Athletics Canada is pleased to reveal the roster of 18 runners who will represent the country at the 2022 World Mountain & Trail Running Championships, taking place Nov 3-6, 2022 in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Canada’s team of six women and 12 men will take part in the first championship of its kind, as mountain and trail world championships were historically held separately. Team Canada head coach Adrian Lambert says that, while the event’s newness makes it difficult to predict its calibre of competition, he expects his athletes to contend with the best.  

“We are sending a very strong team, so we are hopeful to finish inside the top 10 in our events,” he said. “Canada has historically competed well in both the Trail and Mountain Running Championships at the World level, and we are hoping to continue that at the combined championships.

Team Canada athletes will compete in the women’s and men’s categories in all four of the championship's senior-level events: the 80km and 40km trail races, the classic up and down and the uphill only mountain race. The championship’s new format will allow some athletes to compete in multiple races: Squamish, B.C.’s Alexandre Ricard, for instance, will race in both the Vertical Climb and Classic Up and Down Championships. 

“Ricard is an unstoppable force on uphill races at the moment, It will be interesting to see how he stacks up against the best in the world,” said Lambert.  Ricard won both the 2021 Canadian Mountain Running Vertical Uphill Championships and the Classic Up and Down Championships, which earned him a nomination for the 2021 Athletics Canada Off-Track Athlete of the Year award. More recently, the 35-year-old took gold in 23km race at the 2022 Squamish 50.

On the women’s side, Sasha Gollish comes to these championships with strong momentum. Already the women's 40+ indoor mile world record holder, and a Team Canada member at the 2022 NACAC Half-Marathon championship, Gollish proved her versatility once again this past weekend by winning the Vertical Climb at the Canadian Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Vernon, B.C.

The World Championships terrain could pose a hot and hilly challenge to several Canadians. Chiang Mai, a mountainside city in Northern Thailand, will boast a 8.5km uphill-only course that includes more than a kilometre of climbs, and an 80km trail race comprising more than 5,000m of elevation (and the 40km race, roughly half of that). To add to the challenge, racers will likely contend with temperatures in the mid-twenties and frequent showers, both commonplace for early November in Thailand.

The top three runners in all races will receive official World Championships medals, and winners will receive trophies. In addition, a total of $66,000 USD in prize money will be distributed among the top finishers of the four Senior World Championship races.

For more info on course maps, event schedules and more, here.

TEAM CANADA ATHLETES FOR THE 2022 WORLD MOUNTAIN & TRAIL RUNNING CHAMPIONSHIP