Thanks to many years of organizational efforts of the office of the Running Festival in Krynica Zdroj and support of the Polish Athletics Association, this year, 100 km ultra marathon festival will be held in the rank of the Polish Championships in Mountain Running.
So far, the Polish Championship in ultramarathon has been held only in the category of street running. Championships in mountain ultramarathons did not exist even on paper. As Andrew Puchacz - agent at the Polish Athletics Association (PZLA) for Mountain Running, explained - the new category is a result of "a fantastic development of mountain ulthramaratnons in our country."
- The number of people willing to participate in ultra-distance mountain running is amazing, because not everyone is able to be fully prepared - said Andrzej Puchacz for FestiwalBiegow.pl, adding that it was not without a significance determination of the organizers of the Festival in Krynica, who had been pushing for the championship.
The choice of place of the first Championship wasn’t accidental. – The 7 Valleys Run is without a doubt one of the leading ultradistance races in Poland. I felt it in 2012, when long-distance world championships were held at the same time as Running Festival and for this reason, the Polish national men’s team was falling apart, although the world championships were held during a very attractive Jungfrau Marathon, which is not easy to sign up – says Andrzej Puchacz.
Polish Champions titles in ultramarathon will be awarded after the main 100 kilometer distance race – the 7 Valleys Run (currently Polish Athletic Federation does organize the championships neither for shorter neither for longer distances). Polish Championship Medals will be given in both categories: women and men. All participants will compete for medals in the Beskid Sadecki. – To be ranked in the Polish Championships you need to have Polish citizenship and not be currently disqualified by the Polish Athletics Federation. The Federation’s license in not obligatory. - explains Andrzej Puchacz.
Head of the Polish mountain races stresses that it is not only medals and impressive financial rewards that count the most, but also the prestige and "opportunity for obtaining a sponsor or a support from the local authorities". He encourages everyone to compete.
7 Valleys Run is scheduled for September 6, the second day of the 5th Running Festival. Four months before the beginning of the competition, the start list of the ultramarathon has already 826 names, including 63 women. You will be able to enroll on the start lists even during the Festival. The entry fee is 140 zł . After July 1 it will be 190 zł . Each competitor is also asked to pay the registration fee of 10 zł .
You can sign up to the Run of 7 Valleys on www.FestiwalBiegow.pl under REGISTRATION tab.