The European Mountain Running Championships is an annual international mountain running race. Inaugurated in 2002, it is organised by the European Athletic Association (EAA) in July each year. The venue for the championships is changed each year.
The history of the competition lies in the European Mountain Running Trophy, which was first held in 1994. It was officially sanctioned by the World Mountain Running Association in 1995 and continued until 2001, at which point the EAA introduced the official European Mountain Running Championships.
A senior championships until 2009, the competition now features separate senior and junior (under 20s) races for both men and women. Medals are awarded on an individual and national team basis. For the team competition, the finishing positions of each country's top three runners are combined, and the team with the smallest cumulative total wins the medals.
Read more about European Mountain Running Championships: Editions
Famous quotes containing the words european, mountain and/or running:
“The time to enjoy a European tour is about three weeks after you unpack.”
—George Ade (1866–1944)
“... my mother ... piled up her hair and went out to teach in a one-room school, mountain children little and big alike. The first day, some fathers came along to see if she could whip their children, some who were older than she. She told the children that she did intend to whip them if they became unruly and refused to learn, and invited the fathers to stay if they liked and she’d be able to whip them too. Having been thus tried out, she was a great success with them after that.”
—Eudora Welty (b. 1909)
“People stress the violence. That’s the smallest part of it. Football is brutal only from a distance. In the middle of it there’s a calm, a tranquility. The players accept pain. There’s a sense of order even at the end of a running play with bodies stewn everywhere. When the systems interlock, there’s a satisfaction to the game that can’t be duplicated. There’s a harmony.”
—Don Delillo (b. 1926)