2008 European Mountain Running Championships Explained

The 2008 European Mountain Running Championships were held on 12 July in Zell am Harmersbach, Germany. Held by the European Athletic Association, the competition was held on an up- and downhill course in the Black Forest. The championships featured 227 athletes representing 25 nations.^[1]

The championships comprised four races: the men's race which was 12 km long with an 804 m ascent and 714 m descent, the women's and under-20s men's competitions over 8.75 km and containing a 566 m ascent and 476 m descent, and finally the under-20s women's race which was competed over 4 km with a rise and fall of 238 m.^[2]

Ahmet Arslan defended his title in the men's senior race while Elisa Desco took the gold medal in the women's race. Bernard Dematteis headed home Italy to the senior men's team gold medal and Great Britain won the women's team gold, with bronze medallist Sarah Tunstall the nation's best finisher. The junior men's competition was largely a Turkish affair, with Hasan Pak winning gold and leading a 1-2-3 for his country. The women's junior race was won by Mariya Bykova who, along with Tatyana Prorokova, took the team gold.^[1]

Results

Men's senior race

width=5%	Rank	width=20%	Athlete	width=15%	Country	width=10%	Time (m:s)
	Ahmet Arslan		50:01
	Bernard Dematteis		50:29
	Marco De Gasperi		50:57
4	Jose Gaspar		51:09
5	Julien Rancon		51:13
6	Marco Gaiardo		51:22
7	Gabriele Abate		51:33
8	Mitja Kosovelj		51:39
9	Javier Crespo		51:46
10	Cristofol Castañer		51:51

+Teams
width=10%	Rank	width=30%	Team	width=10%	Points
		11
		32
		32
4		32
5		41

• Total participants: 82 runners and 19 teams.^[3]

Women's senior race

width=5%	Rank	width=20%	Athlete	width=15%	Country	width=10%	Time (m:s)
	Elisa Desco		40:00
	Constance Devillers		40:18
	Sarah Tunstall		40:48
4	Mateja Kosovelj		41:20
5	Victoria Wilkinson		41:28
6	Bernadette Meier-Brändle		41:31
7	Isabelle Guillot		41:49
8	Maria Grazia Roberti		41:54
9	Katie Ingram		42:00
10	Milka Mikhaylova		42:04

+Teams
width=10%	Rank	width=30%	Team	width=10%	Points
		17
		21
		22
4		57
5		61

• Total participants: 71 runners and 17 teams.^[3]

Men's under-20s race

width=5%	Rank	width=20%	Athlete	width=15%	Country	width=10%	Time (m:s)
	Hasan Pak		35:23
	Alper Demir		35:58
	Emrah Akalın		36:09
4	Renè Stöckert		36:27
5	Adem Karataş		36:46
6	Xavier Chevrier		37:04
7	Marc Tolstikhin		37:16
8	Candide Pralong		37:18
9	Luca Re		37:39
10	Peter Oblak		37:44

+Teams
width=10%	Rank	width=30%	Team	width=10%	Points
		6
		31
		32
4		52
5		54

• Total participants: 44 runners and 10 teams.^[3]

Women's under-20s race

width=5%	Rank	width=20%	Athlete	width=15%	Country	width=10%	Time (m:s)
	Mariya Bykova		18:45
	Esra Gullu		18:48
	Tatyana Prorokova		18:54
4	Natalia Strzelecka		19:02
5	Hannah Bateson		19:03
6	Cansu Turan		19:10
7	Hülya Ongun		19:15
8	Kateřina Beroušková		19:18
9	Anastasiya Mikhaylova		19:20
10	Helen Wolfson		19:26

+Teams
width=10%	Rank	width=30%	Team	width=10%	Points
		4
		8
		17
4		25
5		28

• Total participants: 30 runners and 10 teams.^[3]

External links

• Official website at European Athletics

Notes and References

1. http://www.european-athletics.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6532&Itemid=2 Turkey & Italy reign supreme at Mountain Running Championships
2. http://www.european-athletics.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6510&Itemid=2 26 countries do battle over the mountains in Zell am Harmersbach this weekend
3. http://www.tilastopaja.org/staticresults/eaa11931560.htm Zell am Harmersbach GER 12 July