In two years, Cape City, South Africa will host the 2027 World Mountain and Path Operating Championships (WMTRC) with races happening between October 6 and 10 on the rugged trails of Desk Mountain and Lion’s Head overlooking Cape City and the Atlantic Ocean.
That is the fourth working of the mixed WMTRC, which is held each different yr, and the primary time Africa has hosted the distinguished races that entice athletes from everywhere in the world. This yr, Canfranc, Spain will host the set of world championships between September 25 and 28, and prior occasions have been held in Innsbruck-Stubai, Austria in 2023, and Chiang Mai, Thailand in 2022.
The five-event weekend — together with the elite Uphill, Up and Down, Lengthy Path, and Brief Path races, along with an Below-20 occasion — is hosted in partnership with the Worldwide Affiliation of Ultrarunners (IAU), the Worldwide Path Operating Affiliation (ITRA), the World Mountain Operating Affiliation (WMRA), and World Athletics and can convey 1,200 athletes from 80 nations to town. Non-elite occasions are additionally anticipated to attract one other 2,000 members.
Cape City mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis mentioned, “We’re so excited for the mountain and path working world to descend on Cape City in 2027 for the very first African staging of the World Mountain and Path Operating Championships. There may be absolutely no higher backdrop to this prestigious occasion than our very personal Marvel of the Pure World, the long-lasting Desk Mountain.”
Cape City will host the 2027 World Mountain and Path Operating Championships. Picture courtesy of WMRA.
Historical past of the World Championships
Began in 1985, the World Mountain Operating Championships (WMRC) have been held of their authentic format for the ultimate time in 2019 in Villa la Angostura, Argentina, earlier than combining with the Path World Championships (TWC), which had been working since 2007. The TWC hosted what’s now generally generally known as the Brief and Lengthy occasions, whereas the WMRC was the house to the shorter Uphill and Up and Down occasions.
Now held each different yr, Chiang Mai, Thailand hosted the primary mixed occasion in 2022, a yr delayed because of the pandemic.
Cape City’s Historical past of Path Operating
Cape City isn’t any stranger to internet hosting main racing occasions in its yard. Along with the Cape City Marathon and the Two Oceans Marathon (which is maybe the quickest yearly held ultramarathon on the planet), town can also be residence to the Extremely–Path Cape City, which has six races starting from 16 kilometers to 100 miles.
The WMTRC programs will use trails on Desk Mountain and Lion’s Head, areas identified for his or her steep ascents, technical descents, and expansive views.
The occasion will likely be held on related trails to the 2023 Extremely-Path Cape City 100k. Picture: iRunFar/Neville Sharwood
It’ll be a terrain completely different from something seen at prior World Championships. World Athletics President Sebastian Coe mentioned, “It’s all the time thrilling when a significant athletics occasion is staged in a brand new continent for the primary time, and that is no exception. Cape City internet hosting the World Mountain and Path Operating Championships marks not solely an thrilling alternative for the native space, but additionally for the game as an entire.”
“On behalf of the partnership of the World Mountain Operating Affiliation, the Worldwide Affiliation of Ultrarunners and the Worldwide Path Operating Affiliation, we’re delighted to convey the fourth World Mountain and Path Operating Championships to Africa,” the presidents of the three associate associations — Tomo Šarf, Nadeem Khan, and Janet Ng — mentioned in a joint assertion. They went on to say, “The sensational views of Cape City and Desk Mountain will type a becoming backdrop to the WMTRC 27.”
This 12 months’s Championships
The 2027 championships announcement comes two months earlier than the September 2025 occasion in Canfranc, Spain, within the Aragón Valley. The Canfranc space has hosted three WMRA World Cup occasions between 2021 and 2023, and in 2024, it hosted the World Masters Mountain Operating Championships.
The complete World Mountain and Path Operating Championships will likely be a step up from any of these, and the world ought to present a shocking backdrop for the very best on the planet to compete.
iRunFar will likely be there in September, reporting on web site all week. Keep tuned!
