Welsh Athletics and England Athletics hosted the inaugural International Mountain Running Coaches Forum.  This two-hour event provided an opportunity for international coaches to come together to listen to two stimulus presentations followed by time to share thoughts and ideas. Those presentations including: Adapting technique for optimal ascending and descending; and Transition of endurance training for mountain running success.

Article posted by WMRA Treasurer, Nancy Hobbs (USA); photo from the recent WMRA Council meeting