The World Mountain and Trail Running Championships (WMTRC) decides the world champions in mountain running and trail running, two out-of-stadia disciplines in the sport of athletics. The event was founded by World Athletics and the first edition was scheduled for 2021 and held in 2022 after being postponed. Prior to 2022, the World Mountain Running Championships and IAU Trail World Championships were held as two separate events.
Editions Edition Year City Country Date 2022 () Chiang Mai 4–6 November 2023 () Innsbruck-Stubaital 6–10 June 2025 () Canfranc 25–28 September 2027 () Cape Town 6–10 October
History The founding of the event required coordination between four different running organizations: the World Mountain Running Association, the International Trail Running Association, the International Association of Ultrarunners, and World Athletics. It was considered a "patched-together partnership" with World Athletics sponsoring the event in a push to bring trail running to the 2032 Summer Olympics. The inaugural event was postponed to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2025 event was considered the most competitive WMTRC to that point. It was criticized, however, for dedicating more live stream coverage to the men's races than the women's races. The growth in trail running has attracted money from brands like Nike, Inc.
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