Nearly 500 runners will toe the start line at the second ever European Athletics Off-Road Running Championships taking place in Annecy, France on 31 May-2 June.
Member Federations have submitted 480 entries representing 30 countries in the preliminary entries. a significant increase on the 283 runners from 24 countries who took part in the inaugural edition in El Paso on the Spanish island of La Palma two years ago.
Cream of off-road running
The prestigious event consists of ten championship races over mountainous and trail terrain, attracting the cream of European off road runners to the stunning French venue.
The uphill only disciplines on Friday (31) will see senior men and senior women head out from nearby town Saint-Jorioz up the imposing peak of Montagne Semnoz in the Bauges range. They will run 7.6k with a total elevation of 990m. The U20s men and women follow the same route, but finish at 5.6k, having still climbed a leg-sapping 830m.
On Saturday (1) all eyes turns to the trail races for senior men and senior women, won in El Paso by Belgium's Maximilian Drion du Chapois (see below) and France's Blandine L’Hirondel.
Athletes start in Faverges and face a brutal 58.2k course consisting of 3380m climbing and 3450m descent as they snake through the French Alps towards the finish in Annecy.
Stunning scenery
The classic up and down discipline on Sunday (2) completes the event programme. The senior men and senior women tackle a point to point course starting at Menthon-Saint-Bernard near the shores of Lake Annecy.
They will traverse the imposing Mont Veyrier on the 16.1k route to the finish in Annecy climbing 940m in total. There are team titles across every discipline.
At the last edition in 2022, Italy topped the medal table, taking five gold, five silver and three bronze in an impressive haul. Switzerland’s Maude Mathys was one of the individual stars, taking gold in both the senior women’s uphill-only and up and down mountain races.
Chris Broadbent for European Athletics