An ultimate guide to mountain running

Mountain running is a sports discipline in which sportsmen have to cover various distances in the mountains. This type of running is one of the hardest disciplines as it requires a lot of physical work as well as skills in orienteering. Here are the basics of this sport.

Classification of tracks

The championships might differ from each other. The length of distances varies a lot, as well as the height of ascending. In accordance with the first aspect, the distances might be:

• Long ones are longer than 19.3 kilometers.
• Medium ones are longer than 9.6 kilometers.
• Short ones are not longer than 9.6 kilometers.

Sometimes running is mixed with orienteering. In this case, there is a separate starting point for the sportsmen who are going to compete this distance. Usually, such distances are covered by teams consisting of two or three participants.

According to another aspect (the height of ascending), the tracks may be:

• Category ‘A’: the height of ascent must be more than 76 meters. The length of the highways, if there are any, must not exceed 20 % of the overall length of the track.
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• Category ‘B’: the ascent must be 38 meters or more per mile, and the possible length of highways is not more than 30 % of the track.
• Category ‘C’: the ascent must be 30.4 meters per mile, and only 40 % of the track may be the highways.
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Apart from the mountain running disciplines mentioned above, there is also a category that is called ‘MM’, which refers to ‘mountain marathon’. It does not differ from an ordinary marathon too much, although there are some things that are not similar. The first one is the track itself: whereas mountain marathons are held in mountains and hills, ordinary marathons take place in highways.

The championships vary year in, year out. It means that if last year sportsmen ran up-hill, they will have to run both up-hill and down-hill next year.

Training

Since mountain running is a discipline that takes place in natural environment, it is very important to combine different kinds of training. Moreover, it is important to be able to think fast in order to put one’s feet on the appropriate parts of the landscape and prevent oneself from being injured.

Strength training is by far one of the most important aspects of preparation for mountain running competitions. Building strong muscles is an inevitable part of training, especially when it comes to working on one’s legs. Hamstrings and calves are the parts of one’s legs that work harder than any other muscles.

As for cardio training, it is important to find some kind of hills or mountains to train there. Highway running will neither do any harm nor good as it will not prepare you for uphill running. Another thing that is worth being mentioned is that it is crucial to opt for the tracks with the degree of ascend exceeding 20 %, otherwise training will be a waste of time.

In addition, although all sportsmen get maps of the track, it is still crucial to be good at orienteering, noticing changes in weather conditions and administering first aid.

As for supplementary training, it is said that mountain skiing and riding a bicycle are great ways to prepare one’s body for mountain running.

Running technique

Mountain running has some peculiarities concerned with its technique. Not only does it require a lot of training, but also it is necessary to combine cardio with muscle-building exercises. Running up-hill involves working with the help of leg muscles mostly, whereas descending the hills means making long strides and moving more loosely. Another peculiarity is concerned with the necessity of mixing running by inertia with powerful running up-hill.

Mountain running involves tense work made by all muscles. Running downhill is not as hard as covering ascending distances for some reasons. The technique of running uphill is peculiar because it is necessary to pay attention to the position of one’s body. Naturally, a sportsman experiences a desire to bend one’s back. Yet, this is not right and the most important thing to consider when running uphill is making sure that the body is straight. This ability comes with training.

Mountain running and other disciplines

Mountain running is not the only discipline that involves covering various distances in natural environments. Yet, although it might seem similar to some kinds of sports, there are also some differences.

For example, when it comes to contrasting mountain running and cross country race, it is obvious that the second discipline is more high-speed. At the same time, the distances in cross-country racing are not so long, and the ascends are not so steep. In addition, in mountain running there are no marking on flat sections of the track.

Another discipline that involves running in forests and mountains is orienteering. However, the difference in this case is huge. The purpose of sportsmen competing in orienteering is to find the quickest way to get to the finish, whereas in mountain running competitors have maps to follow.

Finally, there is skyrunning, which is pretty similar to mountain running. The differences are that in skyrunning the tracks are located in mountains which height is not less than 2000 meters, and the minimal degree of ascend is only 6 %. Yet, there must be some steep ascends.

Origins of mountain running

Mountain running as a sport originated from competitions held in Scotland several centuries ago. Back in the 11th century, the king established a championship for shepherds. These tournaments were public, which is why they soon became an inevitable part of funfairs and other feasts. As for professional competitions, it was barely possible to take part in them for amateurs until the end of the 20th century. Back in 1992, the championships became available for everyone. Ten years later, this sport officially became a discipline of athletics.

Nowadays, the competitions are held by the World Mountain Running Association. Although this organization is the governing body of mountain running, it is still considered to be a part of the IAAF. The World Mountain Running Championships and the World Long Distance Mountain Running Championships are the most desirable competitions to win for every mountain runner.

That is it! As you can see, mountain running is more a competitive sport than a recreational activity because it requires too much preparation. Even experienced sportsmen sometimes fail at covering such distances, but practice makes perfect!