2020 World Mountain Running Championships Location Announced

Today it was announced that the World Mountain Running Championships will be held in Lanzarote in 2020, at the Haria Extreme Race. Haría will host the Senior Classic, Junior U20 and Long Distance events in October 2020.

The World Mountain Running Association has been staging the global event since 1985 and next year’s event will mark the 35th World Championships. The 2019 World Championships will take place in 2 weeks time at the iconic K42 event at Villa la Angostura in Patagonia, Argentina, bringing together 42 nations and 450 elite athletes striving for the individual and team titles in Long Distance (42k) Classic (12k) and Junior (6k) events.

The WMRA World Council has the goal to share with all fans and national teams the venue and calendar for the 2020 World Championship events in the upcoming race at Patagonia, in order to allow for the best possible long-term planning by any team plus local organising committee. After reviewing the different candidates, the Spanish race Haria Extreme on the volcanic island of Lanzarote came up as the most complete project, as it allowed for the Junior U20 event, plus the Senior Classic and Long distance to be held together in the same way as in the 2019 Championships in Argentina.

Therefore, two members of the WMRA Global Council, President Jonathan Wyatt and Sergio Mayayo, visited Lanzarote over the past weekend, inspecting the courses and discussing details with the organizers. The final inspection reached a positive conclusion on the quality of the courses and expertise of the organizers to handle the 36th edition of this World Championships.

Some of the event highlights will include a spectacular ridge to be climbed during the Classic uphill 10k race at the iconic Risco de Famara, while the Long distance marathon race will enjoy a 42k/D+1900m journey from the charming Haría Village to the Malpais volcanic landscape, then on to the Famara ridge and finish at Haría, home to the mythical figure of Cesar Manrique, talented architect and enviromentalist who has been responsible for the preservation of the traditional beauty of local villages and traditions all through Lanzarote.

President Jonathan Wyatt said: “We are excited to include this unique volcanic terrain as a unique mountain running landscape, together with the magic atmosphere created by the tiny white villages and palm trees that dot out the island as it emerges from the Atlantic Ocean. Following an iconic race such as K42 Villa La Angostura in 2019, we are really happy to be travelling to Spain for 2020, who will be the host country for the first time for a World Mountain Championships and I would like to thank the Real Federación Española de Atletismo (RFEA), Haría Town Hall, Cabildo Lanzarote and the Canaries Island trail running Community as a whole for their support and enthusiam during all the process.
Last, but not least, we would like to thank all other candidates who worked hard and made it so challenging for us to make a final decision. Now, we move on to Patagonia with renewed enthusiasm to share the present and future of mountain running, always the sport pioneer, from Patagonia to the Canaries and beyond…”

The 2020 Under 18 Mountain Running Cup will take place in Ambleside in the Lake District.

All images copyright Mayayo.