Mountain Running World Cup: Valsir Extend Support Through 2024

After the great experience of the 2022 World Cup, Valsir and the WMRA are happy to announce that their partnership will be renewed for the next two years.

Applications for the 2023 Valsir World Cup are now open

"It has been a fantastic opportunity to work with Valsir," said Jonathan Wyatt, WMRA President from 2017 to 2021 and now World Cup Manager. "We have moved our World Cup forward with their support, with an increased emphasis on becoming a credible force in off road running. Now we can continue and increase this progress for a further 2 years and make bigger strides into supporting the World's best mountain running races, the World's best mountain runners and encouraging new participants to give mountain running a go. Old and new fans will have plenty of exciting action to cheer on!"

In 2022 the partnership with Valsir enabled a greater than three-fold increase in the prize money available on the World Cup, as well a doubling of the travel support for athletes. For the WMRA, increasing opportunities for athletes is at the heart of the mission to grow the World Cup and we are delighted that these things will continue in the coming seasons.

In addition, Valsir's collaboration will allow the WMRA to make meaningful investments in supporting clean sport, with WADA-accredited anti-doping at all Gold Label World Cup races in 2023.

Wyatt continues, "The spirit of respect for sport in nature is something we share with Valsir who are based in the Northern Italian mountains and who have embraced what we do and our vision for encouraging participation through the inspiration that the events we partner with in the World Cup provide."

By continuing to improve media and communications around the World Cup, we hope to persuade new athletes to try mountain running and experience the powerful experiences that the sport has to offer. World Cup events are all open races, which means that mountain running presents a unique opportunity for everyday runners to rub shoulders with the world's best off-road athletes, racing in stunning locations with the passionate support of local communitues.

Mattia Gandini, director of marketing at Valsir, sees significant overlap in the values and motivations of Valsir and those who test themselves through sport: "The passion that moves and drives all runners to reach the top and push their limits - whoever they are, professional or amateur, it makes no difference - is the common value that binds WMRA and our company: aiming to improve ourselves and become better people living in a better world.

"We look forward to the 2023 season, hoping that many new participants will join the show: let's race and have fun!"

Follow along and join the fun on social media with #ValsirWorldCup!

 Photos by Marco Gulberti.