Morgan Arritola (University of British Columbia) won the first ever Collegiate Running Association National Mountain Running Championships held within the 2014 Loon Mountain Race in Lincoln, New Hampshire on July 6.  Arritola spoke with us following the race where not only did she earn $1,000 for winning the Collegiate National Championship, she also finished 2^nd in the U.S. Championship and automatically earned a spot on the U.S. Mountain Running Team for the 30^th World Mountain Running Championships to be held September 13 at the foot of the Apuan Alps in Casette di Massa, Italy.  Here is Arritola’s unedited video interview…

Arritola qualified for the 2010 Winter Olympics where she earned her best finish of 12th in the 4 x 5 km relay and her best individual finish of 34th in the 10 km event.  She transitioned into mountain running following her skiing career and ran the 2012 World Mountain Running Championships in Ponte di Legno, Italy, finishing 3rd overall. Morgan won the bronze individual medal and led the US Women's Team to a Gold Medal.

A record number of entries and participants were on hand for the 2014 Loon Mountain Race in Lincoln, N.H.. For the first time in history college students competed for a National Championship in Mountain Running on July 6, 2014.  The Loon Mountain Race served as not only the inaugural Collegiate Running Association National Mountain Running Championship but also the U.S. National Mountain Running Championship (USATF) with the top 6 U.S. men and top 4 U.S. women earning a spot on the #USMRT for the 30^th World Mountain Running Championship. With new NCAA legislation (August 2013) permitting varsity NCAA DI athletes to accept prize money, the newly formed Collegiate Running Association provided $6,000 in prize money specifically reserved for college students who were enrolled in at least 1 college course at any level (undergraduate, graduate or post graduate) between January 1 and the day of the race. The women’s race was a 4.8 mile climb with over 2,800 vertical feet of elevation gain with the final ascent reaching an incline exceeding 40%. Known in the running world as a race to put on your “bucket list” it’s mystique met every expectation.  An excellent race!

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