The ISF is pleased to announce the dates and venues of the 2024 Skyrunning World Championships and Masters Skyrunning World Championships. The World Championships will be held in Spain on September 6-8, while the second edition of the Masters Championships will be in Portugal on April 13-14.
Twenty-seven medals and World Champion titles will be at stake in the 2024 Skyrunning World Championships for the three main skyrunning disciplines: VERTICAL, SKY and SKYULTRA. Medals and titles will also be awarded for the COMBINED category (VERTICAL and SKY) and the final country ranking.
The events, hosted in Soria, will open with the VERTICAL at the VK Los Neveros – Ágreda on Friday, September 6. The course is 4.8 km long with a 1,050m vertical climb, topping out at 2,117m altitude.
Saturday, September 7, will see athletes battle for the SKYULTRA at the Desafío Urbión SkyUltra touching on the Picos de Urbión at 2,228m altitude, the highest point of the 60 km course with a 4,350m vertical climb.
Sunday, September 8, will be the showdown at the Desafío Urbión, valid for the SKY discipline also via the Picos de Urbión summit. The course is 37 km long with a total 2,540m vertical climb.
“It’s very difficult to summarise in two sentences what the concession to host the Skyrunning World Championships means for us, but we are going to try,” commented Andrés Cámara, Desafío Urbión race organiser. “The fact that Desafío Urbión will host the Skyrunning World Championships is not only the reward for ten years of hard work by more than 350 volunteers from five municipalities in the province of Soria who have been fighting to show the natural sports potential of their environment, but also to see the light in the future of a region that has recently been declared World Wild Pine Zero Kilometre. In other words, a reward for our motto, “Dare and dream”. There are times when dreams come true, and on this occasion, it is for the inhabitants to be able to welcome so many people from so many countries and make them feel at home.”
The event was submitted and supported by FEDME, the ISF Member for Spain, which will oversee the events with their referees and guarantee the high quality organisation that the two past World Championships in Spain have demonstrated.
The last three World Championships held in Italy, Spain and the UK, always saw the home country rate high on the medal count, but at the same time, it’s a welcome fact that new countries are taking their fair share of medals, such as the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Japan for example.
The first-ever Masters Skyrunning World Championships took place in 2023 in Italy at the Royal Ultra SkyMarathon with the SKYULTRA discipline. With many countries already lined up for the event and demand for more disciplines, the 2024 Championships will include both the SKY and the SKYULTRA, raising the number of medals at stake to 39.
The host event, supported by FCMP, the ISF Member for Portugal, features the Zela SkyRace® which is 37 km long with 2,250m vertical climb while the Zela Ultra Marathon is 55km with 3,600m vertical climb.
Portugal is not famed for the high altitude of its mountains which reach close on 2,000m but already the European Skyrunning Championships took place here in 2021 over demanding and technical terrain. At the 2024 Masters, the highest point will be a “mere” 1,086m but the gnarly, challenging courses will be tough even for the top runners.
Vouzela Mayor, Rui Miguel Ladeira Pereira, stated, “It is with great pride and enthusiasm that the municipality of Vouzela will host the Masters Skyrunning World Championships. It represents an exceptional opportunity for Vouzela to assert its tourist potential and show itself to the world as a great stage for the practice of sport in nature, in particular, skyrunning. May this competition be a great moment to overcome the challenges, joy and celebration of sport. Welcome to Vouzela!”
Sérgio Tavares, 2021 European Championships and Zela Ultra Marathon race organiser, added, “It was with great joy that we received the news to host an international event once again, this time in Vouzela, focusing on the Caramulo mountain. We are excited to provide athletes from all over the world with a challenging and adrenaline-filled event!”
Two important skyrunning events for 2024 are now announced and teams from across the world will be aiming for the prestigious medals and titles at stake, for their countries and, for the over-forties, for their pride…and experience which, in skyrunning, goes a long way.
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