Premana, the “World Champioships D-Day” is ready for take-off.

Premana (LC) will host the 2017 World Mountain Running Championships and for the first time the title of Mountain Running Classic and Long Distance will be awarded at the same venue and within the space of one week away. 
The scenario is ready for a true mountain running event: at the 33th WMRA World Mountain Running Championships 2017 will participate 35 accredited nations with about 320 runners from the all the Continents in the world, including some of the most legendary names in the recent history of the discipline. 
Premana represents an important part of Italy's history in this sport.
The Local Sports Club, AS Premana, celebrates this year's 70th anniversary of foundation and the 25th of the Giir of Mont, the legendary race on the local mountain pastures that passionate fans and athletes.
The small village of Premana, on the Val Varrone Alps in Lecco, is ready to become the theater of the World Mountain Running Championship up-down (July 29th and 30th) and the Long-Distance World Mountain Running Championship (August 5th and 6th). 
An unrepeatable opportunity to celebrate the Giir of Mont, the historic competition supported by the municipality of Premana and the Lombardy Region, who for this special occasion also returns to the classic mountain race, at a distance of more than 20 years since Premana organized epic tests of the FIDAL Italian championship.

Both defending world champions in the Senior Categories will be on stage again, chasing for an incredible back to back title: Austria’s Andrea Mayr and USA’s Joe Gray are back after their golden effort in Sapareva Banya 2016 and will be two names to note among a lot of super stars trailing them to be the next world mountain running champion.
In the Men race all spotlights are on Uganda team, leaded by former world champion in up&down (Betws Y Coed - Galles 2015), Fred Musobo but Africa will be represented also by another strong candidate to the final victory, the Eritrean sensation Petro Mamu.
Europe will be as usual represented by all the best athletes in the circuit where Italy, France and Great Britain should take the main spot: Dematteis twins and new euro champion Xavier Chevrier are co-skipper for the “Azzurri” squad while Julien Rancon and Andy Douglas will drive the French and GB teams through the battle.
Women Race could represent a revenge of recent European championship, the complete podium will start the race in Premana with Swiss Maude Mathys, GB Sarah Tunstall and Austria Andrea Mayr ready for another grueling fight. The 6 times World Champion Andrea Mayr on a up&down edition is something rare as she has not participated to this format since 2007 in Ovronnaz where she earned the silver behind Czechian Anna Pichrtova.
Team USA with Kasie Enman (2011 world champion in Tirana) and especially Kenya with Lucia Murigi are serious challengers in a race that will be also a very focused target for the hosting Italian Team, a well shacked mix of the experience of the 2009 world champion and also three times world silver medalist Valentina Belotti, the 2013 world champion Alice Gaggi and the new rising star Sara Bottarelli.

The course of the world classic is a real novelty for Premana, and the organization with the technical supervision of WMRA (Pierre Weiss, WMRA Organisational Delegate and Tomo Sarf, WMRA Technical Delegate) has studied a ring circuit around and inside the inhabited area of the village that contains all the features of mountain running and has been designed to enhance the show, technical skills, and visibility to the public.
But WMRC 2017 Premana will mean also see many athletes in the Junior categories: they represent the future of this sport and the guarantee that tomorrow mountain running will continue to give emotions and tell stories like that of little Premana, a “village of dreamers” that has accepted a true global challenge and is now ready to win it.
Race for junior categories will be on 1 lap, for a total length of 6.5 km and 430 mt of ascent and descent. Senior categories will run on 2 laps, for a total length of 13 km and 860 mt of ascent and descent.
Start and finish line is located in the center of Premana, to guarantee the greatest show to all the people that will come to attend the event.
It is not easy tell in advance who could the winners: probably Uganda team in the junior men and Czech and GB in the junior women will be very but Italy trust to have chances for the victory, too.
WMRA and LOC are waiting for many spectators because really the races will be world competitions!
The 34 WMRA Congress with the election of the new WMRA Council 2017-2020 will be held the day before the Championships.
At the event will be present all the WMRA Council members, IAAF representants, and also IAU and ITRA officials together of course FIDAL Delegates.

Edited from Press Office of LOC and Bruno Gozzelino (WMRA)

Source of the pictures LOC:
on front page:
- logo of the event;
on second page:
- view of Premana.