𝗨𝗣𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗠𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗜𝗡 𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗘 AT 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗠𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗜𝗡 𝗥𝗨𝗡𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗠𝗣𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣𝗦 𝗠𝗔𝗗𝗘𝗜𝗥𝗔 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯

 In what was a true test of strength and endurance, the first day of the World Masters Mountain Running Championships, 2023 on the stunningly beautiful island of Madeira saw an incredible string of world class performances.

 First up on the race programme, which featured a shorter uphill-only event and a longer mountain run over 32km was the men’s   and women’s uphill races for all ages from 35 upwards. Run on a testing course that climbed high into the mists of the Madeiran   mountains, the 9.2km uphill-only route has more than 800 metres of ascent but all on very runnable paths.

 This was a day for speed runners with no technical sections of note to tackle. The result of which were some superb winning   times that perfectly reflected the talent on show. Truly, this was a test for the world’s best.

 And on a day of highlights, surely the top spot must go to home country winner, Portugal’s Joaquim Figueiredo, who took the   M55 World title in 47:11. Figueiredo has enjoyed a wonderful career on the track, road and now the mountains. As long ago as 1985 he was 9th in the European U20 track champs over 3000m, but in a long career that has seen him try every event this title tops that. To cap a great day for Portugal, he led his team to victory.

Another runner in superb form is Belgium’s Charlotte Cotton who not only won gold in the W40 race, but she took top spot overall more than a minute clear of the field.

She’s enjoyed a stellar career on the road in Europe in recent seasons, but like Figueiredo, this title has produced the icing on the cake.

“I am delighted with this victory, especially considering the injury I suffered after Thailand last year, which prevented me for training until February this year,”

Cotton said. “Today, I faced tough competition from a formidable group of contestants, so I am genuinely pleased with my performance, achieving a time of 52 minutes on this fast track. Throughout the race, I encountered numerous moments of enthusiastic support from the crowd, making it a truly fantastic experience!”

The men’s and women’s races started in wonderful Madeiran sunshine and a very runner-friendly 20 degrees before climbing into the mountain mists and slightly cooler conditions. As ever, it was all about finding rhythm and pace on the demanding, but wonderfully picturesque course that carved its way through the sub-tropical rainforest the island is so famous for.

“It was a great course,” said USA’s Eric Blake, the gold medallist in the M40 event. “The race went as well as I could ask. It was mostly up hill and mostly on trails, with a bit of road. It was great to mix it up with some many great runners from around the world.”

Like Cotton in the W40 race, so Italy’s Nives Carobbio caught the eye with her win in the W55 event. Boasting a half marathon best of 1:22:30 from 2015, she set about running away from the field to win by close to five minutes. Incredible at this level.

In the M75 race Frenchman Claude Dechandon went marginally better than that and his 1:03:11 victory put him more than five minutes ahead of his pursuers. Again, fabulous running.

As ever, the World Masters Mountain Running Championships proves to be very popular.  More than 332 runners toed the line for the first of two days of competition which made for some really exciting team events, led by Ireland and closely followed by Great Britain. Team results are calculated using three runners although two to score also counts if the entry numbers allow.

The first three individuals in each age group and winning teams are listed here, but the full results are available here.

UPHILL RACE, 9.2KM

W35

1 Dee Collins (IRL) 57:58; 2 Patricia Puklova (SVK) 60:04; Bianca Scheder (GER) 1:06:22

Teams1 Ireland 10

W40

1 Charlotte Cotton (BEL) 52:41; 2 Kealey Tideswell (IRL) 54:02; 3 Ana Maria Mihaita (ROU) 58:28

Teams1 Ireland 21; 2 Italy 26; 3 Spain 19

 W45

1 Angela Serena (ITA) 57:54; 2 Christine Dorscher (GER) 1:02:12; 3 Janine Schott (ESP) 1:03:44

Teams1 Ireland 20; 2 Portugal 29; 3 Italy 13

 W50

1 Lou Osborn (GBR) 55:48; 2 Isabel Sandoval (ESP) 1:04:04; 3 Charlie Woodcock (GBR) 1:05:02

Teams1 Great Britain 12; 2 Ireland 22; 3 Portugal 33 

W55

1 Nives Carobbio (ITA) 54:58; 2 Nicoletta Ferrari (ITA) 59:48; 3 Maria Solino (ESP) 1:00:21

Teams 1 Italy 14; 2 Germany 12; 3 Slovenia 21 

W60

Ana Mori (ESP) 1:02:54; 3 Marie Luise Heilig-Duventater (GER) 1:04:34; 3 Nancy Hobbs (USA) 1:05:39

Teams 1 Great Britain 25; 2 Italy 9; 3 Germany 10 

W65

Hilary Spenceley (GBR) 1:10:24; 2 Rebecca Weight (GBR) 1:11:07; 3 Agnes Bardy (FRA) 1:13:36

Teams 1 Great Britain 10; 2 France 9

W70

1 Ann-Marie Jones (GBR) 1:10:08; 2 Elfriede Ganter (GER) 1:11:03; 3 Rosa Pattis (ITA) 1:19:52

Teams 1 Great Britain 6; 2 Austria 10

W75

1 Barbara Prymakowska (POL) 1:35:21; 2 Margaret Wikeley (GBR) 1:41:13

 ------------------

M35

1 Mike Popejoy (USA) 44:36; 2 Philip Goss (IRL) 48:38; 3 Ivan Nunes (POR) 48:52

Teams1 Ireland 13; 2 Portugal 7

M40

1 Eric Blake (USA) 43:11; 2 Ian Conroy (IRL) 44:52; 3 Massimiliano Benardi (ITA) 45:52

Teams 1 Ireland 28; 2 Japan 33; 3 Portugal 39

M45

1 Shaban Mustafa (BUL) 44:03 2 James Latimer (GBR) 45:51; 3 Christian Madsen (DEN) 46:07

Teams 1 Spain 27; 2 Portugal 37; Britain 6

M50

1 Paul Faulkner (GBR) 47:06; 2 Andrew O’Brien (AUS) 49:17; 3 Amandio Correia (POR) 49:37

Teams 1 Spain 30; Ireland 30; 3 Germany 31

M55

1 Joaquim Figueiredo (POR) 47:11; 2 Miguel Molero-Eichwein (GER) 47:56; 3 Thierry Lippi (FRA) 48:25

Teams 1 Portugal 18; 2 Romania 45; 3 Austria 55

M60

1 Colin Donnelly (GBR) 51:12 2 Thomas Bauer (GER) 52:49; 3 Josef Attenberger (GER) 53:15

Teams 1 Germany 10; Great Britain 12; Spain 27 

M65

1 Martin McDonald (IRL) 55:26; 2 Peter Flunger (AUT) 55:51; 3 Roberto Longhi (ITA) 58:13
Teams 1 Austria 12; Italy 18; 3 Ireland 26

M70

1 Aurelio Moscato (ITA) 1:00:41; 2 Adolfo Accalai (ITA) 1:02:14; 3 Zbigniew Radomski (POL) 1:03:11

Teams 1 Italy 17; 2 USA 24; Ireland 35

 M75

1 Claude Dechandon (FRA) 1:03:14 2 Claudio Milan (ITA) 1:08:51; 3 Geoffrey Howard (GBR) 1:11:07

Teams 1 Great Britain 15; 2 Austria 17

FULL RESULTS:

https://www.wmmrc-madeira2023.com/en/resultados

For more information: www.wmmrc-madeira2023.com/en