The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“There’s a tunnel of people three-deep cheering, my ears were ringing”
By Than Acuff
The trail and mountain running race season came to a head for Crested Butte resident and Dynafit athlete Cam Smith and local Brooks team runner Sydney Petersen at the end of September as both competed in the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Canfranc-Pirineos, Spain September 25-28.
Both Smith and Petersen qualified for the world championships with their results at qualifier events over the summer to represent Team USA at the World Championships with Petersen running in the Vertical Mountain race and Smith competing in the Vertical Mountain and Classic races.
It was Petersen’s first trip to the World Championships, and she made a point of making the most of the experience heading to Europe weeks prior to the main event to travel and compete in additional trail and mountain running races, including a race in Austria as well as the classic Sierre-Zinal in Switzerland.
“I was on a Euro tour, and it was a great experience,” says Petersen. “The caliber of athletes at those races is just next level.”
Meanwhile, Smith was on a bit of a different path. Smith raced in the World Championships in Thailand back in 2022 and over the past several years, his main focus has been on the skimo World Cup race circuit with the ultimate goal of qualifying for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. As a result, he spent some time prior to the running races skiing.
“I went to do a skimo training camp on the Stelvio Glacier in Italy,” says Smith. “I used it as a way to do some prep work for the upcoming season and work off some jet lag before the World Championships.”
The four-day event opened with the Vertical race, a six-kilometer uphill run with over 3,000 feet of vertical climbing and no descending. The course starts up a road for about two minutes with competitors running a five-minute mile pace and then turns onto a steep trail rife with switchbacks leaving runners to then battle their way up.
“You’re just red lining it,” says Petersen.
Petersen ran the course in a time of 51 minutes and 36 seconds to finish in 31st place out of 107 runners, third out of the four Americans running in the event.
“Tactically the race was really challenging,” says Petersen. “But I think I did a great job and got the most out of it I could have. Being there was just such a gift. The gratitude of having the experience and push my body to that level in a beautiful place. It doesn’t get much better than that.”
Petersen was most charged by the atmosphere at the race and what the experience was like competing in the World Championships, as well as the Sierre-Zinal.
“There are so many people at the highest point of the course, this is their American football, their fans are so into it,” says Petersen. “There’s a tunnel of people three-deep cheering, my ears were ringing.”
Smith had a bit of a dubious start to his Vertical race. They called runners up 30 minutes before the start and Smith stepped away from the area to warm up. When he returned 15 minutes before the start, the area was packed as runners were already jockeying for a good start position.
With a team of Kenyans setting a furious pace, Smith did what he could to pass people on the first road section and when they turned onto the trail, it became a full contact sport.
“People are just grabbing, scratching and clawing their way up,” says Smith. “At one point I had a German trying to lift himself up using my shoulder and I had to elbow him in the chest.”
Once on the trail Smith started picking people off moving from 30th up into 10th and eventually crossing the finish line in 11th place, the second American, with a time of 40 minutes and 30 seconds helping pace Team USA to a bronze medal with Switzerland in second place and Kenya in first.
“We had four super strong guys racing and were expecting a good result but when you’re competing against the world, you never know how it’s going to turn out,” says Smith. “It was cool to have all four of us up there on the podium together.”
The World Championships then concluded two days later with the Classic race, a 14-kilometer course with 2,500 feet of climbing and descending running two laps on the same loop.
Smith learned from his Vertical race start line experience to get set up sooner and then headed out with the Kenyans setting another furious pace.
“It’s the same runners that might be the fourth or fifth runners on their Olympic track team,” says Smith.
Once again, Smith made his move during the steep trail sections of the course and climbed his way into 24th place by the finish line, the third of four Americans.
“That one was good fun and exciting,” says Smith.
Peterson went on to compete in the Grand Finale of the Golden Trail World Series in Italy October 10-12 to compete in back-to-back races starting with a time trial event and then a 12-mile trail race with 6,000 feet of vertical. Smith came back to Crested Butte and now his sights set firmly on the upcoming skimo racing season, specifically a World Cup race at Solitude the first week of December. If the US team beats Canada there, the US earns one spot at the Olympics skimo race and Smith is currently the highest ranked US skimo racer so it will most likely be him.
“I’m in ski training mode now,” says Smith. “That race determines our entire Olympic fate as a nation.”
