The International Skyrunning Federation (ISF) is pleased to announce the 2018 Skyrunning World Championships will be hosted by Skyline Scotland from September 13 – 15 in Kinlochleven, Scotland, where three disciplines will be disputed.
After four World Championships held in Italy, France and Spain, the Scottish Highlands will welcome skyrunners from across the world to race the Vertical, Sky and Ultra disciplines for the world titles and the 27 medals at stake.
The races are open to both individuals and national teams. Individual world titles and medals are at stake in each discipline as well as a combined title based on the best results of the Vertical and Sky races.
VERTICAL
The celebrations kick off with the Salomon Mamores VK on September 13. It fits the International Skyrunning Federation Vertical Kilometer® parameters perfectly with 5 km distance and 1,000m vertical climb – an incredible leg burning and lung-busting ascent from sea level to the Munro summit at 1,056m.
ULTRA
The Salomon Ben Nevis Ultra will be disputed on September 14 on a specially designed course to fit the new skyrunning criteria with a cut off time of 16 hours. The race will incorporate some of the best elements of the previous route which summits Britain’s highest mountain, Ben Nevis where the world’s first mountain running race took place in 1895. Subject to spring testing the new Ultra will be ±65km, with ±4,300m vertical climb.
SKY
Salomon Ring of Steall SkyRace® September 15, 29 km with 2,500m vertical climb, the course features uncompromising mountain running, including easy scrambling, steep ascents, traverses and descents on technical and challenging terrain. The race has been a very popular choice for runners over the last two years.
Marino Giacometti, ISF President, commented, “We’re very proud and pleased to present the 2018 World Championships in the beautiful Scottish Highlands and, with the organisation of Skyline Scotland, we are confident the events will be a perfect showcase for skyrunning attracting the world’s best athletes for some intense competition on this technical terrain.”
Already, some top skyrunners have proven themselves here in the past few years, including: Stian Angermund-Vik, Maite Maiora, Laura Orgué, Emelie Forsberg, Sheila Avilés, Marco De Gasperi, Jan Margarit, Alexis Sévennec, Kiril Nikolov, Pascal Egli, Hillary Gerardi, Mira Rai, Tom Owens…
Race Director Shane Ohly said, “Salomon Skyline Scotland has exploded from nothing, to the pinnacle mountain running event in the world in just three years. It’s a phenomenal rate of change and organising the event has been some journey! It will be an honour to be trusted with the Skyrunning World Championship in 2018 and I look forward to welcoming the world’s best mountain runners back to Scotland next September.”
The three events were part of the 2017 Migu Run Skyrunner® World Series and again, the Salomon Glen Coe Skyline on Sunday, September 16, will be an official race of the 2018 Migu Run Skyrunner® World Series in the Sky Extra category.
Athletes from no less than 40 countries competed in the 2016 Skyrunning World Championships held in the Spanish Pyrenees. The reigning champions are: Luis Alberto Hernando and Caroline Chaverot for the Ultra; Stian Angermund-Vik and Laura Orgué for the Vertical and Maite Maiora and Stian Angermund-Vik for the Sky and combined titles.
WADA anti-doping tests will be carried out at the Championships.
A detailed programme will be published at a later date. Subscribe to our newsletter and join us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Full race details and entry forms
