“Climb to Glory”

U.S. Youth Skyrunning Team members hold the flag of the 10th Mountain Division, whose motto is “Climb to Glory.” This year’s races were in the Apennine Mountains, where the 10th Mountain Division won a crucial battle during World War II.

The U.S. Youth Skyrunning team finished fifth among the 28 countries competing in the world championships Aug. 2-4 in Gran Sasso, Italy.

The team was fourth the prior two years.

“We keep getting stronger but have slipped one place lower in the team standings,” chuckled head coach Ryan Kerrigan.

One explanation is that skyrunning has exploded internationally. In 2017, there were 70 competitors on 14 teams at the youth world championships. In 2018, there were 140 on 18 teams. This year there were 192 competitors from 28 countries.

Switzerland, Spain and Norway finished 1-2-3, with Italy fourth. Other strong competitors included Russia, Czech Republic, Hungary and Japan.

Social media is one explanation for the growth in popularity, with much-watched videos posted at skyrunning.com.

That’s how South Korea got involved. “One of our runners saw the posts about skyrunning on Facebook and messaged others. We all thought this was really cool,” said team member Jeong Yun Choi. “We got together on weekends and trained by running repeats on the highest mountain in Seoul,” which is only 800 meters, and the team grew from there.

U.S. skyrunners won the full range of medals at the 2019 championships.

Sofia Sanchez from California earned silver in the vertical and a gold in the sky race. Mikey Connelly from Alaska added a bronze in the vertical kilometer.

The U.S. competitors and their best finishes:

U-18 females

Naia Tower-Pierce, East Burke, Vt., ninth in vertical kilometer.

U-18 males

Mikey Connolly, Chugiak, Alaska third in vertical kilometer.

Brendan Magill, Moretown, Vt., ninth in Skyrace.

Jeffrey Bert, Bend, Ore., 11th place combined.

Gavin Block, Palmer, Alaska, 19th in vertical kilometer.

Phoenix Sanchez, Kings Beach, Calif., 20th in vertical kilometer.

U-20 females

Sofia Sanchez, Kings Beach, Calif., first in Skyrace.

Erin Magill, Moretown, Vt., eighth in Skyrace.

U-20 males

Andrew Owens, Lafayette, Calif., 18th in Skyrace

U-23 males

William Haig, Stratton, Vt., 21st in vertical kilometer.

The championship races are on courses 2,000 meters in elevation or more. Unlike mountain or trail running, the skyrunning courses are not on well-established trails. Runners take the straightest route up and down the mountain.

Information: skyrunningus.com or email Ryan Kerrigan at usaskyrunning@gmail.com.

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