The World Mountain and Trail Running Championships saw the world’s best off-road runners take on some of Spain’s toughest terrain in the Pyrenees. Held over four days, national team athletes from around the globe compete in a total of 10 official world championships across four competition formats.

Americans Jim Walmsley and Katie Schide confirmed their place as the top trail ultrarunners in the world this past weekend in Canfranc, Spain, as each captured gold medals for Team USA in the Long Trail race at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships.

Cape Town to Host the 2027 Championships
The 2027 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships were recently awarded to Cape Town, marking the first time the event will be held in Africa. Following a successful joint application by Golazo South Africa, Athletics South Africa and Western Province Athletics, Cape Town’s iconic Table Mountain will provide a stunning location for the championships, which will take place from 6 to 10 October 2027.

The organisers hope that this championship will not only highlight Africa’s immense potential in off-road running but also cement the continent’s status as a world-class host for endurance sports while also inspiring a new generation of African trail runners.

Jim Walmsley and Katie Schide Dominated Their Respective Fields
They both dominated the respective men’s and women’s fields of the 82km race, which included 5400 metres of elevation gain and descent as it wound through the Pyrenees mountain range in northern Spain and parts of southern France.

35-year-old Walmsley surged away from French runners Benjamin Roubiol and Louison Coiffet after the 47km point of the race and was never challenged again. He opened up a 7-minute lead by the 70km mark and won in 8 hours, 35 minutes, 11 seconds, more than 10 minutes ahead of the Frenchmen who finished together in 8:46:05 to tie for the silver medal.

Although a minor knee injury sidelined Walmsley from going for a fifth victory at the Western States 100 in June, he rebounded with a win at the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc 61km OCC race in France in late August before winning his second world championship title Saturday in Spain. Walmsley also won the 42km race at the 2019 world championships in Villa La Angostura, Argentina.

“It’s still sinking in, but a lot’s gone into this,” Walmsley said. “My summer didn’t go as planned with Western States, but it turned into a really nice end of the year. Getting to win the Long Trail race six years later, that’s pretty cool. There are probably not many people who have won both short and long trial races at this point. The Pyrenees really tested me, and it tested everyone. It was a super rugged course, and I was happy to get through it smoothly today.”

33-year-old Schide, who has chosen to live in France for the past several years, turned in an even more commanding performance, winning the women’s race by a 25-minute margin in 9:57:59. She built a 38-second early lead through the first 4km and led by more than five minutes at the 25km mark.

From there, she expanded her lead to nearly 20 minutes at the halfway point and continued to increase the gap over Sunmaya Budha, a 27-year-old runner from Nepal, who took second in 10:23:03. Third place in the women’s race went to Italy’s Fabiola Conti (10:35:51).

Schide has been a dominant force on the trails over the past several years, winning and breaking Courtney Dauwalter’s course records at the Western States and the Ultra Trail du Mont-Blanc in 2024, and also the Hardrock 100 on July 12 earlier this year in Silverton, Colorado.

“It was definitely a super hard course, so if someone looks like they’re having a hard time, it’s for a good reason,” Schide said. “I just focused on my own effort, and I knew I had a bit of a gap throughout the race, so I just kept that in mind, and I knew it was better to just play defence more than offence at that point. It feels really great to win. It was just beautiful, and I really enjoyed it.”

France won the men’s team competition, edging Team USA based on the combined times of each country’s top three runners. In the women’s race, Italy took first place over Team USA.

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