John Kerrigan, Duxbury, is a retired Harwood Union High School teacher and coach of cross-country skiing, Nordic skiing and track and field for over 40 years. His teams compiled more than 40 Vermont state championships during his tenure. His son Ryan Kerrigan was a UVM Nordic skier and became an exceptional ultra runner. The International Skyrunning Federation picked the two in 2017 as their U.S. coaches.

OLDEST SPORT

Skyrunning is one of the oldest sports known to man. It has been part of the culture since “Ootzi” (the ice man) raced from village to village on the mountain peaks of the Italian and Austrian Alps 6,000 years ago. Today, thousands of people from more than 50 countries compete in the two disciplines of skyrunning; the Vertical Kilometer (a straight run up a mountain) on July 22 and the Sky Run (a distance run along the mountain ridge) on July 24. Seen from the valleys below, it looks like runners have been dropped from the sky, hence the name skyrunning.

At the Junior World Championships, American riders (ages 15-22) can compete against young riders from more than 30 countries. Many young sky racers from international teams are fully funded by their home country. They receive a team uniform, technical training, education, equipment and racing experience with other adult and youth sky racers from their country in preparation for the Junior World Championships. Spain alone has more than a dozen skyrunning “academies”. These are equivalent to the American Ski Academies which have produced many Alpine and Nordic National Olympians. Italy now has a skyrunning major at the University of L’Aquila.

NO TRAINING OPPORTUNITY

“Because our mountain ranges are numerous and widely dispersed, our young Americans do not have the opportunity to train with each other and build a unifying team spirit. Many young international runners live in a specific mountain region of their respective country; Spain, the Pyrenees; France and Switzerland, the Alps; Italy the Apennines and the Alps; Norway and Sweden, the Scande Mountains; Czech Republic, the Sudetes mountains. We had young runners who started running in their own backyards from the Sierras (California), Chugiak (Alaska) Wasatch (Utah), Rockies (Colorado), Tetons (Wyoming), Blue Ridge, (Virginia) and the list goes on,” Kerrigan said.

“Despite these drawbacks, our young American Skyrunners have made a strong impression on the world stage. In 2018 and 2019, Sophia Sanchez from the Lake Tahoe region of California ranked first among all young women. , Mikey Connelly (who trains near Mount Marathon, Alaska) received the bronze medal for the U-18 young men’s runners Our US team, although one of the fewest in number, consistently finishes in the top five of the team score,” he added.

Currently, youth representing the United States must be fully funded individually. They must provide transportation and accommodation. Only runners who have family support were able to make the trip, Kerrigan said.

The Kerrigans, father and son, hope to contribute to the evolution of racing in the United States. Currently, in the United States, there are programs for young people in many sports: soccer, ice hockey, Nordic and alpine skiing, baseball, soccer, gymnastics, swimming, track and field. , etc. It’s not until after high school and college that most Americans are exposed to trail running and mountain running.

“We hope to develop a pipeline of sky runners in this country. We hope to add to the strong running culture in the United States by exposing more young Americans to skyrunning. We would like to give skyrunning an identity in the United States of America,” Kerrigan said.

See the link for more information on American skyrunning: Skyrunningus.com

Here is a link to the Go Fund Me account to raise funds for US participants:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/opportunity-to-help-usa-youth-skyrunners