University of Richmond Athletics
Benford to Compete In World Mountain Running Championships
08/16/2006 | Women's Track & Field
Aug. 16, 2006
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va.- Richmond freshman Andrew Benford (Ravenswood, W.V.) has been selected to represent the United States Junior team for the 2006 World Mountain Running Championships to be held in Bursa, Turkey on Sept. 10th.
Benford is one of only four junior men that will compete for the 2006 Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team on the slopes of Uludag (Mt. Olympos of Mysia) whose elevation rockets over 8,000 feet.
The 22nd World Mountain Running Trophy is sanctioned by the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) and patronized by the International Association of Amateur Athletics Federations (IAAF). The junior squad, (eligible to athletes who are at least 16 years of age in the year of competition and not yet 20) will compete on Sunday, Sept. 10 at 9:45 a.m. The junior men's team competition will be determined by scoring three of the four team members based on overall performance, just like a cross country race, with the lowest point total taking the World team title. The athletes will race an 8.5km (5.3 mile) uphill course with an 895-meter ascent (nearly 3,000 vertical feet) on varying terrain including dirt roads, trails and ski slopes.
Running mountains is something Benford has proven he is very capable of doing. He has spent his life in the "Mountain State" of West Virginia. Last fall he was undefeated within the state during cross country season and in 2004 he won the Pipestem Mountain Tram Run in Athens, W.V. by a significant margin. The vertical elevation gain of 1,222 feet over 3.3 miles showed he could run mountains.
"It will be tough," said the 18-year-old Benford, who will begin his college running career this fall as a freshman for the Spiders. "The World Championship race climbs high and you're doing it over a longer distance. I'm not saying it's going to be easy. You're talking 5 1/2 miles with 3,000 feet of a virtual climb. It's going to come down to guts. The fact that I'll get to put on the USA colors and represent the U.S., it's always been a dream of mine. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I'm extremely honored just to put on the USA colors."
Before joining the Spiders, Benford capped a stellar prep career with the coveted High Point Trophy for the AA classification at the 2006 West Virginia State Track & Field Championships and defended his state titles in the 3,200 and 1,600 runs. He won the 2005 and 2004 AA-A West Virginia State Cross Country titles and placed second in 2003 to his older brother, Adam. While he was a member of the Ravenswood Red Devils team, they won four consecutive state cross country championships and he was a starter for the boys' basketball team that won the 2006 West Virginia Group AA State Basketball Championship.
 Andrew Benford was undefeated in cross country last fall as a senior in high school.  |
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"This is a great opportunity for Andrew and a tremendous statement for West Virginia," said Richmond head men's track & field and cross country coach Steve Taylor. "He is one of four men within the entire nation to be selected to represent our country at the World Mountain Championships. He will be facing the best mountain runners in the world. I can think of no better place than those West Virginia Mountain's to develop an athlete to run an uphill race. The hills and mountains of the state, by design, make runners mentally and physically tough. These World Championship races are designed to test the limits of the athletes. The terrain is unforgiving. The race course is steep. They call it the World Mountain Championships for a reason. Our goal in training over the next month will be to callous Andrew's body so when he arrives in Bursa, Turkey he is ready to compete against the Worlds Best."
Joining Benford on the 2006 Teva Mountain Running Team will be Rory Egelus, 19 (Palmer, Ark.), Jon Horn, 19, (Kennesaw, Ga.) and Zach Rivers, 16, (Rochester, NY.).
This will be the fifth year that the Teva US Mountain Running Team will field a full junior team. The junior team members will participate in the blogging and there will be updates before, during, and after their trip to Turkey at the Youth Runner site: www.youthrunner.com.
Complete details on the 22nd World Mountain Running Trophy, including course map, profile, and results on Sept. 10th, will be found at: www.wmrt2006.org
For more on Bursa, Turkey: http://www.wmrt2006.org/pages/travel.htm
