Trail running has existed since the dawn of man but recently this sport has exploded into a competitive minefield with several world championships on the cards, including the Skyrunning World Championships in Chamonix.
Next year Chamonix will host the Skyrunning World Championships with the Marathon du Mont Blanc event. Whilst over in Wales the IAU are hosting the Trail World Championships this month and in the meantime the ITRA (International Trail Running Association) are in talks of developing strategies for future trail world championships.
For 2014 Chamonix has been selected to host the Skyrunning World Championships, organised by the International Skyrunning Federation (ISF). Perhaps lesser known in France than other organisations, the ISF however is said to be the oldest and the most structured trail running organisation.
The ISF created the Skyrunning World Championships which feature a marathon, an ultra and a vertical KM and unlike other championships, offer prize monies.
The International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) 2013 Trail World Championships is taking place in Wales on the 6th of July, is said to be suffering from a shortfall of top runners and a lack of countries participating to make it a widely recognised world championships.
As for the International Trail Running Association (ITRA), this association is still finding it's feet after its creation last year by Michel Poletti, organiser of the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc. Despite it's young age the ITRA is set on establishing a unified international trail running framework for future events and championships.
Needless to say Chamonix will welcome the addition of the Skyrunning World Championship title to the 2014 Mont Blanc Marathon weekend.
