British Mountain Marathon Series and Championship Launch

Press Release / 13.01.2017

January 2017 marks the launch of the first British Mountain Marathon Series and Championship through a new website MountainMarathon.com.

The British Mountain Marathon Series and Championship are being supported by Marmot Dark Mountains™, the LAMM and ROC Mountain Marathon™ (formally known as the Rab Mountain Marathon), and the driving force behind this initiative is Shane Ohly from Ourea Events.

Ohly is uniquely placed as the organiser of various Mountain Marathon events, and multiple Elite winner. He said, “Mountain Marathons have been truly rich and life affirming experiences for me and I am passionate about ensuring these events have a vibrant long-term future”. Continuing, “The aim of MountainMarathon.com is to inspire and motivate greater participation in Mountain Marathon events and provide a  sense of progression, with Score, C, B, A and Elite course winners, and separate Youth categories.”

LAMM Organiser, Martin Stone said, “We are delighted that Shane has invited the LAMM to be part of the 2017 British Series and we hope that the Series will increase participation across all Mountain Marathon events.  We also hope that it will encourage youngsters to get involved and develop skills that allow them to enjoy travelling light and fast across the mountains”.

At their heart, Mountain Marathons have a strong ethos of participant responsibility in the mountains, and they can be challenging experiences, but many participants return to again and again. Each event in the British Series and British Championship has courses suitable for novice through to Elite participants, including youth categories.

Steve Birkinshaw, the undisputed king of mountain mountain events for many years added his support to the new British Series and British Championship, “I have been competing in Mountain Marathons for over 30 years and they are brilliant format taking you out running and navigating through some of the Britain’s most beautiful and wildest places. This is a great initiative that hopefully will encourage more people to experience the pleasure and pain of these amazing events.”

The 2017 British Series will be decided across three Mountain Marathons, which include Marmot Dark Mountains (28-29th January 2017), the LAMM (3-4th June 2017) and the ROC Mountain Marathon (23-24th September 2017).

The 2017 British Championship will be held at the ROC Mountain Marathon on the weekend of 23rd-24th September. The ROC Mountain Marathon was formally known as the Rab Mountain Marathon.

Full details of the British Mountain Marathon Series and Championship are available on this website.