This post is also available in:
Blog post created by
Christina Schwann
Date: June 30, 2026
Reading time: 12 min
You can also find this article in the Summer 2023 issue of the ÖKAS trade magazine *analyse:berg* #25.
Subscribe to *analyse:berg*. That way, you’ll have the magazines conveniently delivered to your home as soon as they’re published, while also supporting the work of ÖKAS.
A report on medical care for athletes at the 2023 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Innsbruck-Stubai.
Benedikt Treml
General and Surgical Intensive Care Unit, University Clinic for Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Innsbruck
Beatrix Schobersberger
Specialist in Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology, and Hepatology; Sports Scientist
Wolfgang Schobersberger
Institute for Sports, Alpine Medicine, and Health Tourism (ISAG), Tirol Kliniken Innsbruck UMIT Tirol, Private University for Health Sciences and Technology, Hall/Tyrol
Introduction
Trail running and mountain running are growing in popularity worldwide. The International Trail Running Association (ITRA) defines trail running as running in nature. Runs take place both in the mountains as classic mountain runs and on constantly changing terrain in various environments—such as forests, plains, deserts, hills, and snow-covered slopes—away from paved roads. An “ultra run” is defined as a race over a distance longer than the classic marathon distance of 42.195 kilometers. World Athletics, the international governing body for track and field, recognized trail running as an official discipline in 2015.
There are no predefined distances or elevation changes in the competitions, and there are no limits on the topographical conditions. As a result, it is not possible to compare the individual events with one another.
The competitions are based on the concept of self-sufficiency, which means that athletes must be self-reliant in terms of equipment, communication, food, and drink between aid stations.
From June 6 to 10, 2023, the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships (WMTRC) took place in the Innsbruck-Stubaital region. This is only the second time—after the 2022 event in Chiang Mai, Thailand—that mountain and trail runners have held their world championships together. The WMTRC consists of title competitions organized by the ITRA, the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA), and the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU), and is coordinated by World Athletics (WA).
Over the four days of competition, a total of 1,600 runners from 68 countries competed. The flagship event, the Trail Long, featured an impressive course length of 86.9 kilometers and 6,500 meters of elevation gain, running from Neustift through the Kalkkögel mountains in the Stubai Valley to Innsbruck.
”"Summer is the time when it's too hot to do the things
Mark Twain
that were too cold to do in winter."
Medical Concept
