England team finish third at Trofeo Nasego World Cup Mountain Race

The Nasego World Cup weekend involved two races, on the Saturday it was the Vertical Nasego which climbs 1000m over a distance of 4.2km, the following day was the classic Trofeo Nasego over 21.5km with 1330m of ascent, this was an up and down race.

The England mountain running team arrived in Casto, Northern Italy on Thursday evening to hot conditions, something we were actually used to after our British summer! The Italian village was the event centre and the start for both races was on the main street, metres from where the team were being accommodated. Arriving early allowed the team to settle in, relax and recce the lower parts of both courses on Friday morning. Friday evening there was an elite athlete and seven nations team presentation which built up the atmosphere and got everyone motivated for the weekend's races. 

The seven nations competing were England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Switzerland, France and the host nation Italy. Three men and three women would need to race each day, and the result was a combined score of the Vertical Nasego and the Trofeo Nasego races. England had a team of four men and four women. 

Vertical Nasego 1000m/4.2km

The women’s race started at 10am in very warm conditions, around 25-26 degrees, which was going to make it a tough run. The reigning World Champion Nina Engelhard from Germany led the race early on and when no one stayed with her she went on to win with a very fast ascent under 40 minutes. In 2nd position was Kirsty Skye Dickson running for Scotland who had an amazing run. The England team of Ellen Crombie, Betty Bergstrand, Ellen Weir and Caroline Lambert set off a little more conservatively. Ellen Crombie, making her England debut was the leading English athlete finishing in a fantastic 16th position with Betty Bergstrand another athlete making her England debut 35th, closely followed by Ellen Weir in 36th and Caroline Lambert in 42nd. 

The men’s race started 45 minutes later, and the day was getting hotter. The leading places were dominated by the Kenyan athletes and Patrick Kipngeno won in 33mins 31sec, eight seconds off the record. Italian Andrea Elia led the European challenge and finished 3rd. Leading the English challenge was 21-year-old Edward Hobbs, another making his England debut. Edward had an absolutely amazing run to finish 7th mixing it with the very best Kenyan and Italian athletes from the World Cup series. Not to be out done Matt Knowles also had a brilliant run finishing 12th, with Oscar Subuh-Symons running strongly in 18th. Though Finn Lydon struggled with the very steep ascent, he dug in and finished 47th. 

After day one of races the England team were in 4th position in the seven nations competition, behind Italy, France and Scotland. 

Men

• 7th Edward Hobbs (Ilkley Harriers AC, Andi Drake) - 35:54
• 12th Matthew Knowles (Carnethy Hill RC, Sophie Dunnett) - 36:54
• 18th Oscar Subuh-Symons (Ambleside AC, Sarah McCormack) - 38:12
• Finn Lydon (Carnethy Hill RC) - 42:23

Women

• 16th Ellen Crombie (Ilkley Harriers, Cameron Richardson) - 45:27
• 35th Betty Bergstrand (Keswick AC, Dan Connolly) - 51:06
• 36th Ellen Weir (Thames Hare & Hounds, Dean Miller) - 51:40
• 42nd Caroline Lambert (Keswick AC) - 53:57

Trofeo Nasego Classic (up and down) 21km/1330m ascent 

On day two everyone started together and though the temperature had dropped a little it was still hot. The first 10km is relatively fast for a mountain race and the Kenyan athletes went off quickly and dominated the leading positions once again, with Matt Knowles leading the European challenge just behind. The leading Kenyan athlete Philemon Kiriago went on to win in a new course record of 1hr 30mins 08sec. Matt Knowles matched Edward Hobbs’s performance from the day before and finished in a brilliant 7th place and was the leading European athlete. Edward Hobbs had another great race and finished 14th; Finn Lydon was more comfortable with the up and down format and had an excellent run to finish 19th. Oscar Subuh-Symons finished in 22nd putting England in a strong position for the team event.  

In the women’s race Ruth Gitonga from Kenya, who was 4th the day before set the early fast pace, with Nina Engelhard close behind. Ellen Crombie and Betty Bergstrand were the leading English athletes in good positions. At the top of the ascent Gitonga still had the lead and maintained the small gap on the descent and to the finish. The reigning World Champion Nina Engelhard finished comfortably in 2nd. Ellen Crombie had another great run finishing 15th, with Betty Bergstrand improving by 15 places from the day before to finish an excellent 20th position, with Ellen Weir and Caroline Lambert running strongly to finish 34th and 39th. 

In the seven nations team competition, England moved up to 3rd place in the overall standings after a fantastic day all round in the up and down race. Last year the team was 4th so it was brilliant to make the podium.

Men

• 7th Matthew Knowles - 1:37.12
• 14th Edward Hobbs - 1:40.53
• 19th Finn Lydon - 1:43.27
• 22nd Oscar Subuh-Symons - 1:46.01

Women

• 15th Ellen Crombie - 2:01.50
• Betty Bergstrand - 2:07.55
• Ellen Weir - 2:17.05
• Caroline Lambert - 2:23.09

Seven nations team results

• 1st: Italy - 39 points
• 2nd: France - 82 points
• 3rd: England - 97 points
• 4th: Scotland - 100 points
• 5th: Switzerland - 109 points
• 6th: Wales - 180 points
• 7th: Ireland - 220 points

Full results are available here.

Photo credit: Simonetti Giada