Mountain Ultra Council Annual Report November 7, 2014 Mountain/Ultra/Trail are three disciplines which fall under the umbrella of Long Distance Running (LDR) and each attracts runners of all ages and abilities who enjoy the adventure and challenge inherent in our sport. Our council is delighted to report more than a few highlights from 2014 which include many podium finishes for our international teams. A summary follows. Team and Individual Medals for  Long Distance Mountain Running Team at Pikes Peak Ascent = Team Gold Men andWomen;Men individual gold, bronze; women individual gold, silver, bronze.  Mountain Running Team (NACAC) at Chupinaya, Ajijic, Mexico =Team Gold Women;Team Bronze Men; Overall Women Individual Gold-Silver-Bronze;  Mountain Running Team (World Champs) at Casette di Massa, Italy = Team Silver Junior Women; Junior Women’s Individual Bronze, team Bronze.

Read below for additional details on our teams.

Congratulations to our 2014 athletes ofthe week fromthe Mountain Ultra Trail division: Patrick Smyth, October 22; Larisa Dannis, October 29.

Social Media: Our council continues to expandour marketing reach andto spread the USATFbrand by taking advantage of low-cost social media tools and web 2.0 technologies. During the year, we kept our fans up to date on the results of all Mountain Ultra Trail Championships via social media, including live Twitter updates from the World Mountain Running Championships and also from some of our USA Championships. Visit Mountain Ultra Trail at the following: Facebook: www.facebook.com/usatfmut; Twitter: www.twitter.com/usmrt; Web: www.usmrt.com; Web: www.usaultrarunning.com, www.facebook.com/pages/USA-100km-Team Thanks to Richard Bolt, we have also hosted successful Google Hangouts and will continue to use this platform to promote our sport.

 USMountain RunningTeam on Twitter:2100 followers in 2013; 3114 in 2014.  USA Ultrarunning on Twitter: 800 followers in 2013; 1585 in 2014.  US Mountain Running Team on Google+: 65,000 followers  USATF Mountain UltraTrail on Facebook: 1600 followers in 2013; 2436 in 2014.

Our leadership reviews and responds to missives fromthe nationaloffice staff, LDR committees, and our constituents. We, through our council and executive committee (EC includes: Michael Wardian,Chad Ricklefs, Brandy Erholtz, Traci Falbo, Max King, Jon Olsen, Eric Blake, Kami Semick, Richard Bolt, Roy Pirrung, Howard Nippert, and Nancy Hobbs) keep up to date with rule changesthat affect our athletes included those established by the IAAF, the IAU, and the WMRA. We are fortunateto have U.S. representatives on both the WMRA and IAU councils. We have a cohesive group which includes our council and executive committee, each of whom are dedicated to our sport and look forward to continued growth, awareness, and promotion of our many programs in 2015 and beyond.

Associations are encouraged to add Mountain UltraTrail disciplines to their LDR program and to consider hosting atrail, mountain, or ultra championship event at the association, national, or international level. Contact the Mountain Ultra Trail chair or a member of the Council for suggestions and support with starting a program in your association.

Championships: Our championship program encompasses a wide range of distances. The largest USATF presence was at our USA Mountain Running Championships, yet all of our championships had an increase in USATF participation over the past year. Details available at www.usastf.org. Championships in 2014, included – at the sub-ultra distances – 10km, half , and marathon, and ultra distance – 50km road, 50km trail, 50 mile road, 50 mile trail, 100km road, 100km trail, 100 mile trail, 24 Hours.

Championships Awarded for 2015 and Beyond (all for open and masters, men and women). 12/7/2013 100km Trail Bandera date 1/10/2015 12/7/2013 100 Mile trail Rocky Raccoon date 1/31/15 12/5/2012 50km road Caumsett 50km Road 3/1/2015 12/5/2012 24 Hours North Coast September 19-20, 2015 12/7/2013 50M Trail Cayuga Trails 50M 5/31/2015 12/7/2013 50M Road Door County, WI 10/24/2015 11/6/14 Mountain Bend, OR 7/25/14

2016 12/7/2013 100km Trail Bandera January 9. 2016 12/7/2013 100 Mile trail Rocky Raccoon February6 in 2016 12/7/2013 24 Hours north coast 24 9/17-9/18/2016

We anticipate 2015 bids at the Annual Meetingfor:Mountain, 50km, Marathon, and .

Special thanksto Jason Bryant for managing our ordering program for medals, and patches, andto Richard Bolt for monitoring our back tags, and runner numbers. We also appreciate all of the support our liaisons have provided to championships to include: Howard Nippert, Richard Bolt, Lin Gentling, Jason Bryant, Paul Kirsch, and Roy Pirrung.

Trail and Mountain Running Teams

The 11th mountain running national championship event was contested in NH, at the Loon Mountain Race, which also hosted the U.S. Mountain Running Team selection race for our US Mountain Running Team.

The junior team continues to be selected based on resumes and the team staff continued its outreach tothe running community, including the addition of several college andhigh schoolprograms which have expressed interest in providing candidates for our juniorteams.

At the 30th World Mountain Running Championships in Casette di Massa, Italy, approximately 40 countries participated in an event which ran through a famous marble quarry. At theraces,the U.S. Mountain Running Team had medal-winning results led by individual bronze for women’s team member Allie McLaughlin. McLaughlin and teammates Megan Lizotte, Megan Roche, and Juliane Masciana earned a bronze medal. Junior women again repeated as silver medalists led by Mandy Ortiz with a fourth-place finish, and Marisa Ruskin, and Tabor Scholl finishing 8th and 35th respectively. Thisyear was the20th anniversary for our U.S. women’steam at the World Championships. Our senior men – Patrick Smyth, Joseph Gray, Eric Blake, David Roche, Zach Miller, and Josh Eberly – finished a solid fourth in the team standings. Our junior men – Erik Armes, Jeff Theis, and Lucas Matison – finished 10th. Team manager Nancy Hobbs thanks the dedication of thisyear’steam staff – Richard Bolt, Ellen Miller, and Paul Kirsch.The same staff will return in 2015.

The 31st World Mountain Running Championships will be held on an up/down course in Wales, on September 19, 2015. At the 11th NACAC Mountain Running Championships hosted by Mexico at the Chupinaya Race, Team USA women – Brandy Erholtz, Maria Dalzot,Christine Lundy, and Amber Reece-Young – earned gold with a 1-2-3 sweep. Erholtz set a course record followed by Dalzot and Lundy who were both also under the course record. The men’s team included two junior athletes from 2013 US Mountain Running Team, Danny Martinez and Jordan Chavez, who joined veterans of NACAC competition Eric Blake and Ryan Woods. Themen’steam earned a bronzemedal. Richard Bolt was theteam leader and Nancy Hobbs was on site to represent the WMRA and assist with team duties. The 12th NACAC Mountain Running Championships date andvenue has not yet been announced.

The 11th World Long Distance Mountain Running Challenge was held at the PikesPeak Ascent. The U.S. team – up to fiverun per gender with three to score – included Allie McLaughlin, Morgan Arritola, Shannon Payne, Stevie Kremer, and Nuta Olaru for the women,Sage Canaday, Andy Wacker, Eric Blake, Joseph Gray, and Zach Miller forthe men. The U.S. teams both won gold with the women going 1- 2-3andthe men1-3 for podium honors. There were approximately 20 international teams competing. The 12th World Long Distance Challenge will be hosted by the Zermatt Marathon on July 4, 2015. Already earning spots on the 2015 USTeams are McLaughlin, Arritola, Payne, Canaday, and Wacker. The men’s and women’s winner at our USA Marathon Trail Championships on November 8, 2014, will also be named totheteam. Oneadditional woman, and two men will be added to theteam roster based on resume.

100 km Team The 27th IAU 100km World Championships will be held in Doha, Qatar, on November 21, 2014. This year’s team includes Max King, Matt Flaherty, Mike Wardian, Zach Miller, Nick Accardo, Zach Bitter, Meghan Arbogast, Emily Harrison, Pam Smith, Cassie Scallon, Amy Sproston, and Larisa Dannis. Team staff: Lin Gentling, Tim Yanacheck, and Dr. Lion Caldwell.

The selection criteria for the 2014 USA 100km team can be foundon the USATFwebsite. To be considered for the 2015 USA 100km team, runners must be current USATF members and meet qualifying standards.

24 Hours Team

There was no 24Hour World Championships in 2014. The 11th IAU 24 Hour World Championships will be held in Torino, Italy, April 11-12, 2015. The team staff will include: Dr. Andy Lovy, team leader Howard Nippert, and assistant team leader Mike Spinnler.

Other International Competitions

The World Trail Running Championships and the 50km World Trophy Final will take place in alternate years. The next Trail Championships will be in 2015. Emily Harrison and MichaelWardian competed at the IAU 50km Trophy in Qatar in October 2014.

International competitions are also available for masters athletes for mountain, trail, and ultra runners. Visit www.wmra.info and www.iau-.org for details.

We continue to monitor and update our team selection process. Our team athletes and dedicated staff members traveled to our world events in 2014, including the IAU 100km World Championships, the NACAC Mountain Running Championships,the Long Distance Challenge, and the World Mountain Running Championships. Most of our athletes and staff spend their own money to take these trips to internationalevents. The 2015 team staffs have been selected for the 24Hours, 100km, and mountain championships. Additional staff will be selected for championships events including the NACAC Mountain Running Championships, 50km Championships (road), Long Distance Championships, and IAU Trail Championships. Our executive committee has workedtirelessly to update selection criteria for our various teams. Most recently, the long distance (championships status in 2015), 50km road (championship status staring in 2015), and IAU trail (championships status in 2015) have been addressed.

IAU Updates

The IAU, at their annual meetingprovided the following updateson world events:The IAU100km and24 Hours World Championships will be held in alternate years – starting from 2016 with the IAU 100km World Championships being held in 2016 andthe IAU24 Hours World Championships being held in 2017. Forthe new IAU World 50km Championships, the inaugural event will take place in Doha, Qatar in 2015, for the first three years (2015-2017), then the situation will be reviewed. An annual championship is designed to attract fast marathon runners to the sport.

The IAU is working with ITRA (International Trail Running Association) and the IAAF to bring recognized regulation and competitionto the sport and again forthenext threeyearsthe IAUwith ITRA will maintain an annual IAU TrailWorld Championships.The annual offering will also be reviewed after three years. For 2015, this will be held at theMaxi Racein Annecy, France. The Travel Grants for the 24 Hour and100K eventshave been amendedto reflect equality. From 2015 forward, the amount designated for TGs will be the same for both events.

With the alternate 24 Hour and 100K World Championships starting in 2016, the IAU the development of Continental Championships will be emphasized among local organizers to develop their races to apply for this status. The intent would be to have the continental championships on those years when the WC is not held, thus the 24 Hour continental championship would be held in 2016, the 100K in 2017, etc. In the future, no TG would be requested for Americas competition. The only financial commitment involved for a race designated for an Americas continental championships would be free accommodation for participating IAU member federations. For the Americasthere are 7 member IAU countries with potentially up to 3 male and 3 female membersper country.

A new IAU labeling file was revised. The revisions include improving the requirements for course measurements andthe accuracy of results and removingthe costs of silver and gold labels. In addition there will be a separate label for trail races. This also includes a definition for IAU (road) labels which includes courses where the measurement is a verified Jones Counter Measurement but cannot be given an AIMS certificate as the surface does not entirely meet IAAF rule 240. There has been questioning in the reasoning for the amalgamation of IAU world best performanceson all surfaces and criticizing the way it was communicated. This amalgamation will take place beginning 2015. There has been much confusion as well as concern about the implementation of this new policy, resulting in a document outlining the reasoning for this move and will soon be included in the race, results, ranking section on the IAU website. Thenext IAU Congress will be held in Doha, Qatar, on Thursday November 20th beforetheIAU100K World Championships.

Collegiate Mountain Running Association

The Collegiate Running Association, a non-profit (501c3) organization dedicated to promoting healthy lifestyles among college students through running, enjoyed a successful first year in 2014.The first-ever Collegiate National 10k Road Racing Championships were held on March 29, 2014 in Richmond, VA in conjunction with the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k and attracted over 3,500 college students; 1,200 of which aremembersof the CRA. Thetop 10 men and women enrolled in at least onecollege course of any type earned portions of a $10,000 prize purse set aside specifically for collegiate runners. Paul Chelimo of UNC-Greensboro and Kellyn Johnson of Cococino Community College took the top honors. The Collegiate Running Association’s second national championship took place during the Loon Mountain Race on July 6, 2014 in Lincoln, NH. The race also served as the USA National Mountain Running Championships. The CRA’s Mountain Running Championships attracted the best collegiate mountain runners in the country as they raced for a $6,000 prize purse set aside specifically for collegiate runners. Four collegiate runners qualified for the World Mountain Running Championships at the Loon Mountain Race, and three (Patrick Smyth, Megan Deakins, and Marisa Ruskan) went on to competefor Team USA in Cassette di Massa, Italy on September 14, 2014.

Just shy of a year old, The Collegiate Running Association currently has 1,495 members representing 47 states and 245 colleges & universities.The non-profit organization is hard at work to expand opportunities currently offered at the college level in Road Racing, Mountain Running, and Trail Running. Additionally, the Collegiate Running Association is committed to offering prize money to college students at each oftheir national championships. Membership to the Collegiate Running Association is FREE and open to ALL, including non-collegians; competing in a national championship is open to any college student currently enrolled in at least one college course at any level. In 2015, the Collegiate Running Association plans to host four national championship events in different regions of the country.

To learn more about the Collegiate Running Association or sponsorship opportunities, visit www.collegiaterunning.org or contact us at [email protected].

Snowrunning

Mountain Ultra Trail council members have been meeting for the past two years with members of the US Snowshoe Association including President Mark Elmore. In addition, meetings – formal and informal – have also been conducted with LDR division leaders, USATF staff, and the MUT executive committee. Bolt and Hobbs attended this year’s USSSA NationalChampionships in Vermont (March) and hadtime to meet with constituents (which number about 500+) and share news about snowrunning becoming another discipline within the MUT family. Since March, Dave Dunham has reviewed the USSSA rules and provided documentation to be included in the USATF rule book as it relatestothis newaddition to our “family.” The goal at our Annual Meeting this year is to formally include snowrunning (encompassing snowshoes and traction devices as well as simply “running on snowy terrain,” into the broader category) as part of our program. The 2015 USSSA National Championships have already been awarded to Eau Claire, WI (March 2015), and the 2016 venue is not yet decided, but it will be in the western region of USA.

Special appreciation is extended to our enthusiastic and very active Mountain Ultra Trail Running Council and Executive Committee for their efforts to bring more visibility to our three running disciplines within USATF. We have had increased support and visibility from the nationaloffice staff andthank everyone in Indianapolis for their dedication to our disciplines this past year.

Submitted on October 28, 2014, by Nancy Hobbs, Chairperson with input from the USATF Mountain Ultra Trail Running Council and Executive Committee.