Skyrunning has become famous in the last few decades. Suddenly appearing, he gained great popularity and is gaining more and more new fans.
Description of skyrunning
Sports are not only good for health, they give a person special experiences, a special life experience. Skyrunning is not an Olympic sport at this time. Therefore, there is not enough attention to it from the sports leadership of the country. However, this sport is attracting an increasing number of supporters in Russia and around the world.
We know well such sports as walking, running, mountaineering. Skyrunning actually brings them together. In order to pass the route, one must not only overcome a sufficiently large distance, but also climb one or several thousand meters along its length. This sport is similar to running on the ground, when you need to overcome the rise along the entire distance.
The smallest distances here are five kilometers with a rise of a thousand meters. Long trails can be more than thirty kilometers long, and the ascent can be two kilometers or more. It's not really a run. There is no flat track on which to run uphill.
These are usually rough terrain. According to the mountaineering classification, routes with a difficulty category of more than two should not be used here. Also, do not allow a tilt, the angle of which exceeds forty degrees. Usually, the minimum route height above sea level is at least two thousand meters.
Such sports cannot be practiced without serious physical training. The most important quality is speed-strength endurance. Competitors must train regularly to achieve their best fitness.
In skyrunning, not only the physical qualities of an athlete are important, equipment is also of great importance. On such challenging routes, choosing the right footwear is of particular importance. With a long run in alpine conditions on rough terrain, any omission in equipment can cause significant harm to an athlete. After all, the movement does not take place along the stadium treadmills, but over rough terrain, stones or scree.
Note that another difference between this method of movement and running is the permissible use of trekking poles on which the runner operates, reducing the load on the legs while running. Helping yourself with your hands is also one of the permitted techniques. What is prohibited? Skiing is prohibited. Any other transport is also prohibited. You cannot accept someone else's help in any form during the competition.
Competitions in this sport are held all over the world. One of the important points in preparation for them is acclimatization. Indeed, without this, the athlete will not be able to show a good result.
History of origin
The history of this wonderful sport began in the 1990s. A famous mountaineer, a native of Italy, Marino Giacometti, together with friends, decided to organize a race in the Alps to the peaks of Mont Blanc and Monte Rosa. It is from here that the biography of skyrunning begins. By 1995, the Federation of High-Altitude Races was created.
And the next year, 1995, it got its modern name - skyrunning. In 2008, the International Skyrunning Federation was formed. Its slogan reads like this: "Less clouds - more sky!" (“Less cloud, more sky!”).
This organization (abbreviated as ISF) operates under the auspices of the International Union of Mountaineering Associations (abbreviated name UIAA). The head of the ISF was Marino Giacometti, the athlete who began the history of this sport. In the Russian Federation, this sport is practiced by the Russian Skyrunning Association, which is part of the Russian Mountaineering Federation.
Our days
In our time, dozens of competitions take place in Russia. The geography of skyrunning is very wide and it has more and more fans.
Russian Skyrunning Association
In 2012, skyrunning was officially recognized as one of the types of mountaineering. In Russia, this sport is practiced everywhere - practically throughout the country.
In the Russian Federation, this sport is steadily gaining strength. Competitions of national and regional levels are held here.
- The Russian Skyrunning Series is held in the Russian Federation. It is conditionally divided into three RF Cups, in accordance with different types of skyrunning. Each of them, in turn, consists of several successive stages. Winning or winning places in each of them gives the athletes rating points. Those who have the highest indicators are taken to the Russian national team, which consists of 22 athletes.
- This series includes not only all-Russian competitions, but also regional and amateur competitions.
This sport cannot be called very popular in Russia. However, in recent years, more than two thousand athletes participate in the championships annually.
Skyrunning disciplines
This sport traditionally includes three disciplines.
Let's talk about each of them:
- Let's start with the hardest one. It is called the High Altitude Marathon. Here skyrunners have to cover a distance that exceeds 30 kilometers. The ascent must occur from 2000 meters above sea level not less than 4000 meters above sea level. In some competitions, a higher rise is provided. They stand out as a separate subtype of this discipline of skyrunning. The maximum distance provided for in such competitions is 42 kilometers.
- The next most difficult discipline is the High Altitude Race. The length of the distance is from 18 to 30 kilometers.
- The vertical kilometer is the third discipline. The rise in this case is up to 1000 meters above sea level, the distance is 5 kilometers.
Rules
According to the rules, athletes are prohibited from using any assistance during the course of the course. This applies both to the fact that you cannot accept someone else's help, and to the fact that you cannot use any means of transport. In particular, a skyrunner is not allowed to slide on skis while moving along the track.
He doesn't have to run all the time. He is allowed to help himself with his hands. It is also allowed to use trekking poles. Basically, we are talking about two staffs for each hand. Thus, the athlete can reduce the load on the legs during movement.
Significant competitions
At the world level, there are four types of skyrunning competitions.
Let's list them:
- The most prestigious is, of course, the World Championship. Interestingly, it is not held every year. Its periodicity is four years. More than two thousand athletes from 35 countries took part in the championship, which was held in Chamonix.
- The next most important international competition is the High Altitude Games. They are held every four years, in the same year that the Olympic Games take place. Not everyone has the right to take part in this competition, but only members of national teams.
- Continental championships are held twice as often - once every two years.
- We can separately mention the competitions of the world series. They also have another name - Skyrunning World Cup. Here competitions take place separately, for each type. At each stage, participants are awarded certain points. The winner is the one with the most points. Of the competitions listed in this section, the smallest break here is one year.
This sport involves overcoming significant difficulties. Also, this sport requires significant financial investments. This is due not only to the fact that it is necessary to be able to train, but also to the fact that competitions usually take place in resort areas, where the cost of living is quite high.
In addition, quality equipment is needed here, which is also not cheap. The state does not provide generous assistance to this sport because it is not popular enough. It is also important that skyrunning is not an Olympic sport.
On the other hand, in order to qualify, you need to participate in various competitions quite often. Therefore, at present, this sport is being promoted by the joint efforts of the state, sponsors and various kinds of enthusiasts.
Despite the above, the number of fans is steadily growing and this sport is gaining more and more popularity. Most skyrunners believe that this sport gives them something very important. It's not just about the spirit of competitive sports, but about the joy of life and personal improvement.
