Stevie Kremer represents at mountain running Worlds

U.S. women’s team takes gold

Community School second grade teacher Stevie Kremer hasn’t lost a step in her European adventures. Kremer is teaching in Italy for the 2011-2012 school year and taking the European and world mountain running circuit by storm.
Kremer qualified for the US Mountain Running team back in July placing fourth at the qualifier event. After moving to Europe in August, she jumped immediately into the fray to place second among a stacked international women’s field at the Sierre-Zinal 31-kilometer race in Switzerland.
“It was definitely a great race to get me more prepared for the uphills that were at Ponte di Legno (World Course),” says Kremer.
From there she lost some elevation training opportunities but did what was possible to prepare and then joined the US Mountain Running Team for the World Championships on September 2 in Italy.
“I just tried to find all the hills that I could,” says Kremer.
The course at Worlds was short but steep, a climber’s course. It started in town on flat cobblestone for the first kilometer before turning uphill. By the third kilometer, the course headed straight uphill off the trail sending runners on a running/power hike for three kilometers.
“You were just climbing up the ski resort, no trails, just uphill grass! It was a mixture of running and hiking,” explains Kremer.
The course settled back into a gradual climb for two kilometers before one last downhill to the finish.
Kremer came into the start of the race with one simple goal in mind, and after reaching that made her way through the pack.
“I have never experienced a race of this size and caliber before and I think the first goal was not to throw up on the start line,” says Kremer. “Once that was accomplished, I focused on the uphills. I knew some women would start off fast, since it was flat and pavement and I remembered all the uphill that was still ahead. My teammate was back with me, which gave me confidence that I didn’t need to be up front. By the first hill though, many women who started strong, were already fading.”
By the fourth kilometer Kremer had pushed into seventh place. She held her spot to take seventh overall, second among U.S. women, helping push the women’s team to a gold medal.
“I knew the three other American women were fast, but we were a team and I wanted us to do well individually but also as a team,” says Kremer. “Last year the US women were 4th…only 2 points off the podium, so we were all determined. We knew the returning World Champ from 2010 was there, so that would be a challenge.”
Kremer now turns her attention to finding new European courses to race as the season continues.