Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 77: World Champs Review!
325 Plays3 days ago
Welcome to Episode 77 of Peak Pursuits, your ultimate podcast for everything trail running in Australia. This episode is hosted by Brodie Nankervis and Vlad Ixel and covers everything World Champs, including Vlad’s race recap in the short trail, their thoughts on the overall winners, our Aussie results and more.
Our Aussie team did us proud!
Results: https://canfrancpirineos2025wmtrc.com/live.html
***Don’t forget, use code PPP at https://bix-hydration.myshopify.com/en-au for 20% off Bix products, exclusive to PPP listeners!***
Thanks for tuning in to Peak Pursuits! Connect with us on Instagram @peakpursuits.pod to share your thoughts, questions, and your own trail stories. Until next time, keep hitting the trails and chasing those peak pursuits!
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/mood-maze/trendsetter License code: K08PMQ3RATCE215R
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Episode Overview
00:00:08
Speaker
Hello and welcome to episode 77 of the Peak Pursuits podcast. I'm your host Brody and today I'm joined by just Vlad on the other end, so just the two of us. How are you going Vlad?
00:00:21
Speaker
Yeah, doing well. um Just on my way, um about to start the long way back home. So I'm pretty excited. Yeah, fantastic. Yeah.
World Champs Recap and Australian Performance
00:00:30
Speaker
um We're going to talk about World Champs. Essentially, that's going to be the focus of this ah episode. We're going to keep it pretty short, just covering off the results, talking about ah both the the the people up the front and the Australian results. And we're going to hear about Vlad's race as well. And And hopefully next week we'll get Jess on and we'll be able to hear a little bit about her race.
00:00:51
Speaker
um But we'll start, I'll just give a little update. I haven't been on for a few weeks. um So a little update from me. I'm still in Europe. I got to watch World Champs from the same time zone, which was which was fun.
00:01:05
Speaker
It was a bit sad because I was supposed to be there running, but um it was really cool to watch as well and see all the Aussies race. And I really felt like I was... part of it even though I wasn't there so yeah it was really cool to to watch all the Australians racing and and the and the races unfolding at the top so that was pretty cool um but yeah I'm just started a return to run I had six weeks of no running um And I've just started some sort of simple walk run um every ah second day at the moment.
00:01:37
Speaker
um And I'm sort of doing over a period of about 30 days just under getting back to hopefully at the end of that, it's sort of two 30-minute runs back-to-back on back-to-back days. That's sort of the end of the return to run. So Yeah, on track, got a plan.
00:01:55
Speaker
It's not too exciting, but it is nice to be back running a little bit again. um And yeah, everything seems to be going as smoothly as it does in this. You're always thinking a lot about every different feeling you're feeling. But yeah, I think everything's going pretty smoothly. So that's good.
00:02:13
Speaker
That's good to hear.
Vlad's World Champs Race Experience
00:02:15
Speaker
Yeah, hopefully um hopefully back into the mountains soon, but a little while away for me. um But Vlad, you've um just come off the back of...
00:02:26
Speaker
World Champs, your race was on Friday. um i'm not i think we had you on a couple of weeks ago. um You maybe had a week off last week leading into the race, um off the podcast that is. Can you tell us a little bit about the final lead up and then and then tell us about your race?
00:02:42
Speaker
Yeah, so pretty much the last week, um yeah, it was a pretty heavy taper week for me. I thought I might as well go all in on this and um really give it a real taper.
00:02:54
Speaker
um So I saw the whole course and then in the final week, just a couple of easy runs, a couple of very short sessions, just trying to keep a bit of intensity. But overall, um yeah, last three days were 40 minute jog, 30 minute jog and a 20 minute jog.
00:03:09
Speaker
um So yeah, I was feeling pretty fresh, like, you know, kind of I was feeling ready to go. um But I mean, I knew that this is going to be a tough race.
00:03:20
Speaker
seeing the course you know made me realize that it is a tough course but still breaking it into two days um so i did the main kind of my last two long days doing the whole course in two days made me realize that this is going to be a slow long day for me um and it was and i've been just under six hours um and yeah i mean overall knowing that it was going to be hard. I kind of played it a bit safe in the beginning and tried to climb the first climb. So the course started with a 1400 meter climb. um I was like, all right, just go slow that first climb. That's quite a lot of people, you know, it's probably, you know, the fastest race start that I've been in.
00:04:08
Speaker
um Usually a lot of races, you know, they would have few thousand people, but you only have a few elites at the start that go really, really quick. um and then the rest is pretty relaxed where this everybody just starts quick like you know the whole 500 people that lined up there male and female all went really quick um so yeah that was that was a bit of a mess i lost a gel right there right at the start um from somebody pushing me and damn that sucks not a good time to lose a gel
00:04:39
Speaker
Yeah, actually, and now so both of them were about to fall out and I caught one and one was on the ground and that was lost forever. um Behind me, there was yeah probably 300 people going at 310 pace.
00:04:51
Speaker
um So I knew that that gel is gone. um But yeah, so there's about a K of kind of wide road before he goes to a single trail where it's very hard to overtake even one person. So it becomes like a conga line.
00:05:06
Speaker
um But yeah, was probably about 100th place at that point. And that was kind of a good pace, you know, felt controlled, didn't go like all out. Heart rate was just at zone three, which I was kind of hoping for, lower zone three.
00:05:27
Speaker
um And yeah, started climbing, And then probably about 15 minutes into the race on that Congo line, um ah hear somebody like fully crying, like screaming and crying.
00:05:39
Speaker
um And that was Judith from Switzerland. And I thought maybe she fell down or rolled her ankle or something. But then it happened again. um And then people are saying bees and wasps.
00:05:52
Speaker
um And yeah, it was pretty, it's pretty full on. So we ran through a couple of spots where wasps were just hanging. i don't know if somebody knocked um like knocked something out but there was a big stage of few sections where they were just pretty much stinging anybody that ran past them um started getting like you know people started getting stung um and yeah i mean i got stung a few times in my calves and then in my neck
00:06:26
Speaker
um and then it becomes like you're trying to sprint through where they are. So literally we would, like a group of us would stop, we can see them in front of us and then you try and sprint as hard as you can across them.
00:06:37
Speaker
This is all on a single trail, like switchbacks. um Yeah, so that was that was an experience. Man, that chaos. Like they were talking about it on the the commentary where they said that Judith had had to pull out because of wasps.
00:06:52
Speaker
But like hearing that compared to just like hearing that Judith got stung compared to like hearing that everyone was like sprinting through and everyone was getting stung, like it sounds like – a bit acocalyptic to some extent like you're the yeah wow that would have been pretty intense in a race yeah definitely it was um it's kind of like a little bit funny in the beginning till you get stung as well yeah yeah Because like I got stung in my neck and I just started like literally screaming.
00:07:22
Speaker
And I can just see Blake, he was one switchback above me. So this is like, you know, two meters, you know, literally above me. He just started cracking himself. And then, you know, Billy was right there as well. I think right in between us maybe.
00:07:36
Speaker
um And he got one in his shirt. So I could just see him like trying to, like stopping and trying to get this wasp out of his shirt, out of his singlet. um And then, yeah, kind of kept going. I think Blake saw Billy like get stung and then slide down the mountain a tiny bit.
00:07:55
Speaker
um Yeah, I mean, who was yeah it was definitely not ideal. um But I think like probably like 80% of the people around me got stung. um and yeah after that we got to like a bit of an open climb so pretty much like no trail you just climb up a mountain at 40 percent
Race Challenges and Strategies
00:08:15
Speaker
incline um everybody's hiking so yeah i just asked you that if she was okay and she said she's allergic she's gonna make it to the next age station um she was definitely yeah she was hurting i think billy um is allergic as well he was a bit lower down but
00:08:32
Speaker
He's like, when I kind of went next to him, he said, yeah, I'm allergic. So he was a bit scared, especially because he got stung in his chest. um But yeah, that was that was definitely an interesting start to the race. And then you make it up to the top and it was, you know, fairly cold. So probably like minus two or three at the top. It's all frozen.
00:08:52
Speaker
And then you start like a... technical descent um which i found like i don't know struggled a little bit with just being cold and then going into a very technical descent straight away ah felt like my heart rate didn't drop down like you know usually your heart rate is a bit higher when you go up when you go up a bit lower when you go down like i felt like mine just me trying to keep up some kind of a decent pace like my heart rate just stayed up and didn't really come down till the end of that first long technical downhill, um which was a bit, yeah.
00:09:28
Speaker
I knew that things are not going to go great when you're running downhill and your heart rate is at threshold. um Because you're trying to, you know, it's all really slippery. So like all the grass and and and soil is frozen up there.
00:09:43
Speaker
um Very rocky and very slow, but people still like overtake you like you're standing still. And I was still like moving, I thought at a good good pace, but yeah, I just felt like the effort was just very high.
00:09:56
Speaker
Like I was like fighting against the downhill. um yeah Right in front of me, like probably in the first five minutes, a guy twisted his ankle.
00:10:07
Speaker
So, you know, that did not help seeing that yeah right in right at the beginning of the race. I was like, take it easy. You know, it's a long race. so yeah So yeah, got down that long downhill, which probably, yeah, about 8k of technical downhill running. And then my heart rate kind of settled in and I was able to move a bit better and start the second climb.
00:10:29
Speaker
um And that's the climb that I've done a few times. Didn't tampon it a few days before. And it's a pretty runnable uphill for the first time. And this is the second uphill is the one that they use for the uphill race?
00:10:45
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. So that was the uphill race. That a few days before. um And it's again, single trail in the forest, really, really nice, really runnable. And then the final 200 meters of gain is again, like a wall 40, 45% where everybody kind of hikes, except I guess Ramy who ran it, which is pretty insane.
00:11:05
Speaker
um But yeah, in our race, everybody will struggle hiking that. um And that felt fine. I actually did not feel that bad there. and um i moved quite well, overtook ah quite a lot of people on that climb.
00:11:19
Speaker
And then from there, we get to the top of the ski slope there. And then you go down um probably about 800 meters, 700 meters. And that's very, very steep. um So that's probably around 30 40%.
00:11:33
Speaker
of just like very, very steep, but not not technical. Maybe some of the grass was um a bit uneven, um but overall not that bad. And that's where I was like, all right, well, if I can just go through, get through this downhill, you know, I should be okay. I'll be halfway through the race.
00:11:51
Speaker
um So I kind of went again, not too fast on the downhill.
Race Reflections and Team Results
00:11:55
Speaker
and felt okay. um And then about to start the third climb. So pretty much the race has got four climbs, 1400 for the first climb, 1000 for the second one, um about 800 for the third one and 300 for the last one.
00:12:11
Speaker
And so I was about to start the third one and that's like the technical one. And that's where I lost a lot of time, just... just struggling to move up this climb where everything is rocky and technical and the single trails were like very very thin so you almost like have to cross over your feet to move forward there um yeah so me and b Blake were together at that point just struggling through that climb um got overtaken by quite a lot of people at that point probably most of the lead women so probably the top five four uh
00:12:44
Speaker
Yeah, probably five to to ten um in the women overtook us on that climb. um So, yeah, that was a bit of a struggle. Blake dropped a bit. I made it to the top um of the third climb and then started the descent, which is, again, another long technical descent, very rocky. um Yeah, ah at that point, I was already pretty...
00:13:07
Speaker
sore and started struggling to like, you know, move at any decent pace. So a couple of people drop out a couple more ankles, um you know, so i was like, just make it to the, to the end.
00:13:19
Speaker
um Obviously not having the greatest day, but yeah, made it down to that third climb, third descent. And then there is a very steep last 300 meters where you you can't run it.
00:13:30
Speaker
um Way too steep way too technical. So another like a long hike, just hiking up. And you know that after that you have 7k of like fairly runnable downhill all the way all the way till the end. um So at that point I was looking back, couldn't see Blake anymore. I think he start really struggled on that third climb.
00:13:51
Speaker
um Made it to the top. And yeah, started my making my way down knowing I got 7K. Started overtaking some people, which was a bit of a positive. Overtook Max King on that downhill um and a couple of other people.
00:14:04
Speaker
And then probably about 3K from the end, Blake just came flying past me. and and you know just funny moment because he's like yeah let's go let's do this and he went so quick i try to hold on and you know kind of stayed a little bit closer to him um but yeah he just had a second wind and and started running down super quick and then we got to like the last 2k which is like a really runnable um forest trail still switchbacks but very runnable so there i was able to
00:14:36
Speaker
actually pick up the pace a bit and knowing that we're that close the finish and seeing behind me like a couple of girls i was like I better pick up the pace here so yeah made it to the finish line five hours and 56 so about a minute behind Blake and finish 89th yeah which it's hard to say because like you know going into this race I knew that this wasn't a course that I would ever do well at this was a sky running race um You know, it's very different than the trails that I run or train on.
00:15:11
Speaker
um You know, Innsbruck two years ago, about the same distance, had about 800 meters less of elevation or 700 meters less of elevation. And that makes a massive, massive difference.
00:15:21
Speaker
um and Being 3,700 meters of elevation gain for 45K, just like zero flow, zero flat running. um Yeah, just a strength race pretty much.
00:15:33
Speaker
So the Skyrunners, um all did very, very well at that race. And, you know, a lot of the Americans didn't do as well as as probably people thought they would on the short trail. um Yeah. Long trail was a little bit more runnable um for elevation per distance kind of.
00:15:50
Speaker
um Yeah. an But yeah, that was that was really, really tough. and Yeah, almost felt like a bit too much for a trail running world champs. It felt like this should have been like a sky running world champs.
00:16:02
Speaker
yeah But yeah, overall, you know, just happy to make it till the end. Asia Pacific had twisted my ankle, so main goal was to make it to the end. um So yeah, me and Blake were pretty close to each other at the end. And then Billy, you know, obviously didn't have a great day, but still power through. and And yeah, we managed to get at least a team score, um which was a positive.
00:16:25
Speaker
But yeah, it was yeah definitely a reminder of how good the good technical runners are and um you know When you are living on those mountains and running on those technical trails, you know that's where you're good at.
00:16:39
Speaker
And this was you know the the technical runner's place to shine. Yeah, definitely. I was watching it. i was I was like, oh, I'm a bit disappointed that this is this is the one I might miss because maybe future world champs won't be as similar.
00:16:55
Speaker
um But then again, I'm still not on the level of these these ah the Europeans and the ones that do a lot of sky running. Maybe just and have that strong in Australia in that sense, but that doesn't mean strong on a world stage.
00:17:09
Speaker
um It did seem like that sort of like a totally different race. you' You're very, very right there. Like the people who were up the top, um there was some results even that were a bit surprising for me. um So yeah, it was really interesting to see, um but it was It's very cool to watch. I know it's probably hard to do, but like because it was so epic and the the landscapes were so impressive, um it was really good coverage, um particularly the short trail was the one I watched a lot of um and compared to the uphill, which I watched the previous day.
00:17:47
Speaker
the coverage was a lot better but it was um you could see how intense the the um the course was as well like it definitely showed it so um i'm sure a lot of people who were watching at home going wow that's pretty crazy so it was cool but yeah i think like You guys did did a good job to get around, get it done. Like sometimes these races is just about like getting to the finish line, um
Future World Champs and Team Strategies
00:18:10
Speaker
like you said, and and to get a team result despite not all of you having your best days is is is really a good start and something we can build off for future years, I think.
00:18:20
Speaker
Like it's good to have the team team result there. Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, I think like even looking at it, you know, 200 plus starters and about, you know, 30% DNF just meant that the course was super tough. And, you know, this is, it's hard to look at a normal UTMB race and say, well, they had,
00:18:38
Speaker
30 or 40% DNF. This is ah like all the people that did this race were really good runners and experienced runners um with very low DNF rates in general.
00:18:49
Speaker
um So yeah, it just showed that this course like, you know, was very, very tough, but also very easy to get things wrong. Like you over push one uphill, one downhill.
00:19:01
Speaker
and you're gone because you've got nowhere to like hide. like you know yeah you like Your legs are cooked. Next uphill, going to lose a lot of time. Your legs are cooked. The next downhill, you're going to lose a lot of time.
00:19:12
Speaker
um Nothing flat that you can kind of like shake things off and get some rhythm. um So, yeah it was yeah, it was really, really tough. And I doubt they will ever do anything similar to that. It felt like the Spaniards chose a course that would suit them and kind of did because they had...
00:19:29
Speaker
you know, a few runners in the top 10 and two in the top three. um So yeah, I guess they chose the right course for the short trail for themselves. um They probably weren't as successful in the other distances and and and um and categories, but they definitely did well in the men's short trail. And um yeah, I mean... Yeah, and women's, I think they were also second in the women's short trail. So I think short trail is definitely the probably the strongest.
00:19:57
Speaker
Yeah, so that was the one that had like, you know, technically the most elevation per distance um ratio. And yeah, I guess that shows that they made a good choice in that way.
00:20:08
Speaker
um But yeah, I don't think they will do a race that crazy in the future. i think that, you know, they kind of maybe saw that this was a bit too much. um Yeah. And I think and they were saying that in beginning, there was even supposed to be a bit harder and that made it even easier.
00:20:24
Speaker
Yeah, okay. You know, they took out about 200 meters of gain somehow. um But yeah, I mean, think that trail running just so competitive right now that runners are very, very specific and you have to be specific to try and be even semi, you know, competitive.
00:20:42
Speaker
And yeah, I mean, living in Australia, it's very tough to be competitive in races like this. can get Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and the other thing I took away was that you had to be as For the international runners, there had to be those ones that focus specifically on World Champs did better overall, I think, than the ones who also did something at UTMB or had other other goals earlier in the season or or not long ago.
00:21:10
Speaker
um The ones that seem to have this World Champs as a big focus seemed to come out on top. Obviously, Jim did well in both, but he also did something quite short for him UTMB.
00:21:22
Speaker
um But yeah, I thought that was quite interesting to see is like you usually see these European runners racing heaps. They run like, they race like 12, 15 times over the summer. um And they seem to just be out to go, go, go, go. Like they seem to be able to perform back to back to back.
00:21:38
Speaker
But yeah, this one we saw some of the people who had success at UTMB maybe not have the most success or have quite as much success at World Champs. Whereas some people who we maybe haven't seen as much in the past few months did did do quite well so yeah it was just interesting to see that and that's probably a was also good to see it very well attended by the best runners it was incredibly the short trail was incredibly deep in the women and the men the long trail was definitely in the at least in the top 30 40 it was very still very deep even though it was a long trail and that's sometimes where it starts to peter off a bit um and you had the big names there as well so yeah it was
00:22:22
Speaker
It was pretty cool to see. Like, was that something you noticed from you've been to previous World Champs? Did it feel like it took a step up this year? Because from outside, it sort of did look like it took a step up.
00:22:32
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. um Definitely felt like there was, the level was a lot higher. um You know, I keep finishing lower and lower in the rankings. So they're getting better.
00:22:44
Speaker
um But yeah, it's it's definitely, I mean, it was... you know Spain is an easy place for a lot of countries to get to. yeah few people obviously race UTMB and a few races around it.
00:22:56
Speaker
But you know countries like Spain, Italy, um you know Germany, all the main countries do put a lot of focus into this. you know yeah We came with a fairly big team, um but it was very different the way that the big teams operate.
00:23:13
Speaker
um Massive support crews, a lot of people around them. and a lot of focus in in in doing well in those champs. and And yeah, it kind of shows that the people that were there a few months ago doing you know the course, reccees did well.
00:23:31
Speaker
And countries from Asia and Australia and New Zealand didn't do as great. um But yeah, i think you know I think there'll be more, even Even having Jim and Katie there just brought a bit more attention um to the event. And i think that you know next one in two years' time is in Cape Town, which might mean that you know less countries are going to make that trip um to South Africa.
00:24:01
Speaker
But overall, like I think that this might become bigger than UTMB in a couple of years um just because, i don't know, that team aspect is...
00:24:13
Speaker
is maybe something that trail runners are kind of looking a bit more for and yeah the whole vibe of the event is a lot nicer than any UTMB or any other event. You know, being a four or five day event,
00:24:25
Speaker
with an opening, a closing ceremony with, you know, your teammates kind of running, everybody's in the same uniform. um i don't know. And you get a chance to do your race and then also like it looked like ah even before that race, but definitely after that race, everyone was out cheering their teammates in in their races, which is such a special part as well, I think.
00:24:45
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, the experience was incredible. Like I think obviously I didn't have the greatest the greatest race, but still I had like a really fun week there and um not just with our team, but just like being a part of, you know, trail running and in this kind of team atmosphere where, yeah, there's obviously a lot of competition, but then like you said, once you finish your race, you're not just supporting your own team, you're supporting everybody and um just great to see.
00:25:10
Speaker
Yeah, so many countries out there. I think that, yeah. with every year, there's probably an extra five or six countries that join it. So, um yeah, it's definitely getting bigger. And yeah, it'll be interesting to see how many people, how many countries kind of make that or how many athletes make the trip down to South Africa in two years time. But I definitely see this as being pretty big in the next few years. And um I think that, I don't know, some people are saying things about prize money and so on.
00:25:38
Speaker
um But I think overall, you know, if if the sponsors can put a bit of, you know, attention to this, um so a lot of the sponsors would, you know, would have bonuses for UTMB races or other races.
00:25:53
Speaker
If World Championship becomes as a place where athletes can get bonuses, um you know, I think that everybody will be here So, like, you'll become, you know, the event to do. And I think for the French and Spanish and Italians, all their top athletes were here.
00:26:10
Speaker
um yeah yeah Even for the Americans. Yeah, the Americans had a strong team. Yeah, so obviously there's a couple of really good other trail runners that weren't here, but overall, like some of the best runners were here. So I think... Yeah, I think if you take away...
00:26:26
Speaker
those who ran UTMB and maybe some who ran CCC, like some of the best names in the world that did those two races. A lot of the other ones were work here. um And because obviously if you'd run UTMB, that's a pretty hard backup.
00:26:39
Speaker
um You had a lot of people doing OCC, the 50K, and then backing up with that race there. But doing UTMB and then backing up is probably a bit difficult. So I think the timing of the next one is a bit later in the year as well, isn't it? Is that right?
00:26:52
Speaker
I think one or two weeks later. um Yeah, okay. Yeah. I mean, I don't know if I was, if I was kind of them, I wouldn't be too scared about putting it right next to UTMB and like literally giving everybody a choice. Um, because, um, I mean, it should be the main event, right? Like,
00:27:13
Speaker
you know yes I don't know if it's just where I come from in terms of like where I sit in the sport in terms of being an athlete or being a sub-elite, aiming towards going to World Champs and that sort of stuff, but I found World Champs a lot more interesting and engaging and I was a lot more excited about it than I was UTMB, but...
00:27:32
Speaker
I don't know. I wonder what it's like for the the everyday listener. Maybe people can write in and let us know, like, were they more interested to watch? And we could put a poll up. where Were you more interested to watch UTMB or were you more interested to watch
Media Coverage and Global Participation
00:27:45
Speaker
ah the World Champs and maybe just like the elite races? Because obviously, UTMB, you can follow your friends and family that are racing as well. But yeah, I don't know. From my perspective, I found World Champs more exciting to follow.
00:27:58
Speaker
um i don't know if that's because I was going to be there potentially and then I wasn't there, but I still, yeah, that's that's just how I had it this year. Yeah, I mean, I feel like um the World Champs is getting quite a lot of attention in Europe and a lot of crossover between, you know, platforms that do cover track and road or covering a little bit of of the world champs in trail running, especially like in yeah Italy, Spain, and in France.
00:28:25
Speaker
And in Australia, probably would have felt not as well covered. um But yeah, I mean, in Europe, I think I would like to say that it got a bit more attention than UTMB as a whole event.
00:28:41
Speaker
I think UTMB itself gets a fair amount of attention, but maybe the other race is a bit less. We're here, the whole event, um seemed like it was getting quite a lot of attention in the French and the Spanish and the Italian media.
00:28:56
Speaker
yeah And and i also saw Germany. Germany did really well in this event. So i think that that's going to just keep them you know pushing forward um to take it the next level and become more professional to try and compete with those countries.
00:29:09
Speaker
Yeah. but And it's something about being a world champs. I think... um Fraser talked a little bit about it in terms of getting some support for him to travel across there. was like people got around it because people still see that that value to representing your country and and being a part of a world champ. So think there's something special about the world championship of any sport um that I think it hopefully this Spain edition seems to put it on a positive trajectory to keep improving and and be the the big event of the year or be the big event every two years.
00:29:42
Speaker
Yeah, no, absolutely. And I think, yeah, I mean, I think, you know, if you look at it, maybe, you know, having another event in Europe and in two years time would have been better. um But then again, like, you know, I think the world champs are getting bigger and people are still going to make their way down to Cape Town. And hopefully, you know, the big stars will be there to help kind of keep growing.
00:30:06
Speaker
the world champs um because i think it definitely deserves the the spotlight um one last reflection just while we're talking about the next edition um um from my part is that hopefully from i but we've said this before and i've talked about it but um Hopefully next time when we're going in, we will look to try and pick bigger teams even. Like you said, we did have a big team, but we definitely didn't fill out our team and we still were contributing a lot as athletes. um So, yeah, from my point of view, it'd be great if we can send even full teams. Like you look at the big countries like the Spain and the Italys and that sort of thing. They've got fantastic depth.
00:30:46
Speaker
um they've got uh i think spain in the short trail or one of the countries france maybe in one of the races they had like all six of them in the top 20 which is amazing and i'm not saying that's something that we can achieve but we probably have six people around like we are although we're at a lower level than that we are all around a similar ballpark so we probably could have had six runners between you and billy um in that race or between Blake and Billy. There could have been maybe six results in in that and that spread.
00:31:21
Speaker
um So, yeah, I think that's one thing. Because he and the other thing that happens is is Billy gets stung by a wasp. Well, so something happens to someone and you don't have anyone to fall back on in this team result. And how important the team result is, I think, to the,
00:31:36
Speaker
the people who are running, it it is very important. um And you could tell from even the other countries, they were more excited about getting team medals than they were about getting individual medals. Or that was their goal. They're like, I want to get a medal. But when they were saying that, they were saying, I want a team medal. Like that's what they that's what they were there to get, not not an individual medal.
00:31:56
Speaker
Yeah, i think I think I should mention that we finished eleventh as a country. um So yeah, that's pretty cool considering, you know, beating a lot of, you know, hopefully better countries are supposed to be better than us on paper. ah And they did better than us, but because we had a fairly big team,
00:32:13
Speaker
um we were able to score in all the categories and finish 11th, which is amazing. again um that Other countries like, let's say, Sweden had very good results individually, but didn't have a big team, which means that we finished ahead of Sweden, who won the women's short trail and had a guy in the top um seven in the men's short trail and um top ten in the men's long trail.
00:32:38
Speaker
um So they had a lot of good individual results, but as a team, we did better. um And i I truly believe that, you know, we as as ah as as Australian trail running, we're still very young country in the sense of things. And we need to send massive teams. We got to, you know, get the sport bigger and, know,
00:32:56
Speaker
you know The only way to do that is by you know sharing and telling the story of the event and of the athletes. And the more we do it, the bigger the sport is going to get. It's a bit harder when Spain sends a full team of 50 or 60 athletes and they pay for their flights and accommodation and travel and and gear while we have to pay for everything ourselves.
00:33:22
Speaker
So that definitely... I'm sure that puts some people off um from applying knowing that they will have to spend five or $6,000 on this event. um But yeah, hopefully we can slowly make it easier on the athletes to to kind of come to those events if it's, you know, supporting bits of the trip or bits of the travel or some some other support. Because yeah, you kind of just have to question like, do i spend five or $6,000 and come 50th at the world champs?
00:33:55
Speaker
Or do I spend $5,000 or $6,000 and do a UTMB race where I can finish in the top three and maybe get a sponsorship or maybe get some support from a brand that will help me in the future?
00:34:05
Speaker
So I think that that makes it a bit tough for... you know kind of like the semi-elites i guess we can like you know i don't see myself as an elite runner i see myself like you said um that kind of you know i want to do more racing but also like you know racing is expensive so a bit of you know travel support here and there does go a long way so um yeah it's a tough one i wish we had a bit more support but we're not there yet so i think till then We just got grow the sport, you know, as big as possible and, and, you know, hopefully get some support, but it's not going to happen by sending small teams and we could have easily filled, you know, the whole team.
00:34:47
Speaker
Um, so we had, yeah, we had full teams in most things, so but there was, so we had, for example, 26 athletes, we could have easily sent 50 athletes. Um, And, you know, obviously living in Australia, you know, there's a few athletes that could afford it. So, yeah, hopefully next year they're, you know, are happy to send bigger teams.
00:35:09
Speaker
Yeah, and South Africa may be a bit easier to get to, a bit cheaper. I don't actually know how much it costs, but it's a bit closer at least. Or to Perth anyway. Yeah, definitely to Perth.
00:35:20
Speaker
um Yeah, maybe you're right. Maybe it's a bit cheaper. um Yeah, I don't know. From athletes that I spoke to, Everybody were like a bit concerned about safety. yeah i don't know if that's going to put some people off.
00:35:32
Speaker
um But yeah, I guess we'll see what happens. You know, two years is a long way, but also very, very short because they'll have to start thinking about qualifying races and and timelines very, very soon. So um yeah.
Event Highlights and Standout Performances
00:35:45
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. All right, well, we've talked a lot. I hope everyone enjoyed our discussion, but maybe we did say it was going to be quick. So let's ah let's get through some results because it's going to take us a little bit.
00:35:56
Speaker
um So the uphill was the first race on the Thursday. um And I can't remember the exact. I think it was about 6K with 900 metres climb. Is that roughly right? Something like that?
00:36:12
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Yep. um And in the men, ah Remy Bonnet, who has been injured earlier in the season, I think he pulled out of Broken Arrow. I think that was maybe one of the first things he pulled out of, so a few months ago.
00:36:27
Speaker
um This was his first race back, and he ran really strongly and demolished. Actually, he won by a minute 14 and ran 37.50. So...
00:36:38
Speaker
It was a very impressive run by Remy. He was sort of out the front the whole time. um He was followed by Richard Amaya Atuya from Kenya and Patrick Kipangino from Kenya as well.
00:36:51
Speaker
um So that was the top three. um It looked like it sort of sort of stayed like that the whole way. I was watching the the stream. So Remy was in the lead and the two Kenyans following behind. um And then Christian Allen from the US was fourth and Jacob Adkin from the UK was fifth. So those two weren't too far behind the Kenyans, but they were and they were the next place ones.
00:37:15
Speaker
um The Australians in this race, Michael Kernaghan was the first Australian. He was fifty four ah And he was, sorry, I'm seeing Toby Batchelor is the flag popping out of me, but he's from New Zealand. He was in 57th.
00:37:32
Speaker
Nathan Pearce was 63rd. and Fraser Darcy was 78th. And Ian Best was 98th. So that was our Aussie results in that race.
00:37:45
Speaker
um I'm not sure where the the boys came in the team competition overall. i don't know how I can see that, but maybe we'll try and give them next time. ah In the women, the winner was Nina Engelhard from Germany, ah second in she did 45-33.
00:38:03
Speaker
Second place was Susanna Sepunki. Probably said that wrong. Sorry. Susanna from Finland. And ah third place was Anna Gibson from the US. um So they were pretty close, 26 seconds and 34 seconds back. And then a little bit of a gap to fourth and fifth, who was Martha Chemutai from Uganda and Francesca Gelfi from Italy.
00:38:26
Speaker
So, yeah, a bit of a spread on the countries and the women, the men, the Kenyans are strong, but that Remy was too strong. um Did you watch any of it? Were you out on course on that one or watching from home, Vlad?
00:38:38
Speaker
No, that was one day before our race. So I didn't go on the course because, I mean, I think one thing that probably didn't mention is that um the race all started from Cane Frank, but then the team hotels were actually pretty far away because it's a pretty small town. Yeah.
00:38:56
Speaker
yeah That was probably one negative about the event is that you definitely needed a car and it took a while to get to places. So for example, where the Tim Hotel was and the start of the of the uphill, that was probably like a 40-minute drive, like 35 minutes.
00:39:13
Speaker
um So not easy, obviously, if you go to go there and back and then race the next day and you have to get the cable car up and down. um So that that would that's a long day. um But what I did see is that bottleneck right at the start. Yeah, at the start.
00:39:29
Speaker
Yeah, so I think they had like a bit of of a road leading up to a very thin single trail where it was a bit of, yeah, a lot of runners slowed down a bit there.
00:39:41
Speaker
So yeah, that was a bit weird that that was the course. I mean, the course was... very much 100% single or like 80% single trail. So it's again, very, very hard to overtake anybody.
00:39:52
Speaker
You kind of almost have to go off course, like off of the single trail on the on the grass or rocks on the side to be able to take and overtake anybody. um So not the greatest, I guess, course for an uphill race.
00:40:05
Speaker
But then again, VKs are never that wide. The good thing about at end, did open up to just no trail and just go straight up the mountain. um But yeah, I was surprised that that was the VK course. i ah I thought maybe they would have done like, you know, a bit of a wider kind of start. So when you do get to the trail, it's a bit more spread out. But yeah, there was a lot of pushing and shoving at the start of that trail entry four for both male and female.
00:40:34
Speaker
Yeah, and where the classic was, where we'll come back to that. Looked like maybe the trail was a little bit wider, like more of like a halfway between a fire road and a single track, like a wider track. Yeah, exactly. So that was perfect because that was... um You could overtake in one minute. You could overtake both sides. There was probably enough for like five runners to to run side by side.
00:40:55
Speaker
um And great for spectating as well because, um yeah, it was wide and you can see people overtaking and moving in positions. So that was perfect actually. Yeah. Actually, the classic course looked really, really runnable and it was perfect for spectating as well.
00:41:09
Speaker
Yeah, cool. I've ah overlooked the Australian women there and actually our best result of the day. So um in 42nd place was Lara Hamilton, a really impressive run. um So she was 42nd.
00:41:22
Speaker
And then 56th place was Jess Ronan. So just outside the top 50 and another strong run for Jess. She's done well at these previous previous editions of World Champs as well.
00:41:33
Speaker
And then Emily Bartlett was in 88th. So strong showing across the women as well. um And that was the the uphill. So it takes us to the short trail.
00:41:46
Speaker
And in the short trail, like this is probably the one I was most interested in watching. I don't know if because of that, it it just seemed like the most crazy race or the most interesting, lots of things happening.
00:41:57
Speaker
um But also for me, probably the performance of the the whole championship um and maybe I think people are saying one of the, well, by points it is the best, ah by ITRA points it's the best female performance of all time. Tove Alexanderson winning the short trail in five hours and two minutes, half an hour ahead of the next season uh females who were Sarah Alonso in second from Spain and Naomi Lang from Great Britain um and also like what was she I some I think it was 17th I looked at so I was spending the day like watching Tove tracking
00:42:39
Speaker
because it didn't show the men's and female results together and then like flicking across to the men's and being like oh where is she now in the men's field and she's just slowly getting closer and closer to the top um and if you look at the the people that she beat in the men's field and and the depth of that men's field yeah it was just a really crazy impressive run so um yeah that one was probably for me the highlight of the the champs or probably the best the best race um And then, yeah, so that was the top three women. And then our women, the Australian women, ah first across the line was Sarah Jane Miller in 69th.
00:43:19
Speaker
Really strong run there. um Patricia McKibben, Trish was in 76th. And Jess Jason in 79th.
00:43:30
Speaker
So very close, all those three in in positions. um So, and and in a strong position, there was 162. So all of them snuck into the top half of the field, which I think is is a really impressive result. And um we'll hear a little bit more maybe about Jess's race. I know Trish wasn't incredibly happy with her race. It looks like sarah Sarah's had, ah SJ's had a great race.
00:43:57
Speaker
um So there's a bit of some some ups and downs maybe. But yeah, getting to the finish line is the main thing and and to have, all three in the top half I think was yeah it was really impressive.
00:44:08
Speaker
um In the men we had this was a big surprise to me I was watching this one all day um tracking along um and first place most of the day I think um was Frederic Tunchard and he finished in first as well so um a really strong run from Fredo I know him from orienteering he lived He was traveling and living in Australia for a bit and trained with him a bit. So it was very cool to see him come out on top. He was about three minutes ahead of Manuel Murillas in second and Andre Blanes was third, also those two from Spain.
00:44:48
Speaker
So Spain had second, third, and they also had fourth, who was Elaine Santamaria from Spain. So very strong team performance there. And then in the...
00:45:00
Speaker
Australian results we've already sort of touched on briefly. I think we already gave the position. So Blake was in 85th, Vlad in eighty nine and Billy was in So not not the greatest day for Billy, but he did get it done, get it finished after we heard what happened at the start. So well done to Billy there.
00:45:25
Speaker
um Any takeaways from that race, Vlad? Yeah, I mean, I think with the gaps, it really shows how technical that race it was. um i mean, if you if this was a more runnable course, we would i don't think would have seen such massive gaps between the lead woman and second place and and, you know, everybody in between.
00:45:43
Speaker
um But it just shows that if you do have the skill, you know if you have the technical ability you know you can really make a lot of time on technical down especially and if you are able to kind of switch between going fast downhill for a long time um and then climb up for a long time again um you can really make a lot of time so i think that's why we saw like really really big gaps not just between the top women um but everybody in between and yeah
00:46:14
Speaker
yeah in summary it was a very technical course yeah and in general well at least on the um on the men's side but also on maybe the women's side had a bit more variation in the in the top 20 but in the men's side it was it was very alp dominant even like it was italy spain uh france switzerland like lots of countries that spend a lot of time running up and down steep mountains and transitioning between those two. So um yeah, it definitely felt like the flavor of the race meant that those people who had spent a lot of time training and spending their life in those areas had ah had a strong ah bit of a benefit over the others.
00:46:55
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. And you know like I said, like you know you put them maybe on a flat course and and the Americans might be winning. um But yeah, in this kind of type of terrain.
00:47:06
Speaker
You know, it's your your fitness, like, is important but not as important as your technical abilities um and strength. I just think, like, it was just the strength, the ability to to run fast downhill and technical and then back it up again and again and again.
00:47:24
Speaker
think that that's just something that you get. You don't get this in the gym, I don't think. You kind of get this from just years of running on similar trails and terrain. Definitely.
00:47:34
Speaker
Which makes it hard if live in Australia. Yeah, definitely, definitely. yeah Yeah, okay. Well, a race that the Americans did run well at was the long trail the next day.
00:47:45
Speaker
um So in the men's, um Jim Wamsley had a very strong run, um ran away with it in the end, 10-minute lead to come in first.
00:47:58
Speaker
He ran the 80K course, I think it was, roughly eighty um in 8.3511, so really strong, ah very strong speed given it had over five, I think it had 5,200. So it was less steep, I guess, than the short trial, but still had an incredible amount of vert. So that was a really strong run.
00:48:22
Speaker
um He was ahead of two French men, Benjamin Roubeau from France and Louis, or Lusson Coffet, They were equal second, um I think it looks like here. But I didn't see that finish. It looks like maybe they crossed the line together.
00:48:38
Speaker
Yeah, they were holding hands right at the finish line Yeah, nice, nice. And then in fourth place was Christian Monogio from Italy, who was just behind Jim at OCC, and Peter Frano from Slovakia, which was very cool to see him in fifth, um who won CCC last year. So, yeah, very strong top five, and it was it was strong back behind that as well. as that I could keep going all the way back to 15, 20, and there's lots of big names there. So that was the...
00:49:09
Speaker
the men's trail top positions in the Australians. Ben Burgess slowly moved up through the field all day and he managed to get himself inside the top 50 which is a very strong performance.
00:49:24
Speaker
um I think our best placing for the long trail um so a great run from Ben. um And then we had two runners crossing the line together as well, Andrew Gasco and Matthew Crain, who were sort of together most of the day. um I don't think they they spread apart very much.
00:49:40
Speaker
um And then they finished together. So that was ah was cool to see. um And then we also had Thomas Dade in 110th getting it done there at the finish. So well done to our men.
00:49:54
Speaker
And then in the long trail for the women, another US runner, Katie Scheid, who also had a fantastic performance. I think if Tove hadn't um done what she'd done the day before, this would have been the maybe the storyline of the world champs. um Still an incredible run from Katie and I don't know exactly where that put her.
00:50:16
Speaker
in the men's field but she was she was up up there definitely um with high up in the men's in men's race as well um she finished in 9 hours 57. uh second place was samaya buddha from nepal which was a very cool result to see she's had some great results in in other races but i think maybe this is maybe the biggest result for her. I think it's very impressive and I'm not sure what other results would be bigger than this for her. So really great run from her. And third place was Fabiola Conti.
00:50:52
Speaker
um Given I went to fifth in the men, Jasmine Lother from Canada was fourth and Rosa Maria Lara was fifth from Spain. So that was the top five in the women. Again, super deep all the way back.
00:51:10
Speaker
20, 30, very strong runners. um Our first female runner was Nicole Patton. Again, moving up through the field, I think, particularly in the last bit to come 55th.
00:51:23
Speaker
Cecilia Mattis, who was a bit higher up earlier in the day. And then I think maybe she struggled a little bit in the in the back, in the very last parts of the course. um She was in 57th, so not far behind Nicole.
00:51:37
Speaker
um just sort of shows, i just sort of as I'm scrolling down, seeing results, how tough this race and how some people, it it got to them by the end. Esther Schillag was from Hungary, who who was at Buffalo Stampede early in the year, big world superstar. She was in 58th, just behind Cecilia. So, um yeah, sort of showed how this race was was tough and you had to have your day to get a very good result.
00:52:03
Speaker
And Kelly Angel was our last runner there. Yeah, I think we just... Oh, sorry. Yes, Kelly was 81st. And unfortunately, Hannah McRae, who was sort of chugging along all day, doing a really good job,
00:52:18
Speaker
um She unfortunately timed out, um which we might talk about little bit like more in detail at future races. But, yeah, it was a bit unfortunate that that's how it was. It was a very tough course and the cutoffs were really tough. I think there's a bunch of people here that got cut off. There was only 88 out of 124 finishes.
00:52:39
Speaker
um So, yeah, unfortunately Hannah didn't didn't get to finish, which is a shame. um' But, yeah, very strong runs across the board. ah For our Australian runners, I think long trail, maybe that was one of our better performances across the board in long trail than we've had in previous years. So it was good to see some really strong runners and some strong performances.
00:53:01
Speaker
um Any takeaways there, Vlad? Um, yeah, no, really, that was, that was fun.
Youth and Classic Races Overview
00:53:06
Speaker
So that's the one that I got to, um, see a little bit and, and yeah, it was definitely, definitely looked like they were struggling across the line. Some people were very, very slow at the end.
00:53:16
Speaker
Um, which again, yeah, just spending a full day on those technical trails was not easy. And, but yeah, I think that, um, probably suited us a tiny bit more, having a tiny bit less elevation and some better results from the Australians. Yeah. Fantastic.
00:53:32
Speaker
um And then that took us to, sorry, missed one here. so So it's the next day anyway, but I was about to skip over the under 20 race, which was, so we had the mountain classic races on the last day um and there was an under 20 competition on ah So in the men, Uganda took the clean sweep.
00:53:54
Speaker
So they have one, two, three. Titus Musau, Enos Chibet, and Abraham Cheretic were the top three. um Closely followed, not far behind, by two Swiss ah guys. And I think one of them is ah an orienteering name I recognize, which is not too much of a surprise. The Swiss orienteers are very good at mountain running.
00:54:16
Speaker
Yeah. men Alec Franke, I don't know how to say Alec's last name, sorry Alec, he was twenty ninth and he was actually up in 10th after the first loop or around 10th so he had a very strong first lap, lost a little bit of ground in the second lap but he did still finish in a very respectable 29th position.
00:54:42
Speaker
um in the The other runners we had, Robert Shannon was 73rd and Targ Nolan was 78th. So some great runs there um and good to see them out there getting some experience.
00:54:57
Speaker
um I'm sure they loved being a part of it, watching the other Australians race and then getting out there and doing their own race as well. So um good to see them there. In the women, ah Julia Earle was first from Germany, followed by two Ugandan runners, Nancy Chep Wuru, may i've got that wrong, sorry Nancy, and third Felista Chekwemoy was third so that was ah the top three in the women's race and I believe we had just one runner in this race and that was Ruby Smith and she was 57th so um a great run from Ruby there and some
00:55:42
Speaker
Very great experience, I'm sure. um Then on to the mountain distances, which happened directly after that. They, I think, were just two laps of the same course and that the juniors did in the morning.
00:55:56
Speaker
um And in the men, again, very strong showing from the African runners, which were six of the top seven from Kenya and Uganda. ah Philemon Kiriago was back. I think he didn't have the greatest run in the uphill, but he came back and won the up and down, so the classic distance.
00:56:18
Speaker
Second place was Martin Kipritic from Uganda, and third place was Paul Machoka from Kenya. So it looks like the Kenyans had... different runners running this and the Ugandans were more in this race. I don't know, didn't really see as many of the Ugandans in the in the men's results at the at the top of the uphill race, but they seem to be quite strong and in the classic distance.
00:56:43
Speaker
um So it was good to see some strong runs there. ah The only runner to split up the African runners there was Dominic Rowley from Switzerland who was in fourth place.
00:56:55
Speaker
So a good run from him there but some very strong runs from um the African runners across the board. um In the Australians, we had Nathan Pearce in 46. So he had a really good run, cracked the top 50, which I think is ah really impressive in this sort of race. It's very, very deep and very strong runners from across the world. Michael Kernaghan not far behind in forty nine um So bettered his position from the uphill as well.
00:57:27
Speaker
And Fraser Darcy in 62nd. So that was the men and the women. The winner again. And I think this is Nina won the uphill. Is that right?
00:57:41
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So she's gone back to back, which is super strong. You're saying Germany having some good runs. across the board but Nina probably headlining that um she was first place ah in the classic distance ahead of Ruth Gitonga from Kenya and Orya Laishi from Switzerland um so they were the top three Women in the classic distance.
00:58:08
Speaker
And Nina won by a minute 54. So super strong run there. um Looking like she's in great shape at the moment. um Getting the win in both of those.
00:58:19
Speaker
In our women, we had Jess Ronan across the line in 58th, which I believe maybe was the exact same position she was in the uphill 56 in the uphill so very consistent from Jess very impressive to be similar across both races um Emily Bartlett in 85th and unfortunately Laura Hamilton had a DNF she having some ah issues with her ah she has a long-standing some issues with
00:58:53
Speaker
ah chronic health conditions so yeah you can read about her experience there but yeah our hearts go out to Lara who has been having a great season she's she battles through she puts all her effort in and she stood on the start line tried to get it done but unfortunately um it wasn't to be so she had to to pull out but yeah that sums up the results anything from the classic distances to comment on before we finish up No, just said the course was kind of perfect for spectating.
00:59:23
Speaker
um You get to yeah see them quite a lot, few spots there where you can yeah really see them about eight times come through, um which was pretty cool. And yeah, it's the day I guess that everybody gets on the course and it's just like a line of people that all the athletes like run through. um Yeah, which was actually really, really fun. And yeah, get good to see like you know the Australians doing well again. Like you said, it's so competitive and so fast.
00:59:49
Speaker
um that, yeah, most of them made it to the top 50%, which was pretty cool. Yeah, fantastic. um and looked It looked
Conclusion and Future Plans
00:59:57
Speaker
really cool. Lots of videos and photos of of the the course being lined by spectators, so it's always really interesting. um It adds some sort of vibe to the event to have that many people around and watching and cheering. So, yeah, it looked looked like a good way to finish off the champs.
01:00:13
Speaker
Yeah, and I mean, especially this event wasn't in a big city, so it's not like that easily accessible. So you know that all the people that were there um had some part of being part of the event, had to do something in the event and just shows like how many people were actually there. So yeah, was really, really cool and nice way to finish the the whole event.
01:00:33
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. All right. Well, unfortunately, everyone, that's all we have time for. and Vlad have both got to run. We've got deadlines to meet. So ah There was a couple of results from this week in Australia. we We'll try and touch them next week um and we'll be out normal programming with covering all the all the local stuff. But this was a bit of a special episode to to sort of dive deep into World Champs. So thanks, Vlad, for jumping on and and letting us know about your experience and your insights from being there. It was great to hear and um I really enjoyed chatting to you today and safe travels home.
01:01:06
Speaker
Thank you. No worries. Catch you later. See you, everyone. See